Topic: 550 handlebar switches -- with on/off for headlight?

[Nachtderuntoten]

I wonder how a Mexican cop would react to this (see pic).
On all my travels I never bribed, not in Asia, not in Africa, nowhere. There may be some countries where it can be difficult. I choose not to go there. By bribing you're basically saying: you Mexicans are not our kind, you people are a different species. I hold that for racist. There are many Mexicans who fight corruption and among them there are celebrities. It's those people you betray when you bribe.
The maximum delay I once had, was in Cameroon: not even 5 minutes.
There are all kind of ways to circumvent bribing. My favourite tip I once read, is to wear a clerical collar and explain an officer in a soft voice that it is against your religion. Not that I personally had to practice it ever. 

Not to start a debate, but you could ask yourself: what is the importance of me, a tourist, being there that I'd act in a way, I would never allow myself back home, that I would give up my morals, my principles? At the root of such behaviour lies a racist attitude IMO. You could look up James Wolfensohn, former head of the Worldbank, famous speech: The Cancer of Corruption.
Therefor: what you do not want done to you or your society, do not to do to other societies.

Uh, yeah, that's a little weird Delta, and I'm not sure if you're calling me racist because I've paid bribes to cops (a total of 3 times now, twice with my Mexican wife with me -- does that make her racist against herself?). Two of the three we were in the wrong (without knowing), once when she was 8 months pregnant we had to go to the doctor in our (then) only car and it was a day we weren't supposed to circulate because of the numbers on her plate and we didn't know). We paid less than the normal fine in order to drive away, as opposed to having to get out of the car, have it towed, having to find our way home, and having to go to court to try to get the car out of the tow yard after paying a fine. And, of course, Mexicans pay off cops all the time -- it's just easier and cheaper that getting the ticket and/or getting towed and going to court and paying the fine. So I guess Mexicans are racist against other Mexicans? Part of my work is against corruption in Southeast Asia, but on a larger scale than paying off cops (which I've done once over there, and avoided once over there). The root of the problem is, of course, low salaries for cops. Also -- I'm not a tourist. I live and work here, earn a salary in pesos, pay taxes, am a permanent resident on the verge of citizenship. The famous philosopher Rene Descartes once wrote "When you assume, you make an ass out of "u" and me" -- but I think this time it's just "u". There is also an entire thread of subaltern studies that looks at the benefits of corruption to the extremely poor. Elections in the Philippines and Indonesia (and elsewhere in Southeast Asia, and the world), for example, bring people with suitcases full of money, bags of rice, free t-shirts, etc., and it is a once-a-year boon to people who don't own anything and can hardly feed their families. So perhaps not so morally cut and dry as you like to think, living in a wealthy developed country and typing on your computer. I'm also not convinced the head of the World Bank is your best source for advice on morals, but hey -- you do you, although you might consider getting off your high horse, buddy. I think most people here are fed up with your toxicity.

But speaking of rules, Mexico last year passed laws limiting passengers to only one and no children allowed as passengers, with stricter helmet enforcement. These are, of course, not enforced strictly.

You're referencing Descartes 'Meditations', aren't you?
Did you study philosophy at school, or is it an amateurs pursuit thereof*?

*I'm merely curious, not seeking to provoke nor to attack.

[carnivorous chicken]

You're referencing Descartes 'Meditations', aren't you?
Did you study philosophy at school, or is it an amateurs pursuit thereof*?

*I'm merely curious, not seeking to provoke nor to attack.

Ah, you know it too!

[Nachtderuntoten]

You're referencing Descartes 'Meditations', aren't you?
Did you study philosophy at school, or is it an amateurs pursuit thereof*?

*I'm merely curious, not seeking to provoke nor to attack.

Ah, you know it too!

Of it am i familiar, lol! I had to read it for a summer class in philosophy (i'm a political science major [with designs to the study of the law]).

[Nachtderuntoten]

Well, i completely spaced on that possibility--but it makes total sense nonetheless.

Huh, that's funny, too, that you've not seen a single other one. Has anyone ever expressed fascination or interest in your bikes like can happen here in the states?

Yes, absolutely, from catching people staring at stoplights to a few conversations in the Home Depot parking lot, or elsewhere.

There just aren't a lot of old bikes here, and there never were a lot of bikes over 200-250cc (maybe 350cc?) displacement. If someone bought a bike here in 1975, they would ride it to death, sell it to someone else who would resurrect it and ride it to death again, etc. Not like the US and other places, where we still find bikes from the '70s with 10,000 miles on them (or sometimes fewer, or more of course), where someone bought a bike as a lark, didn't like it, and stuck it in their basement for 35 years. I've seen a couple (maybe literally just two) bikes from the '80s including a Yamaha Radian, and there is a classic car dealer that occasionally has an old bike or two in his window (usually BMW, and I'm guessing they import from the US or somewhere as their prices are insane).

Haha, nice. That sucks that the bikes were ridden into the ground, but, being as poor as many are or tend to be there, it would be a proper assumption that, all else equal, one would treat it as a tool. Heck, most little bikes in Southeast Asia, Are, and not to mention the millions of Toyota and Honda cars the world over.

I read somewhere else on here that you had posted about it being a real hassle to import your bikes. How did you go about importing yours? I know Mexico has a law that only cars built in North America can be imported into Mexico.

[carnivorous chicken]

Haha, nice. That sucks that the bikes were ridden into the ground, but, being as poor as many are or tend to be there, it would be a proper assumption that, all else equal, one would treat it as a tool. Heck, most little bikes in Southeast Asia, Are, and not to mention the millions of Toyota and Honda cars the world over.

I read somewhere else on here that you had posted about it being a real hassle to import your bikes. How did you go about importing yours? I know Mexico has a law that only cars built in North America can be imported into Mexico.

There's the thread for my two bikes, including a 350F that's still in PHX (and I have another 350F here). The drama of registering is on page 3, the actualy importing over the border is before that.

It was a pain. I could have paid an agent to help me (like I did with the 350F) but I actually wanted to go through the process (and had some time). If there is a next time (might bring that other 350F down, although it's nice to have a bike in AZ when I visit) I might pay, but that being said I am now more familiar with the process so I assume it would be easier for me to navigate.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,193106.0.html

I'm not sure about only cars being made in NA are allowed to be imported. You mean used or new? Definitely not new: Mexico has proven a huge market for BYD, they're everywhere, along with other European imports (lots of little Fiats). Used might be another matter, however. Or do you mean brought over individually by a person and not a company? I have to admit I don't know.

I had a '64 Plymouth Valiant droptop in PHX for 20 years, sold it when I moved here, but out of the few old cars I see, the '63 and '64 Valiants must have been popular here as there are still a few of them around (although the prices for them as insane, I asked about a decent one and the guy wanted $10k for a car not worth half that in the USA). That being said, the Valiant and the Dart were The People's Car (IMHO) and they made a ton of them. See the occasional cool old truck, '50s - '70s, some maybe brought over, but some also likely rescued from a farm somewhere.

[Nachtderuntoten]

Haha, nice. That sucks that the bikes were ridden into the ground, but, being as poor as many are or tend to be there, it would be a proper assumption that, all else equal, one would treat it as a tool. Heck, most little bikes in Southeast Asia, Are, and not to mention the millions of Toyota and Honda cars the world over.

I read somewhere else on here that you had posted about it being a real hassle to import your bikes. How did you go about importing yours? I know Mexico has a law that only cars built in North America can be imported into Mexico.

There's the thread for my two bikes, including a 350F that's still in PHX (and I have another 350F here). The drama of registering is on page 3, the actualy importing over the border is before that.

It was a pain. I could have paid an agent to help me (like I did with the 350F) but I actually wanted to go through the process (and had some time). If there is a next time (might bring that other 350F down, although it's nice to have a bike in AZ when I visit) I might pay, but that being said I am now more familiar with the process so I assume it would be easier for me to navigate.

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,193106.0.html

I'm not sure about only cars being made in NA are allowed to be imported. You mean used or new? Definitely not new: Mexico has proven a huge market for BYD, they're everywhere, along with other European imports (lots of little Fiats). Used might be another matter, however. Or do you mean brought over individually by a person and not a company? I have to admit I don't know.

I had a '64 Plymouth Valiant droptop in PHX for 20 years, sold it when I moved here, but out of the few old cars I see, the '63 and '64 Valiants must have been popular here as there are still a few of them around (although the prices for them as insane, I asked about a decent one and the guy wanted $10k for a car not worth half that in the USA). That being said, the Valiant and the Dart were The People's Car (IMHO) and they made a ton of them. See the occasional cool old truck, '50s - '70s, some maybe brought over, but some also likely rescued from a farm somewhere.

For used cars was what i read.

Does Mexico--by you, anyway--have decent bike- &/ car-culture?

[carnivorous chicken]

For used cars was what i read.

Does Mexico--by you, anyway--have decent bike- &/ car-culture?

I honestly don't really know. I mean I know clubs exist -- there are VW fanatics here, I see groups around, driving and parked in masses at plazas. I imagine there are others, MOPAR, old Fords, etc. I know there is an old bike meet up somewhere and maybe I will go some time, but I'm not much of a joiner. There are a lot of MC clubs, some clearly modeled after HA or others, but most I think just people getting together and most of them are riding around on little 150CC cruiser bikes despite the tough appearance and leather-with-denim-vests-and-patches look. Reminds me a little of the Russ Meyer film "Motorpsycho" -- these tough looking moto thugs who ride 90cc scooters. But to each his own I guess. The cafe craze is still on here, and there is a domestic manufacturer called Italika (Italian Metallica?) that makes a pretty cool looking little out-of-the-box cafe racer (https://www.italika.mx/motocicleta-cafe-racer-italika-sptfire-250-plata-34005271/p) (although quality isn't supposed to be very high) and I see groups of people riding those and other cafe-style bikes too.

[Nachtderuntoten]

For used cars was what i read.

Does Mexico--by you, anyway--have decent bike- &/ car-culture?

I honestly don't really know. I mean I know clubs exist -- there are VW fanatics here, I see groups around, driving and parked in masses at plazas. I imagine there are others, MOPAR, old Fords, etc. I know there is an old bike meet up somewhere and maybe I will go some time, but I'm not much of a joiner. There are a lot of MC clubs, some clearly modeled after HA or others, but most I think just people getting together and most of them are riding around on little 150CC cruiser bikes despite the tough appearance and leather-with-denim-vests-and-patches look. Reminds me a little of the Russ Meyer film "Motorpsycho" -- these tough looking moto thugs who ride 90cc scooters. But to each his own I guess. The cafe craze is still on here, and there is a domestic manufacturer called Italika (Italian Metallica?) that makes a pretty cool looking little out-of-the-box cafe racer (https://www.italika.mx/motocicleta-cafe-racer-italika-sptfire-250-plata-34005271/p) (although quality isn't supposed to be very high) and I see groups of people riding those and other cafe-style bikes too.

Fair enough. I suppose it would be the Beetle that would be big there, they're having been taxis in Mexico City for decades before laws in the past twenty to fifteen years made them obsolete--sad, though, that they ended up crushing many of them.. :'(

In one of your posts on the link above* (in an earlier reply), you stated 'So on this trip I replaced the Tec points with ND'. Where were you able to get Nippon Denso points**? My 750K2 has had the whole contact breaker architecture removed, and i'm trying to put together a full system even if i stick with the unknown electronic unit i have now.

*this post: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,193106.msg2287311.html#msg2287311
**i've read here that one can get points, etc. from South Shore/Bay Honda in Seattle, but on the website they sell Toyo(??) branded points.

[carnivorous chicken]

In one of your posts on the link above* (in an earlier reply), you stated 'So on this trip I replaced the Tec points with ND'. Where were you able to get Nippon Denso points? My 750K2 has had the whole contact breaker architecture removed, and i'm trying to put together a full system even if i stick with the unknown electronic unit i have now.

*this post: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,193106.msg2287311.html#msg2287311

When I lived in Phoenix (and less so MA/NYC) I bought bikes and parts lots to fix up what I had or sell to friends or others. In PHX I had an accumulated stash of 350F parts (including buying a "cafe project" that was parts from two whole 350Fs and some aftermarket stuff for $500), so when I bought that bike from Sean I had boxes of good stuff to replace the old stuff, including a set of those points from a parts bike (points plates were one of the things I always took off an saved). Friends let me keep stuff including the bike in their garage, although I have moved a lot of that stuff to here in CDMX. I've got a set of ND points here in CDMX for my 550 that I am going to mount as well, but I think that's the last set of good points I had laying around.

[Nachtderuntoten]

In one of your posts on the link above* (in an earlier reply), you stated 'So on this trip I replaced the Tec points with ND'. Where were you able to get Nippon Denso points? My 750K2 has had the whole contact breaker architecture removed, and i'm trying to put together a full system even if i stick with the unknown electronic unit i have now.

*this post: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php/topic,193106.msg2287311.html#msg2287311

When I lived in Phoenix (and less so MA/NYC) I bought bikes and parts lots to fix up what I had or sell to friends or others. In PHX I had an accumulated stash of 350F parts (including buying a "cafe project" that was parts from two whole 350Fs and some aftermarket stuff for $500), so when I bought that bike from Sean I had boxes of good stuff to replace the old stuff, including a set of those points from a parts bike (points plates were one of the things I always took off an saved). Friends let me keep stuff including the bike in their garage, although I have moved a lot of that stuff to here in CDMX. I've got a set of ND points here in CDMX for my 550 that I am going to mount as well, but I think that's the last set of good points I had laying around.

Mm, fair enough. Damn--oh well.

[seanbarney41]

Night of the Undead, Toyo IS TEC...oem quality stuff.  TEC stands for Toyo Electronics Company (or something very similar).  Original Honda ignition components were supplied by TEC, Nippon Denso, Hitachi, maybe one other?  Although there may be extremely subtle differences, they are all built to Honda's extremely high standards.

[carnivorous chicken]

Night of the Undead, Toyo IS TEC...oem quality stuff.  TEC stands for Toyo Electronics Company (or something very similar).  Original Honda ignition components were supplied by TEC, Nippon Denso, Hitachi, maybe one other?  Although there may be extremely subtle differences, they are all built to Honda's extremely high standards.

The issue with those points on the 350F is they were worn to little nubs, almost bare metal.

[seanbarney41]

Night of the Undead, Toyo IS TEC...oem quality stuff.  TEC stands for Toyo Electronics Company (or something very similar).  Original Honda ignition components were supplied by TEC, Nippon Denso, Hitachi, maybe one other?  Although there may be extremely subtle differences, they are all built to Honda's extremely high standards.

The issue with those points on the 350F is they were worn to little nubs, almost bare metal.

Yeah,I have not seen that on Honda sohc4's often.  Probably caused by weak condensor's that caused pitting and thus frequent and excessive filing.

I guess I have had extremely good luck and success with sohc4 OEM ignition components.  I have a horde of stuff that should last me some time.  Not so with stuff for the twins.  It seems like they eat up ignition components much more.

[Nachtderuntoten]

Night of the Undead, Toyo IS TEC...oem quality stuff.  TEC stands for Toyo Electronics Company (or something very similar).  Original Honda ignition components were supplied by TEC, Nippon Denso, Hitachi, maybe one other?  Although there may be extremely subtle differences, they are all built to Honda's extremely high standards.

Ha!--you actually knew what my username meant

Okay, that;s good to know! I'm looking for the link to the points set (i thing Hondaman posted about it), but if anyone knows offhand, then it'd help.

Also, how do i look up My bike on South Sound Honda? When i search for parts, i go to 'shop with us', then 'view OEM parts', then 'browse catalog--->motorcycle', then i search for my year (model-year 1972), but i only see 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, etc. No 1972.

[Nachtderuntoten]

Night of the Undead, Toyo IS TEC...oem quality stuff.  TEC stands for Toyo Electronics Company (or something very similar).  Original Honda ignition components were supplied by TEC, Nippon Denso, Hitachi, maybe one other?  Although there may be extremely subtle differences, they are all built to Honda's extremely high standards.

The issue with those points on the 350F is they were worn to little nubs, almost bare metal.

Do you yet have contact breakers? If so, then Hondamans ignition system might work [i don't recall if he has a setup for Honda twin cylinders]: i've heard/read Nothing but Great things about it all over the forum.

[carnivorous chicken]

Okay, that;s good to know! I'm looking for the link to the points set (i thing Hondaman posted about it), but if anyone knows offhand, then it'd help.

Also, how do i look up My bike on South Sound Honda? When i search for parts, i go to 'shop with us', then 'view OEM parts', then 'browse catalog--->motorcycle', then i search for my year (model-year 1972), but i only see 1969, 1970, 1971, 1974, 1975, etc. No 1972.

Parts numbers are the same for 1971, 1972, 1973 -- either will work.

Do you yet have contact breakers? If so, then Hondamans ignition system might work [i don't recall if he has a setup for Honda twin cylinders]: i've heard/read Nothing but Great things about it all over the forum.

I might do this eventually. Still working the bugs out of both the 350F and the 550F, although I think I finally have the carbs and airbox sorted on the latter.

[seanbarney41]

Yeah Hondaman ignition works with the twins that are NOT wasted spark (such as cb/cl350...)I.e. they ARE dual points, 2 separate coils each firing a sparkplug.  Iirc  it's the 360 degree crank twins that have one coil firing both cylinders like 160/175/200 that WONT work.  Hondaman may no longer have printed directions for the twins and you have to realize the twins mount the condensors up by the coils.