Topic: 1980 Honda CB650C charging issues, finally gonna do real troubleshooting.

[Soos]

Monday I went through and cleaned several of the connectors that the RR uses to sense battery voltage and then checked them for resistance. Once I was all done I plugged everything back in and started the bike and measured the voltage at the battery. at idle it was around 12.5v and at over 4k it would hit approx 14.6v, so TT appears to have been correct and the RR was just fine along with everything else, it just needed a bit of a cleaning. Nothing was super dirty or anything, so I'm not really sure what the specific issue was, but since it appears to be gone I'm happy. I'll be rechecking it after riding it a bit just to ensure it's still behaving. Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help and suggestions.

Brandon

You might even want to use some di-electric grease on those connectors if you haven't yet.




Glad to hear it's running good for you now!!




l8r

[Hush]

Exactly which sensors did you clean Brandon? or are you talking about the connectors to the R/R!

[manjisann]

Sorry Hush, it was just the leads on the RR and the ones going to the starter solenoid. I called them sensors because apparently they feed the battery information back to the RR and if there is resistance the reading will be wrong, possibly causing the overcharging issue I was seeing. I haven't checked it since that initial test, guess I should double check it when I get home and make sure everything is still good.

Now that I appear to have that sorted out, I need to figure out how to get some better mpg. I'm seriously toying with the idea of modifying the pod covers I have so they cover everything but just the bottom section, that way all the carb intakes are getting about the same air. I'm hopping this will be a decent mimic of the original 750 airbox and allow for better fuel economy. I realize this is probably just a pipe dream since the carbs are non stock, but it's what I have to work with so I'll try it for now

Brandon

[Hush]

Riding style probably has more influence on mpg than anything Brandon, timing your gear change to the right moment and not letting the bike lug in too high a gear will also help.
I'd get your bike as close to where you want it in tune then just ride it heaps and then see where you are, up till now you haven't done a lot of miles since you got it going.
I've put 2400 miles on my old 650 since waking her up and I'm only now noticing gas consumption as an issue.

[manjisann]

Maybe this is a silly question, but what is considered lugging the engine? I try to ride in the 4-5k rpm range and shift in the 6-7k range. should I be running her higher to get better mpg?

thanks,

Brandon

[Soos]

Lugging the engine IMO means low(sub 2k rpm) in a high gear.
For example doing 25 in fifth gear.

Riding in the 4-5k range is ok.
If you want the MAX mpg (IMO) you want to shift around 5krpm.
BUT you loose a LOT of power.



As for your carb pod situation, I have an idea if you are game.(and if it fits in your frame)





l8r

[Soos]

Want better mpg?      I got a 200cc twin you could throw into that frame



 


l8r

[Hush]

Or a set of peddles!

[manjisann]

Want better mpg?      I got a 200cc twin you could throw into that frame

Hmmmm, very tempting 

Got home last night and went to turn the bike off and the key wouldn't turn, guess it's time for a new ignition switch. To turn the bike off I had to pull the main fuse. I ordered a new switch from DennisKirk, should be here next friday.

Brandon