Ok, perhaps that is not a politically correct title. I'm guess I'm just not a PC kind of guy.
But it is my question. Since I preliminarily finished the initial stage of my K0 750 restoration, now heading into the early steps of of the beginning portion of the middle phase of completion, at least the beginning of the end of the beginning, I have been dialing this sucker in. It is going well - the bike starts easily and idles OK. It kicks it pretty well. For those of you who do not anxiously log onto the forum daily, hoping for the latest update on my project, this is a 1969 Honda CB 750 with an 810 kit, a hot cam of undetermined origin and design and three-ohm coils from a 198x V45.
Here's my question. Prior to the start of our winter, which thankfully appears to be over, I timed the bike. I used my timing light and it was dead on at idle and properly within the timing marks at 2,500-3,000 rpm. That, however, seems to be a problem. Ever since I timed it the bike seems to have lost some pep, particularly at low and mid-range.
I've read posts about dialing in the cam. That is not an option, not so much because it would require me to pull the engine again (I once tore down an engine to the tranny because the back tire went flat. Long story.) but primarily because I have no idea what is involved in such an endeavor. There are master mechanics on this forum. I am not one of them. I can bring a bike back from the dead and make it run, if it has a stock configuration, but performance upgrades that require engineering acumen or advanced mechanical thought are generally beyond my grasp. I once timed a two-stroke single-cylinder dirt bike so poorly that I ended with five reverse gears. My greatest motorcycle adventures have occurred in my garage.
Something I do know how to do, however, is mess with the ignition timing. To get the best performance from a hot cam do I want the timing on the bike to be advanced or retarded? I'm afraid I don't remember which was the case when I first got the bike running and it scared the hell out of me.
Thanks,
Patrick
