Checklist

[Rikugun]

Yikes, you could write a book about what NOT to do to a bike when you get done with this project!

I really liked the greased emulsion tube trick. The raised drain tubes is a classic too but they should be raised above the tank level to be uber effective. Or interconnected with a (monkey) union.  ;D  ;D  ;D

[The Prophet of Doom]

The overflow pissed me off - I know he was in the carbs due to the dodgy jetting, and for the sake of $2 worth of o-rings and 20 minutes labour he's probably done permanent damage flooding fuel into his oil.

The union of the monkey:
Third party insurance = $65
Got the new Battleaxe bolted in, new oil and filter, tested the Stator, R/R and a few other things and pushed the START button.  Clackety clack from the starter solenoid so I swapped out the battery for a brand new Motobatt I happened to have in my stash.  She fired first pop.  The extra CCA of the AGM battery really spins that starter round nicely.

A bit of postfiring, but then settled down when a bit warmer and sounds pretty damned good considering it was on default mixtures (3.5 turns) and no sync.  I'd forgotten how nice the cycleworks pipes sound.

I probed with the makeshift stethoscope (long handled screwdriver) sounds like 3 shims chattering, a bit of rattle from the front cylinder (which could be lack of syncing) and the starter clutch.  I'll run this oil for a couple of hundy km then drain and do the starter clutch.  Shims can wait till I've done the 550.

Tomorrow "The posture of the Tree with fruit"
Swap out the leaking petcock, check sync with my man-o-meter, mixture with my EGA, find my helmet and take the bike to the testing station for Wof and Reg.

[Rikugun]

A wise choice regarding the leaking petcock repair. One doesn't need fuel dripping on the fruit....  :o  :D

I've pretty much decided when this battery dies I'm going to try an AGM. Great progress BTW!

[The Prophet of Doom]

The posture of the Tree with fruit:

I spent flipping ages trying to chase a fuel leak even after swapping the petcock out.  Turns out it was the front main jet cap not done up tight enough.  My fault, but annoying.

Synced and did the mixtures then went for a little ride.    It does bog a bit if too high a gear is selected at low revs, but otherwise it's a lot zippier than I remember, but then I didn't have the analysis tools I do now.  It will be a great little round town bike. 

Tomorrow, "the posture of the scissors"
A dynolicious test to see how it compares to the 550.

[fret not]

Are those figures good or bad?

[The Prophet of Doom]

Pretty good I think.
Using the analyser is a bit of a dark art that I'm just starting to get to grips with, and of course it only helps at low throttle openings. I'm still getting popping on decel, and bad postfiring when cold

This pic helps understand what's going on

[pullshocks]

I am not understand what you mean by "main jet cap."  Maybe this is because I have the 83 carbs?


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[The Prophet of Doom]

There's a cap over the main jet where you screw it in. 
Same on the 83 - Part 41,42 of the parts fiche.  That was leaking

[pullshocks]

OK got it.  Since you said it was hard to find, I expected something more internal.

[The Prophet of Doom]

The position of the swing:

Bugger.  Today it won't start - half pie going on rear cyl only. Checked spark OK, YICS OK, Vacuum OK, limiter is cut, plug is wet.  How rooted can a bike be?

Double bugger - when cranking I got that nasty hammer on steel sound of the starter clutch on every press so that can't wait any longer. I can worry about actually running later on.  Pulled the side cover off, and fortunately caught it while it was just bolt damage.

Tripple bugger - I'm not loving the colour of this 2 day old oil.  Black with gold shimmer as though someone's dumped in a bottle of brass fling dust.  Not sure what to do about that one.

In to town for supplies tomorrow.  3/4 hour walk (steep hill), 1 hour by bus, then 1/2 hour walk.  Then do it all again to get home.  I hate not having a vehicle.

[Rikugun]

Bugger.  Today it won't start - half pie going on rear cyl only. Checked spark OK, YICS OK, Vacuum OK, limiter is cut, plug is wet. 

I'll guess there is fuel since the plug is wet. Did you check for spark under compression or with the plug removed?

[The Prophet of Doom]

Stator looks OK though it is not stock.  What is NOT OK is the wiring.  Holy crap take a look at this - bare wires where they have been twisted together (not even soldered together) and covered in tape which has shrunk due to heat and unravelled.  They were just hanging there waiting to short out.  There is RTV F***ING EVERYWHERE and red insulating tape holding the connectors into a melted housing .  More bare twisted wires on neutral and oil pressure wires but not even any tape.

This will take all day tomorrow to fix up.  Think I'd best pull the right side cover and clean the oil pump screen as well.  that's bound to be covered in RTV.

What an arse.

[fret not]

Yeah, rather unlovely.  But you can fix that!  The 'real' problems are often the ones that we can't see.  It will be a good stint of Visionary Duty to sort it all but you can do it and will be rewarded with a good and reliable ride.  Well, depending on what is INSIDE the cases.  Anyway, you are off to a great start, so good luck with the 'new' ride.

[The Prophet of Doom]

So I dropped in a used but tested stator, crimped on a weatherpac connector, new wires for the neutral/oil lights, and new shrink tubing all round.  Sealed it all back up again, new oil and cranked with a newly charged battery.

1. When cranking I still occasionally get that nasty hammer on steel sound, but the starter clutch has just been done.  Every time it makes the noise, the gear lever jumps - Any idea what that could be?

1.  Mixtures F3.5 turns R3.5 turns.  From cold it catches on the rear cylinder only after a ton of cranking but only just.  With a lot of nursing it gets better as it warms up, then finally after about 10 mins the front cylinder kicks in and eventually at normal operating temp idles quite nicely.  Once warm it sounds nice and revs up and down fast.  Under load (me on the bike, in gear), it can't take off.  Postfires horribly, no power.

Jiggled around a bit with vacuum gauges - max vacuum at about F3.75 turns R3.0 turns, perfectly synced but it doesn't help situation above.  Noted the Front cyl vacuum pulses a bit more than the rear also a reasonable amount of tickety, tickety noise from the front cam area.

Reset to 3.5 turns, rechecked for leaks, rechecked for spark front and rear - no significant change

2 days ago it was starting badly, but running tolerably (though not brilliantly) once at temp.  Something I have done has made this even worse.  That is not the intended objective.  *sigh*

[QBS]

Hate to say it, but it sounds like clogged high speed/power circuitry.  No power and all that.  Hard starting would seem to also indicate enrichner system malfunction. How clean are the carbs?

[fiat-doctor]

Just something to try based on personal experience.  Can you substitute another TCI from a "known good bike"....   I've had two of them that ran on one cylinder for several miles then started to run just fine....   just a thought.
                                               Steve

[The Prophet of Doom]

So today I finger checked compression.  Checked spark, fuel present.  Replaced the coil, TCI and checked all the connections that they are in the right place and clean and tight.  Removed the carbs and gave them a repeat spraying in the delicate places, checked all passages clear. Checked for air leaks. Charged battery.

No Improvement.  This is starting to get on my wick.

[Rikugun]

Did you check ignition source coils (pulse coils) with an ohm meter against spec? Even if the values are OK I'd be tempted to swap another if you have one just to be sure.

Getting back to stators for a sec.... In your pic above I'm guessing the stator is the one in the bike as purchased. What is the odd looking coil/post at the 12:30 position. It's larger than the other coils and appears to be mounted with a dovetail fitting. Are it's wires connected to the rest of the stator windings?

[The Prophet of Doom]

Yes I've swapped the coils with known good ones off my other bike.

It's an odd looking stator, I had a similar looking one on my old 70s CB, where the larger coil did lights and was unregulated.  This one has been hacked about with so who knows, but I've replaced it anyway so it makes no difference

[The Prophet of Doom]

Went through the whole air/fuel/spark from the beginning.  Didn't find anything, but after all that it mysteriously roared into life both cylinders from cold.  I don't know what the issue is - I presume electrical but buggered if I can find it.

Re-synced the carbs so going even a little better now.
http://youtu.be/IkF-Ir6PNEk

3/4-full throttle tuning is still a bit off - power is lower at high load than I'd like, - it still struggles to get up my steep driveway from stopped but zippy enough on the flat.  The bike has a high flow air filter and cycleworks pipes so I suspect it's running a tad lean.

Remaining issues...
Leaking oil where the stator wires come out - any reason why I shouldn't just fill this void full of RTV
Brake return spring
Need volt meter - ordered the same as Tig's

That will do for the meantime I want to get back to the other bike.