OK, so off in the 'hot start issue' thread I went into my tear-down of the electric connectors in the headlight bucket etc. The bullet connectors and male spade connectors I could get to, I polished to a mirror sheen, so connection surface area should be optimal. New fuses, (the fuse diagram at the top of my fuse cover said 15A while the '79 service manual says 10A, so I'm guessing it's a difference between the years) put in 15s according to the diagram, anyway. The red 'power' connector for the ignition switch was covered with crap, so I cleaned that off really good, connected/disconnected it a few times to make sure it would fit real tight, put it all back together.
About when I had everything together electrically and went to turn on the gas to start 'er up to test, my 'gas resistant' gasket goo 'fix' for one of the chewed up carb o-rings went. 'went' as in it spewed out a little hole and brought a constant drip of gas with it. UGH.
This time I am SO P!SSED at my carbs that I'm doing them the RIGHT way, dammit, even if it's costing about as much a new damn bank of the things. (AAAARRRRRRRRGHGGHHHHH!!!!) $160 for the stupid gasket set from Honda, $10 for the tiny arse choke butterfly screws because mine are all chewed up by now, $16 for stainless steel allen screws for the carb bowls/etc because THOSE are chewed up, too, and another $80 for the air cutoff diaphragms/springs/etc.
Someone else on here said that they had an '80 650 with the air cutoff diaphragms chewed up as well, and their idle was erratic and burpy (like mine) so perhaps this will solve that problem. Perhaps also this will completely cure my carbs of the slow drip/gas smell that's been eaking from them even under good conditions because it's a little unnerving.
I also went and got an oz of wintergreen oil and will either boil or mix it with xylene (30-70%, supposedly) to attempt to soften my intake carb boots. They're not completely awful, just stiff and hard to get the carbs back on. I'm thinking if I soften them a bit, they might seal a little better. The boots on the airbox side are still very soft and pliable, thus not a problem.
I'm realizing in the last 19 pages I could have avoided a lot of BS by taking the expensive but 'right' way out instead of trying to go with cheaper parts or whatever, just going OEM and being done with it. ...Along with that admission is the caveat that I didn't go with the $40 air cutoff diaphragms from Honda, I got the $20 ones from Z1, but his parts haven't let me down yet.
I finally feel a bit rewarded by the calm afforded me by this carb 'incident'. I know what's wrong and how to fix it. Less the money I need to spend on parts that would have been sorta nice going to tuition instead, I know exactly how to remedy this problem and it's a refreshing, comforting concept next to the electrical gremlins I've been dealing with. Further, though I'm spending a small fortune on these parts, I know I'll have some extra float bowl gaskets on hand 'just in case' which is always nice, I know my carbs will have parts that are exactly the expected spec, that function in exactly the expected way, and from there my troubleshooting has more constants than I'm used to. Perhaps I'll be back to "just" confirmed electrical problems until I'm actually "done" and have a real daily rider on my hands.
A gent (motorhead55) PMed me with suggestions for my starter issue, if it's a problem with the clutch switch activating the closure of the starter solenoid, sending insufficient voltage, hence preventing full closure of the solenoid resulting in arcing and insufficient power to trigger the starter when hot. His answer to the issue, utilized on his own 550 and other vehicles was a 12v relay ($5) mounted next to the solenoid, increasing the power going to the starter motor from the starter solenoid (I think). To test this I'm to touch the red and yellow wire from the solenoid's connector (the wire that runs to the starter motor, which apparently hits a connecter about two inches down from the solenoid) to the battery wire input on the starter solenoid. If this direct connection works under fail conditions (hot and won't start) then he says this relay should work.
...so I'm anxiously awaiting my carb parts because obviously that has to come first before I can test his theory and answer. I am, however, wondering if a new solenoid or clutch switch would elicit the same response, or if the $5 relay is just a cheaper easier answer, like a hearing aid instead of a cochlear implant.
