I definitely would have done that, however, the motor was the last thing to go in, making the bike too heavy to maneuver over the motor.
GREAT NEWS!! THE BIKE LIVES!! I put in about 7 straight hours last night of final assembly, made sure she had air, fire, and fuel, and pushed the button. She turned over and ran in like half a rotation!! I definitely ran into some snags along the way that made my journey tricky. The major one was concerning both throttle cables. The PO, when I bought bike had said, "oh, i bought these new throttle cables cuz the old one's were pretty old". Of course, he didn't know that although his bike was indeed a '78, it had carbs from a '74. This rendered the new cables he ordered for the '78 pretty incorrect.
This was literally my last item on the to do list and I faced with the option of throwing them away and ordering new ones, or trying to be creative and completing the rebuild, I got out the vice grips and tin snips to see if I could make 'em work. The problem was that the cable length relative to the sheath was too short, making them not able to reach the throttle arm. I measured the additional length I needed and cut off the sheath to that length.
Now, never seeing the inside of a throttle cable, I didn't really know what to expect, but inside was essentially a thin plastic cover over the cable itself, and the thin cover was wrapped in a coil of very hard steel. All I needed to do was uncoil the steel, snip off the excess, replace the end cap, and I was good to go. Trimmed both, put them back on the bike, and the next thing I knew I had throttle control!!
Next I filled her with oil, gave her about a dozen kick start kicks to get the blood flowin', then turned the key and hoped for the best. Now mind you that this is now 12:30 in the morning, and I live in a small duplex that shares a wall through my garage, and my neighbor was definitely sleeping. But honestly, I had come this far and I wasn't gonna let that stop me.
To my amazement, she roared to life! A quick idle screw adjustment and she was purring right around 1100 rpm. I let her warm up for about 5 minutes and observed the beauty of a running SOHC4. Looked like there was a little exhaust leak on the 2nd pipe, but I kinda expected that as the second bolt is damn hard to reach. I struggled to tighten it and it appeared to crush the gasket sealed. Lucky for me I live in Southern California so I was able to push it outta the garage and take her for the maiden voyage. It was probably a bit irresponsible as I had not yet connected the brake or headlights
, but my neighborhood was dead and very well lit by streetlights.
My first impressions were that this bike is a great machine. It shifted smoothly (up to 3rd at least, c'mon, no headlight remember?), was nimble and balanced, and accelerated like a beast when I grabbed a fistful. I think I may have a carb tuning issue as there was a hesitation through the midrange of the throttle. If I remember correctly, the needle clips were on the 2nd from the bottom, or two steps below stock. I assumed that was because of the 4 into 1 exhaust, and that it must have been done for a reason. I think this is causing it to run rich though. I'll do a plug chop today when the fog clears and I get on the bike again.
Also, I definitely need to bleed the brakes as the front was a bit spongy, functional, but spongy. The rear seemed to work as well as I expected a 30 year old drum to work.
The next little problem I encountered was after I pulled in to the garage i tried to shut off the bike with the kill switch, but it stayed running. Had to kill it with the key. If the piggyback from the Dyna S hadn't contacted the black/white wire from the coils could this be making this happen? My other theory is that the switch contacts itself are bad, making it stay connected even when in the "off" position.
Also, when I hooked up the rear brake light, it lights, but won't react to either the front or rear brake switch. Any suggestions here?
Anyway, I'm very pleased with my progress so far. Basically I picked up the bike on the November 19th, and it's running and ridable only three weeks later. Total expenditure tally so far, as tracked by paypal:
Bike: $225
DMV registration and licence test: $62
Donor motor w/ Dyna S ignition: $130
Cleaners, fluids, tools, spark plugs, misc. NAPA expenses: $130
Ebay carb rebuild kit: $56
Seat, OEM side covers, dummy light housing, fuse panel: $150
Top end rebuild kit (with throwaway aftermarket head and base gaskets): $42
Clutch lever: $9
Tappet adjuster and feeler gauges from partposse.com: $32
OEM head and base gaskets from PartsBandit.com: $92
Ebay crank case gasket: $12
Sealed AGM battery and tender from BikeBatts.com: $62
Exhaust copper crush gaskets: $12
Fork seals: $13
Fuel line: $8
Holy crapola, $1,047. That's the first time I had done the math. I definitely could have found a pretty good condition runner for that price. But honestly, the education I received from this bike was worth every penny. In fact, I think it just got named! PROJECT EDUCATION
.
Next I want to get all the functional systems working perfectly before I
take it apart again for the "clean and make pretty" stage. "You're going to do what?", my wife said, amazed that after putting together the puzzle I would take it all apart again.
Oh, here are some photos:
Before
After
And some work along the way
Can you see the crosshatching?
The offending bent exhaust valve
Pre-lapping
Post-lapping
Now to get the electrical situation sorted out so I can be street legal!
Thanks sooooo much everyone for your help along the way. I absolutely would not have dove into this project without knowing that I had this board as my guide. There's NO WAY I would have been able to do it with just the Honda manual and parts book. The education I received would not have been possible a decade ago without some serious guidance. Now it's time to ride!
