Topic: CL350 Problems/"Opportunities"

[rstory]

Hello, this is my first post but I've been reading and learning lots of good stuff. I have recently acquired a '73 CL350 and now I am trying to tune it up to get it working right, but I'm encountering some problems and I am no mechanic by any stretch. Any insight on anything is helpful to me.

1)The choke seems to do nothing. When the bike is cold started, moving the lever gets no response from the engine. The only time when I do get a response is when it revs itself up to 3000-5000 rpm. I'm not sure if it is broke or maybe something is happening with another one of my problems to cause it.

2)After taking the bike around the block, it would go up to 5000 rpm when I would pull in the clutch or when it was in neutral. Tonight I tried playing with the Idle Air Screw and got no response from the engine when I did it while it was turned on. I shut it off set it to what I believe is the recommended setting then started it again. Now it idles around 1800rpm, but when I shift into gear the rpms will drop and the clutch feels like it is disengaging even though I still have it pulled. If I give it throttle to about 2500-3000 rpm it will engage fully.

Not sure if all my sentences make sense, but I'm a dead end with my limited knowledge.  Thanks for any future help and all the great reading you guys have provided me.

[78whiteorbs]

Hi revs when you pull in the clutch means a slipping clutch .  try using a differnt kind of oil and see if it helps . Clutch plates could be warped and need replacing .   Not sure why the idle adjustment screw isnt making the engine rev up or down . Have you cleaned your carbs ?   

Welcome tp the SOHC forum , cl's are cool bikes , been looking for a 450 for a while now with no luck - read some and read some more and you get it licked-

 

[MickeyX]

old scrambler and paulages might be your best bets on here for help. They know those bikes inside and out. I know paul is pretty busy these days, but a PM couldn't hurt. We have 2 of them (a'69 and a '73) and are still figuring stuff out so, we can't help much with specifics on exactly how to do something.

I would start by cleaning carbs and making sure you bench synch them at least. If you think they are clean enough, clean them again. And then clean them again.   Check your air filters. Check your throttle cables, maybe one or both need some love. They both need to pull exactly at the same time or you'll have problems. set everything else and do the throttle cables last. check your fuel lines and make sure you are getting fuel at an even pace.

check your clutch cable and adjust it. you can get a free pdf of the manual online.   It's pretty easy to adjust.

[schwebel]

Your first problem sounds like an intake boot leak, even your second problems seems like that too. If you apply full choke it should eventually die. But if I were you I would start by giving it a full tune up. Get your valves, and points/gap spot on. Then buy a couple of sets of plugs for tuning the carbs. Then I would clean the carbs, and bench sync them. Those CL/CB carbs have a 1 into 2 cable setup and if they are off it will never run right. Then I would inspect the intake boots and airbox(s) for cracks. Those clamps warp over time and may not be providing a good seal, replace them if they are bent out of shape. The airfilters are almost impossible to come by cheaply. I personally just cut the old ones apart, and get a car airfilter and replace the elements inside them. With some of my bikes I have cut apart a K&N panel filter and made a reusable air cleaner. After all that is done give it some rides and check the plugs. Adjust air-screws/cables/ and idle accordingly.

[tbpmusic]

You should try HondaTwins.net, they specialize in your bike.
There are a lot of "sticky" posts covering good basic stuff to do first - then post and let the experts help.....
Of particular interest should be the timing procedure, which is a bit quirky on your bike (at least it seems so to most folks).

http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/index.php

[rstory]

Thanks so much for the help. I'll run along and see if I can get some results in between my finals this week as well as doing some reading on HondaTwins.