Topic: Terry's Effing F2, return of the prodigal SOHC4?

[spotty]

i had those spark plug caps on my K2 a long time ago and they do look trick at night, however from memory they won't last long, after much tracing of misfire i replaced them all with new NGK caps and problems gone

i was told by an auto elec at the time they were originally sold as a performance booster as the spark needed to 'compress' to jump the gap inside the cap and therefore arrived at the plug as a more solid spark rather than a bit stretched out ( if that makes sense )

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah mate, agreed, I often cure a non functioning plug by pulling the cap and holding it half an inch from the plug, and suddenly it'll start firing again. In fact there was an "ignition amplifier' sold here many years ago that was nothing more than a plastic bowl with an air gap between 2 copper contacts for the spark to jump across between the coil and the distributor.

My cuz (the world's greatest bush mechanic) demonstrated how it works by cutting a HT lead and putting a piece of clear fuel line over each end holding them about half an inch apart, and the engine ran way smoother. Maybe I'll try that next, if my rebuilt "Spotty" carbs don't make for an improvement.

[754]

Terry trying gluing or sharpie marking the bowl edges, then check them on sandpaper... probably need a hole in the middle.
 And if you only have 3 kit , the one without can be an outside carb, add later.. just thought.
 No sense in trying to seal an obvious warped bowl..

[seanbarney41]

Weird, i had a set of those plug caps on a bike once.  It was the second cb750 i ever owned.  I have not seen those caps since, until now...

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, sadly you can’t use that method on F2 carbs Frank, as they have raised nubs around the screw holes to locate them into the carb bodies, but sure, I will definitively use second hand parts on #4 carb as it’s the easiest one to get to.

I reckon I bought the caps at least 10 years ago Sean as I think I bought them to put on one of my Suzuki GS1000’s, and I havent had a Suzy in many years.

[seanbarney41]

Although they were kinda handy for trouble shooting, i always thought they kinda silly.  Hell, they did work just fine though.

[Terry in Australia]

Yeah, I think they're great for trouble shooting Sean, and flashing lights always appeal to my childish mind. (as long as they're not red and blue, in my rearview mirrors.........)

[spotty]

those cxarbs are te ones i cleaned in my redneck sonic cleaner - an old eski ( beer cooler ) full of simple green with an orbital sander strapped to the outside and left running until the sander burnt out, so in theory its a method but obviously gets a bit expensive in sanders

[Terry in Australia]

I do remember you telling me that you built your own ultrasonic cleaner (and something about returning the dead sanders under warranty, but I may have dreamed that?) Spotty, but one set of carb bodies really stand out as having not done much work at all with really good chrome etc, so those are the ones I’ll rebuild today.

I’ve changed my mind about stripping the “just rebuilt” original carbs as they’re junk anyway, so I’ll pull the newly installed kits out and save my OEM Honda kits for later.

[spotty]

I may have pulled that scam at Bunnings a few times .....

[Terry in Australia]

Ha ha, I have to be careful when I make comments like that, as I do have some pretty wild dreams when washing down my diazepam and tramadol with my highly alcoholic ginger beer.........

But anyway, this arvo ("afternoon" is Oz slang) I rebuilt yet another set of carbs, and am happy I did. I stripped my original carbs, because just like the chrome, the salt air had done some damage, and I was sick of stripped threads and leaky float bowls, so I used Spotty's best set  of carb bodies, stripped my originals for all the new bits, swapped them out and made a new set. They look way better.

Terry's Effing F2.2 carb swap 18 Sep 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Last night I dumped all of Spotty's many carb innards into a pickled onion jar, and sprayed in half a can of carb and brake cleaner, and was really happy with how clean they've come up overnight. I might stick them in the ultrasonic cleaner over the weekend and get them cleaner still.

Terry's Effing F2.2 carb swap 17 Sep 2020 7 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I installed them using Steveo's "Carb o matic" installation tool and turned the fuel on. The wife arrived home after a hard day's grocery shopping, then pointed out some weeds in my veggie garden, so I pulled them all out after carrying her shopping inside, before returning to the bike, and was happy that there was no fuel leakage, a first in the last week or so. I hit the button with the choke all the way out, and VAROOM! I backed the choke off a bit, and was happy for it to go into a fast idle, without any fuel leakage, burping, or farting as before. Much better.

Tomorrow (weather willing, we're due for some more effing rain) I'll install the airbox and new filter. I've decided to install the new Kokusan electronic ignition, because I noticed in that vid that the spark for #2 and 3 appears to be intermittent compared to #1 and 4? The Kokusan is supposed to have it's own inbuilt timing light too, which will be handy. Who knows? I might do some 100 milers on this old rat once I'm allowed out of doors again?  

     

[andy750]

Terry well done on the carbs bike sounds pretty good at idle. Looking forward to how this bike turns out.

I couldnt help but notice and lust after the inline HT lead flashers - in case anyone else is interested:

https://www.steadygarage.com/store/flashing-spark-plug-cap-0-degree-straight-red-blue

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks Andy, I'm looking forward to my first actual ride on it, not just up and down my driveway. I've seen the straight plug caps somewhere else, but no angle ones? I suppose it doesn't matter, and the straight ones would probably be good on my kawasaki's, so I might buy a set of four blue ones, just because I like blue.

[Terry in Australia]

Wow, I just did a google search, Dennis Kirk had the 120 deg flashing caps like my outside ones so I went to buy 4, (2 x straight, 2 x 120 degree) $39.80 USD (fair enough) went to the cart, shipping was........ $116.00! WTF! OK, Ebay USA, Parts Unlimited, same price, and $83 shipping! WTF WTF? Fcuk this, went to Ebay Oz, QEAuto Parts (in the US) $11.56 each, but $8.00 total shipping? SOLD! I don't understand how those other sellers can sleep with ripoff shipping prices like that, poofters........... Oh well, if you're looking for some, there's plenty on Ebay, just do a search for "Flashing Spark Plug Caps" and you'll be bombarded with offers. Enjoy!  

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

Carbs sound great and those spark plug caps are COOL!

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, the plug caps actually proved problematic, but more on that later. Wow, what a weekend it was, magnificent weather, warm, sunny, and great for reviving poor old dead CB750's, so that's what I did. I'd installed the rebuilt carbs and was happy that they weren't dripping fuel, so I found a new air filter, and installed the airbox.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 a by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry's Effing F2.2 Sunday fiddling 20 Sep 2020 5 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I was so happy with how it all fitted, I even installed all the carb insulator band clamps, thanks to Spotty's spare engine. (mine were mostly missing) I even found some float bowl drain hoses and installed them too.

Terry's Effing F2.2 Sunday fiddling 20 Sep 2020 3 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I found a non-rusty 630 chain while still looking for my tool tray, so decided to remove my rusty chain, and saw this:

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Great, no clip, just rust holding it together. It was then that I realised that the bike has been converted to 530 from OEM 630, and as I didn't have a good front and rear sprocket, I just installed a clip (the wrong way around, a man shouldn't be drinking while working) and saferty wired it together.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 6 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Not a biggie, I've ordered a new set of sprockets and DID chain from Germany, so I'll install that before I ride it anywhere, and I'll make sure the clip is pointing in the right direction.

While I was at the back of the bike, I looked again at the rear axle, and didn't like what I saw.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 2 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

It's definitely not a "K" series axle, but it's about half an inch too short? Maybe off an F0/1? Anyhoo, I found an F2 axle in a tub in much nicer condition, so I pulled the rusty one out, and compared them. Yep, the one I had was much nicer, so it went in, with a safety clip, which I'll swap for a split pin (cotter pin) once I get the new tyres and install the new chain and sprockets.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 4 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I re-visited the rear brake caliper. I was happy to get the MC working a week or so ago and bled the brakes, but ever since they were sticking real bad, so I pulled the caliper, and used the lever to pump the piston right out.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 8 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Luckily the seal and rubber bellows were intact, and I was really happy that the piston was in great condition once I cleaned the gunge off it, and cleaned everything in fresh brake fluid. Same/same for the caliper's piston cylinder.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 9 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr.

I flushed the system of all the rusty, cruddy old fluid then topped up the caliper before I reinstalled the piston, and had little problem bleeding the rear brake, no more sticking, dragging etc. it now works perfectly. I also found some new bleed screws, so installed them in the front calipers. The gear shift lever was badly bent and looked sh1t, so when ratting around looking for a plastic tool tray, I found a much nicer pedal. I have some new rubbers somewhere, I'll install one of them soon, too.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 9c by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 9d by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By this stage I was pretty drunk, so took my sander with wire wheel attachment to grind the greasy gritty corrosion off the alternator and gear shift covers. I scratched them up pretty good, but they do actually look better.

Terry's Effing F2.2 fixing 19 Sep 2020 9b by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

By this stage it was getting dark, and I was getting legless. Next morning I decided to install the Kokusan electronic ignition. I've never used one of these before, but they're an old brand, are made in Japan, and seem to have a pretty good rap amongst the Aussie CB750 GB guys. What is handy is that it has it's own static timing light, but what isn't as handy is that it's a red LEd that stays on as soon as it gets 12V power, just gets brighter as you turn the crank and the F mark comes close to the timing mark.

I wasn't 100% happy that the timing was spot on, but it did start instantly and run way smoother than with the points, so as I killed my timing light last year, (melted the pickup wire on the exhaust) I ordered a new one last night, and will set the timing spot on when it arrives.

Terry's Effing F2.2 Sunday fiddling 20 Sep 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

 

And just to please the anti-vaxxers, I did throw the old points plate and advancer assembly into the lunch box under the seat.The second time I fired it up, it was only running on 1 & 4, but it turned out to be the straight flashing caps? Poop. I replaced them with 48 year old Honda items, and all was good. The outside flashing ones are still working fine, so I left them on because, well, they look kinda cool. Not sure why, but they're flshing brighter with the Ei now too.

Terry's Effing F2.2 Sunday fiddling 20 Sep 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

The right hand switch that I stole from Spotty's K7 is an American one with no headlight "On/Off" switch, so I had to fiddle with the wiring to make the headlight work, which resulted in the headlight being permanently on which is fine, except there's not enough juice to crank the engine with the electric start, so tonight I made a bracket for an "On/Off" switch and a volt meter. Tomorrow night after work I'll wire it in, I don't plan on doing too much after dark riding anyway, and we don't have "lights on" laws here anyway.

Terry's Effing F2 volt meter - light switch 21 Sep 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I just received a message from Fastrack Couriers to say the timing light will be delivered tomorrow (woohoo!) so I'll double check the timing, wire in the headlight switch and voltage meter with their own fuses, and then stick a fork in it, because this turkey's (pretty much) done! A quick build is a good build as far as I'm concerned, and I need to get back to Kawasaki land.

Oh, and I bought this little guy today, from the second owner who'd had it since 1965. I don't think I'll be doing too many rides on a bike that probably weighs less than I do, but they're super-rare here, so if nothing else, it'll be great garage art, even though the seller assures me that it'll run fine. I'm looking forward to the lockdown finishing so I can go collect it, hopefully he'll have the owners manual, tool kit, keys, etc. More soon.

Terry's new Honda CL90 21 Sep 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Terry's new Honda CL90 21 Sep 2020 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr   






 

[Terry in Australia]

Well I'm both pissed off and happy at the same time. I installed that Kokusan electronic ignition on Sunday (and found out last night when reading my new (to me) Z1 manual) that Kokusan have been making electronic automotive components for Kawasaki Zeds (zees) for years) but was a tad confused by the built in led timing light. Most inbuilt timing lights I've seen either go off or come on when the points open, but with this sucker, it comes weakly on as soon as you turn the ignition on, then gets brighter when you approach the "F" mark. Being slightly color blind, it just didn't do it for me. Would be fine on a dark night, but no go in the Aussie sunshine. I decided that it'll be fine for the side of the road, but in my driveaway, I'll need a good timing light.

Now over the years I've owned several "cheap" timing lights, and they've all sh4t themselves, usually when the inductive pickup lead has come into contact with a hot header pipe, which is only really a CB750 thing, the central location of the spark plug in a DOHC engine keeps the wire well away from the hot pipe, but CB750's have an annoying design feature of the spark plug wire pretty much hanging vertically above the pipe, and invariable, once the thin wire comes into contact with a hot header, it's dead. I bought a mint Penske chrome timing light that has never been used on Ebay USA, but apparently there was a piece missing that goes between the plug cap and HT lead so as pretty as it is, it's fcuking useless. So on Sunday evening I ordered a new fancy timing light offa Ebay Oz.

Today, Tuesday, I was pleasantly surprised to get a message from Fastway couriers to say it was being delivered today. I was hoping for an early delivery, but wasn't too fussed as I had a "Zoom" meeting with my Bariatric surgeon late this afternoon, so didn't do any bike work, but busied myself making another batch of delicious alcoholic (like me) ginger beer. As it was the weather had turned to sh1t this afternoon anyway, so when the doorbell rank at 5.30 pm to announce the arrival of my new toy, I wasn't too unhappy to have not been able to check my timing. It is a fancy looking timing light though, with an inbuilt voltmeter, tach, dwell meter etc.

Terry's new timing light 22 Sep 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Tomorrow, all going well, I'll get the ignition timing spot on, wire the headlight and volt meter I made the bracket for yesterday, and on Thursday when all the cars are out of the driveway, I might even get a quick lap around the block. Sweet.........





 

   

[PeWe]

Insulate the wire with fiberglass tape. I have done that on mine.
I used Scotch electrical tape.
https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/Scotch-Glass-Cloth-Electrical-Tape-69/?N=5002385+3294280632&rt=rud

Perfect for electrical harness, isolate connectors etc. I use marker pen on a short piece I have wrapped around wires as a flag

[754]

Terry to use the timing light on a Maxi Dwell outside, kneel down, hold a jacket or blanket over your head and side of motor.. it works..

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks guys, well the new timing light was a success, I just looped the pickup cable a couple of times around the handlebars so it was well away from the hot header, and all was well. I loved that as soon as I connected the battery cables the voltmeter automatically came on and told me that I had lots of volts hiding in the ol' battery.

Anyhoo, the ignition timing was a tad out, and the annoying thing is that because the base plate is pretty much just circuit board material, once you loosen the fixing screws the earth stops earthing and the engine cuts out, so I had to hit the kill switch, move the plate slightly, fire it up again, and so on and so forth, until I got it right, which only took a minute or two.

I took a look at the rusty old chainguard that I'd intended to throw out but dropped in the bucket of phosphoric acid, and was surprised at how good the section that had been dunked in the acid looked.

Terry's Effing F2.2 chrome reno 23 Sep 2020 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

I quickly reversed it and put it back in the bucket, I think I might have to put it back on the bike! (it's pretty corroded on the back, but hey, I can throw some silver paint on it, and it'll be all good. I wired in the headlight "On/Off" switch with an inline fuse and the voltmeter, and was happy that it actually all worked, so it was 4 for 4, woohoo!

And for the time being, that's about that. The parts I need for the 1428cc Kawasaki engine I ordered from APE 6 fcuking weeks ago only just turned up today, but the UPS man did a drop and run late this afternoon, so tomorrow I'm gonna do some Kawasaki work.

1428 APE custom cam chain guide by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

1428 APE custom cam chain guide 1 by Terry Prendergast, on Flickr

Once the lockdown is over, I'm gonna get me some tyres, get a roadworthy inspection done, and go for a ride!

 

 

[Terry in Australia]

Well as a sort of a postscript, keeping in mind that there's still stuff I need to do like new tyres, chain and sprockets etc, I finally sneaked out for a quick lap around the block today, and I was stoked, it goes really well! There's a weird low idle stutter that instantly goes away when I blip the throttle, but I feel like one of the el-cheapo chinese coils that power plugs #2 and 3 is suspect, but there might also be an air leak in the carb insulator rubbers, but regardless, once under way, it goes great!

The brakes are great, the gearbox shifts really smoothly, all the lights and indicators work, the rear shocks (Koni's) are at their softest setting but feel good, the front forks seem to work fine even though they should have the fork oil changed. I'd pumped up the old tyres and they felt fine, but as they're so old I wouldn't trust them in the wet.

There's a weird scraping sound that I initially thought was the front brakes, but the more I think about it, the more I think it might be the starter motor. I had a similar noise on my second F2, and it turned out the starter was on the way out. I've got plenty of spare starter motors, so I'll change it out and see if that sorts it, if not, I'll keep looking. The carbs are great, no leaks, appear to be synched well (I didn't synch the slides when I rebuilt them because they looked fine) and with the accelerator pumps, it accelerated really well, better than my K2 with it's round slide carbs, and it seems to have tons of power, which I found surprising.

I'll have a little bit more of a play with it, but all in all, it goes great. I'll do a 100 miler once it's legal, then drop the oil and filter, and put some quality oil and a new filter in it, and it should be good for lots of late spring/summer rides.        

[RAFster122s]

Congrats!  Glad she is mostly sorted baring the list of the ngs to finish her up. Get her registered, plated, and insured so you can enjoy her and get her running reliably and regularly.

Now, segue into a few Kawa bikes for a brief time while you await some road miles.

[Terry in Australia]

Thanks David, was gonna pop the head off the 1428 engine and drill it for the custom APE top camchain guide but had the opportunity to bottle another 28 litres of my alcoholic ginger beer this afternoon, so by the time that was done it was getting dark and raining, so I gave it a miss.

Good thing is tomorrow's Friday, and over the weekend I can fit the guide, helicoil some cam hold down saddle bolt holes, and torque the head down, do the cam timing, and shove the engine back in the frame, all going well. Hell, I might even fire it up! We'll see............

[simon#42]

having read this thread i am off to find where the feck i have put my f2 . could be time to resurrect the old girl !

[Terry in Australia]

Do it Simon, I’m pleasantly surprised by this bike, it does so remind me of my first F2, which always felt just right, as opposed to the second one that I didn’t trust as far as I could push it, although to be fair, for all it’s faults, it always got me home.

By the time I’d pulled that engine apart to reseal the cases after the POS Loctite case sealer failed, then did two top end rebuilds, replaced the tank (twice) and converted the top end to K6 head and cylinders, it was actually a nice bike to ride and I probably should have kept it.

This bike on the other hand is (from my very short ride yesterday) a really nice old jigger, and I’m gonna enjoy doing some longer rides on it as I slowly sort the couple of gremlins I noticed yesterday. I think I’ll change the coils to the Dyna coils I had on my K2, and see how that goes, then see if I can pin down that weird scraping noise.

Typical for any bike brought back to life after sitting for so long, there are slways a few things to sort. I rang Shannons insurance and insured both the F2 and the little CL90 yesterday, with agreed vale of $6K and $3K respectively, which will add a whopping $8 to my monthly insurance bill. I think it’s worth it......