Hello again,
I'm happy to report that the little CB350F has returned from its maiden tour! It covered nearly 4,000km of highway with *almost* no issues. More on that in a moment...
The route was Winnipeg to Lake Louise in 2.5 days, approx 1,550km. From there, it was North to Banff, then Jasper, then Mount Robson Provincial Park, and back home the same way we came. Along the way we stopped to go hiking. Camped every night except in Calgary.
We rode in blasting prairie cross-winds, lightening storms, searing heat, sub-freezing temperatures and even a bit of snow! The bike was dropped once, but thankfully at the end of an emergency stop once the bike had slowed to a walking pace. It was a proper tour to be sure.
Three issues presented themselves along the way:
1) The oil consumption issue. This was not a new problem of course. I believe the bike burned through about 4 litres of oil, maybe 5. Some fuel stops the level wouldn't drop at all. Others it'd go from the 'full' mark to the lowest end of the dipstick in 100 miles. Regular checking kept things lubricated. Now that we're home, it's time to plan the engine rebuild.
2) Front tire would not sit properly on the rim. There was a 6" section that seemed to sit 1/8" closer to the rim than the rest. You could see from the side-wall molding details that it just wouldn't snap into place the same way the rest of the tire did, and as a result there was a flat spot that would cause vibration at speed. I deflated the tire twice, lubed the rim and tire with soapy water and inflated up to 60psi to get it to sit, but no luck. In the end it was something that just had to be endured. Some lead weights helped smooth out the tire at speed, but in the city it was thump-thump-thump. This could have been avoided had I changed the tire sooner before departure...
3) Engine dies at idle now! This one has me confused. The bike was running 100% the whole way there, and half the way back. Then one day it just died at a red light coming in from the highway. It was running very weak at idle. After it sat overnight, it was back to normal. Then the next day, right around 100 miles of riding, come up to a stop in Brandon (200km from home) and it dies. The idle screw had to be cranked up to get it to stay running. On the highway it would run totally normal. Strong pull, smooth, no back firing or anything. But at a stop, it would die. Given that the sun was setting, and a huge thunderstorm was raging in front of us, we used our CAA membership to get a lift home. I rode home on my R80 and regretted it the whole way, should have put my bike on the flatbed too! Lightening is not to be messed with.
I'm pretty out of ideas on the idle issue. Perhaps a points issue? I'm totally uneducated on how points work and maintaining them, beyond making sure they aren't pitted. Any suggestions on things to check based on the weak idle?
