Topic: Belfast-2-Belfast-by-Bike

[newday777]

Anyone agree it’s time for a change? 

Yes sir it was time

[Stev-o]

Anyone agree it’s time for a change? 

Good for at least few hundred miles!    But wouldnt want to ride in the rain. 

Whats the latest?

[ofreen]

Anyone agree it’s time for a change? 

That tire made me think of one of my riding buddies who is reluctant to spend money, even though he has a lot of it.  He will run a tire down to the wear bars and beyond. Before one of our long trips I'll look at his tires to see how they are doing.  Sometimes they look like the one in your photo.   I'll have to remind him occasionally that a thin tire, besides being poor in the rain, is much more subject to punctures, which would be a pain in the ass in some of the remote places we go.  I have to remind myself of the same thing sometimes, because I am a cheap bastard too.

[newday777]

Well Sean has made it to YouTube via Christopher Pearson of Australia when we were greeted at the coffee shop on his way from NH towards Toronto.

[The Lone Builder]

How embarrassing is that? 

[newday777]

How embarrassing is that? 

Live and uncut

[The Lone Builder]

Anyone agree it’s time for a change? 

Good for at least few hundred miles!    But wouldnt want to ride in the rain. 

Whats the latest?

Well last night I not only rode in the rain, well, thankfully just after the rain, but also with no lights! Memories of Africa resurgent.

Battery let me down in spite of reading 13V and up to 14.5V at 3000 rpm. I go through 100 miles of a 160 mile run and the dike died. I got roadside assistance and a new battery - another story in there - which I thought would get me the rest of the way. Nope!!

The good thing is I managed to avoid the thunderstorm, but had to ride on the wet roads afterwards. All was well until the lights started to go out. To cut a long story short, I rode the last 40 miles with nothing more than a pilot /parking light - highway and country roads alike. On the latter I could see nothing but a faint image of the centre line and the side line., sometimes only by looking around my windscreen.

Probably more by luck than anything else I made it to my destination. Then this morning I went ot have my tyre replaced ; $275 they wanted to fit the tyre that I had paid them $175 for! Not surprisingly I said no and took the bike home to remove the wheel - only $75 with the wheel off; what a rip off!!

Got s new battery also. Now I just have to find out what’s wrong with the charging.


Oh, I’m now a bit north of Philly in Hampton, Maryland.

[BenelliSEI]

Sean….. good to hear to have that new tire! On the charging system: seeing 14.5V at 3,000 rpm seems like all is well. Was the battery a wet cell? Any chance it boiled dry?

[The Lone Builder]

It was a Motobatt gel battery. When discharged, the charging system could only get it up from 6.5 to 7.5. That’s why I opted for a new battery. The same with the new one I got from AutoZone.

Yesterday I went for a ride with no headlight on, only an LED parking light, and got out and back with no problem. This makes me think the charging system is at fault. Maybe the regulator is faulty, or a wire is loose/diconnected.

The problem is similar to the one I had in Africa. That turned out to be due to a wrongly wired block connector - only 2 of the yellows were connected - and then a blown component on the regulator circuit board.

Having spent the afternoon refitting my rear wheel, a real bugger with an unbroken chain - I’m leaving the electrical diagnosis till tomorrow.

Beer and braii time.

[BallAquatics]

Here's a link to a Honda SOHC Charging System Troubleshooting pdf written by Mike Nixon.....

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.cb750.com/attachments/honda-sohc-charging-system-troubleshooting-pdf.6595/&ved=2ahUKEwjDk97I-qmGAxWyjokEHdZ3AawQFnoECC8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0lKk4hgJAmSQmmKcU9_GFV

[BenelliSEI]

Sean….. any chance we unplugged a lead when checking the gasket on the cover?

[newday777]

Sean….. any chance we unplugged a lead when checking the gasket on the cover?

I was thinking about maybe a loose barrel connector possibility 🤔

[HondaMan]

Sean….. any chance we unplugged a lead when checking the gasket on the cover?

These can be loose from overheating: they lost their zinc plating somewhere around 1990, and got hot every time the bike was running. With heavy loads they then spread out and are loose, making them always hot: I find many of them burned up when I rebuild these engines. I replace them with the modern brass versions in 3.5mm size (they were usually only 3mm size in most of the bikes) so they can run cooler and handle full-load current 100% of the time. The 3mm size only handles 9 amps typical and 13 amps intermittently: when everyone started hanging extra driving lamps on crashbars under Vetter fairings back in the 1970s, these connectors often burned. Then low-charge batteries became a problem.

[The Lone Builder]

So here’s what I’ve found. To remember is that I have fitted a 750A field coil.

Starting with a battery at 12.8V, it dropped momentarily to 11V when I pressed the starter.

The measured voltages, with no load were:

 1000      2000      3000
 12.6       13.3       13.5-14

After the test the voltage was 13.1V

I then repeated the test with headlight main beam on - standard halogen bulb

 1000      2000      3000              4000
 12.3       12.5       12.7 rising.     12.9 rising

 12.3, 12.5, 12.7 and rising and at 4000 rpm 12.9 rising.

I measured the current flowing from the fuse and it was:

4A at 1, 2 & 3000 rpm unloaded and

8A with the headlight on at 1000 & 2000 rpm.

Then I unplugged the white wire at the regulator, and connected the ammeter.(red to terminal and black to wire) It read 0.2A.
When I changed the connection to the +ve battery terminal, there was no change.

Next I disconnected the green at the regulator and jumped black to white. Voltage at 3000 was 12.4 and steady. Removing the jumper made no difference.

I really don’t know what to make of this. On the one hand everything seem to be working, but on the other not so:


• With no load battery voltage rises with revs as expected
• With a load the battery voltage doesn’t rise
• The alternator seem to be putting out an appropriate current, rising when loaded
• The individual components - field coil and alternator don’t seem to be working

I am leaning towards a faulty regulator so will go now and remove it, but any thoughts in the meantime would be appreciated.

Sean

[HondaMan]

What kind of regulator do you have, Sean? Is it the OEM version or some aftermarket thingie?

If OEM, unplugging the Green wire releases the 'relay' contact inside, letting it spring upward to connect to the HIGH CHARGE contact. (In other words, this is the 'fail-to-safe' mode if the relay coil were to break open a wire inside.)

This all said: the OEM upper contacts can (and I've seen quite a few that do) get burned after 50 years of spotty use. This reduces the amount of current that gets delivered to the field coil to (try to) increase alternator output. They also can get corroded: this causes similar, but intermittent, hi-charge mode - often after the bike sat a long time. What happens then is: when it switches to HI current mode, the contacts don't connect very well (or at all) and then the output from the alternator drops way down - even to zero, sometimes only momentarily (or minute-tarily), and then it suddenly appears to start working again. This is caused by visible crusty spots (usually white colored spots) on the surfaces of those contacts where they meet.

I've polished these 'spots' off with points files, emery paper, and even the little nail file in a Swiss Army pocketknife. The latter is hard to get in between the contacts, as they are only about 0.2mm apart.

If the relay is an aftermarket type, I don't know enough about what you have to try to help at the moment?

In the 'old days' the chopper builders who installed the [in]famous dual-rectangular-headlights (one above the other on the triple tree) would just jumper the Black and White wires together, period. Since I was in Illinois them days, and the headlights had to be ON all the time there, this made some sense - but it did also dry out the battery pretty quickly, and every winter we had to replace the little bullet connectors (Yellow wires) where the alternator plugs into the harness at the left-side tranny cover. You can get to them by removing the sprocket cover for inspection, tricky to replace them, though, because they are on a short leash with the tranny cover installed.

[andy750]

Where is Sean now and is he ok??

[newday777]

Where is Sean now and is he ok??

Either Ohio or back in PA. I think. Have you been reading his blog? Did you read he went down in loose gravel on a dirt road?

The link before he went down. I will post morel
https://belfast2belfastbybike.com/2024/06/16/ohios-disappearing-belfasts-08-10-june-2024/

[andy750]

Thanks Stu! No havent been following the blog ( I know I should be but been busy!).

[newday777]

The next when he went down, banged up his knee and the insurance adjuster came out

https://belfast2belfastbybike.com/2024/06/17/into-each-life-some-rain-must-fall-11-june-2024/

[newday777]

And the last post with a discussion about what to do

https://belfast2belfastbybike.com/2024/06/19/the-clouds-part-13-14-june-2024/

[andy750]

Ok read the part about the frame being bent - cant believe that from a simple fall. Ah I see it was due to the steering stop-- but still! Anyway seemed he made out as I only have liability insurance and would never call the insurance company for anything 

[newday777]

Ok read the part about the frame being bent - cant believe that from a simple fall.

Continue reading.....

[newday777]

I reread a text from Sean and he is in Greencastle PA, not very far from the Flight 93 Memorial

[andy750]

Ok got it and now up to date thanks Stu. Everyone's level of risk is different and Im glad he can continue his journey!

[newday777]

You are welcome Andy 😊