Water in Engine

It is cool. And quick too. Basically it's like using a miniature and WELL controlled carbon arc torch. Thousands of tiny electrical discharges actually vaporise the steel for a split second, then the detritus gets flushed away, leaving an empty space where your broken stud use to be.

 

So I finally finished the last step on my carbs - wet setting the floats. I have to say, I can totally see the value in this process now. When reassembling the carbs, I set all four floats based on a measurement of the float from the rim of the bowl surface. 18mm if I recall correctly. Well, upon wet setting them, only #2 was correct, #1 was too low and #'s 3&4 were both overflowing. Now all four are set the same, my hands and workbench smell like gas, but with just a little more frame touch-up to do I shoud be able to get the engine and carbs back into the chassis by the end of the month.
Fwiw, I added some Stabil into the gas while I was wet setting them, so hopefully this will minimize the residue left in the passages until I get everything in position to start it up.

 

And so the frame painting is complete. Next up is the reinstall the bits I removed from the chassis (foot pegs, switches and electrical) and put the air box and canister back in, then put in the engine.

 

Frame is touched up, and the engine went back in today. It's starting to look like a motorcycle again.

 

Looking good!

 

The light, it burns us!

 

I cheated with the lights, btw. The old battery was dead, 24hrs on a 1a charger netted just 4.6v across the terminals. So I hooked up my 8a car battery charger to the pos/neg cables on the bike and turned the key.
I bought a new battery this morning. On to the charger it goes tonight, maybe tomorrow night I can hit the starter!

 

Nice!

Gary H.

 

Spent the better part of yesterday wrenching on this machine. Cut some new intake boot gaskets, torqued a few things down, spent a little time infuriating myself changing the spark plugs in my daughters old Mercedes, installed the new fully charged battery, played around making the turn signals go click-click, reinstalled a few hard parts on the chassis, along with reattaching the carbs and lubing the throttle and clutch cables. I also filled the case with new Rotella and spun the starter a few times just to hear it spin.
About midway through the day I hit a little sidebar when my son, who had come home in the middle of the night and proceeded to vomit all over the half bath, came downstairs to admit that he had wrapped his car around a tree. Had to swing over to the impound lot and sure as shooting that car is a goner. Never a dull moment with children, no matter how old they get. Well it looks like he is spending the money he had been saving for a new computer to buy his sisters old Mercedes (referenced above), and picking up his own insurance from this point. No injuries, no other vehicles involved.
So lastly I sorted through the crate of parts I have accumulated and found a couple baggies full of nuts and bolts the PO had removed when last he had attempted to work on it, including the exhaust hanger bolts and the fasteners for some cosmetic parts. So now I have everything I need to put this back together, complete.
Next up, pull the rear wheel and swing arm, service the drum brake and final drive, touch up the paint, repack the bearings and shod a new tire and reassemble. After that, the exhaust goes back on and I see if this thing will run. Then service the front end and if budget allows, paint the tank and fenders. If not, f*** it I'll ride it ugly. I am shooting for Xmas.

 

And this, my friends, is a great example of how we save these old bikes from the grave yard. I'd buy it. Good job Shank.

Gary H.

P.S.- Glad to hear your son is ok.

 

He deserved a lot worse than the hangover he ended up with, so I am thankful that I get to be the one to punish him and not a court of law.

 

Exactly.

Gary H.

 

how's the tree ?

 

Been perusing some of these engine tear down threads and can't seem to find if it's necessary to fully remove the clutch, stator and drive assembly to split the cases. My hy-vo chain guide is no more and needs to be replaced while I've got the engine out of the bike. Yamaha nor Haynes manuals are clear on whether it's actually necessary.

 

IIRC the clutch basket needs to come out, but the stator can stay.

 

Well I have a few missing part despite my earlier post. The exhaust hanger bolts are missing the backing nuts, which I had hoped would have been welded to the backside of the mounts. Que sera, I gotta dig back in and find those nuts. I also have to find the one missing plug cap, although by swapping them around I did confirm I have spark on all four plugs. I went ahead and finished hooking up the carbs, throttle, enricher and clutch cables, ran the transmission through all its gears, and checked all the fuses. Its so nice to have an easy to get to, well organized fuse box. The engine makes a nice thunka-thunka-thunka sound when I hit the starter, so I am super close to hearing this bike run.

 

lookin good!

CN

 

Got the exhaust back on, and even found the fourth spark plug cap, I was so excited to give the engine a spin and maybe even squeeze some fuel into the carbs and see if I could get it to fire.
Nothing.
Starter was spinning yesterday. Now, just the solenoid clicks, lights dim. Starter does not spin.
Looks like a starter rebuild is in my future.

 

Well from time to time she cranks, so I hooked up an auxiliary fuel tank and hit the starter. It spins and spins, and from time to time it sputters like it is trying to firm but it never gets going on its own. I checked the spark in a darker room and the spark looks a lot more purple than blue, so next up is to check the coils. Oh Lordy this could get pricey quick.

 

Figured out the problem with the aux fuel tank was not feeding gas to the carbs because there was no vacuum drawing it in. Came home early this afternoon and primed it with some starter fluid and sure enough it fire up and ran. Idles a bit rough but for the time being, I am satisfied for the time being and can focus my energy on some other maintenance points.