Topic: Bike died. Might be the end of it.

[Stev-o]

Pull the plug, hook up to plug wire and set on cyl head, then crank motor to confirm spark.

[Hush]

Also make sure you are on the correct stroke, no point the points opening when you are on the down stroke.
Dang good to hear you start talking like one of us SOHC4 idjits too, "in-line filters" "static timing" dang gave me wood!

[wrenchmuch]

Intake leaks will cause problems in all RPM ranges . Fix them before trying to tune the carbs . If they are just hard you might be able to get them to seal with gear type clamps . West Marine sells decent ones in my neck of the woods . If they are cracked you need to replace . Take an hour and read over the procedure for setting points and timing in the Honda manual as well as procedure for general tune up . If you follow it the only thing left will be dirty / maladjusted carbs ,leaky intakes . Watch out when using a continuity meter for checking points . There is often a delay with these meters between the time continuity is made and when a tone is emitted by the meter . Confirm this by shorting the test leads and noting whether the tone happens at once or is delayed . A test light is fool proof for this procedure . Wish I could drop by and lend a hand . Don't get frustrated . At a certain point you might just need to put it aside until you get back from Europe .
Mike

[wrenchmuch]

Just wondering how things are going for you .

[Anti-Johnny]

unfortunately I couldn't get the new engine timed. it starts, but its fighting itself and fowling plugs with gasoline. I am in west Texas currently, visiting my girlfriends family before we go on our trip. I will try and get out there on saturday for the co op and see if I can get it timed. But I am not sure what else needs to be done.

[Really?]

That is one nice big clear close-up pic!

[Artf0rm]

Anti-Johnny, Let me know if you come up short on any parts.  I have a cart full of stuff that I have pulled off my cb750 and she is a 76.  It's not new and it's not pretty but if it's useful to you your welcome to it.  I don't have a ton of engine stuff but I have a full wiring harness and a good amount of miscellaneous stuff. 

I remember what it's like to be broke as S%$^ and not have the money to fix something you care about because of school.  Chin up mate looks like your making a lot of progress.

[Anti-Johnny]

Thanks for the information and the offer for parts. I have been more busy than I think I ever have been these last two months. Perfect time for my only ride to break down. I may be able to get up to Austin Saturday to see what I can do about the bike. But I leave monday, and there is a lot to do with getting ready to be abroad for two and a quarter months. I also have to pack up half of my apartment in the next three days. I won't be back to help my girlfriend move. Which is great for me because I hate moving. 

[Anti-Johnny]

So, it just needed to be timed and all the connections put back together and it idles and runs very smoothly. There was some oil coming out of the bottom breather hole. Quite a bit really. We thought that would be it, but when I was getting ready to take it to get gas, the clutch isnt disengaging. We adjusted it as far as it would go. A new guy was at the co op to help and he really knew his stuff. He was able to ride it without using the clutch. He said it might be the clutch plates are worn, or really stuck, or that a bearing (i think thats what he said) might be worn.

I didnt have time to do anything about it today. I felt really good about getting it running until I was denied that victory ride.

I leave on monday for school and travelling so I couldnt afford to replace anything that might be junk at the moment.

Big thanks to Aaron, the guys at the co op, and all of you guys. Ill update what happens with the bike as it goes. They might poke around with it at the next co op, but it might just be sitting for a while.

[Roach Carver]

clutch plates are probably stuck together. happens all the time. You can take them out and separate and then reinstall or try to break them loose in the engine using some other method. maybe pull the clutch in and push the bike back and forth.

[dave500]

if you have the bike riding,de-clutch in top gear and gun it,,thatll break the clutch free,take the clutch apart then sand blast the steel discs to take the glaze of them.

[CycleRanger]

http://austin.craigslist.org/mcy/2428656078.html

 

[Really?]

Wow, he is still letting it go.  I guess that is the end of it.

[Hush]

You can lead an owner to a bike but you can't make them a SOHC4 officiano.

I gotta feel for this guy, he has so much else happening in his life and we expect him to fiddle like we do with a 30 year old bike, he would have been better off buying a going rice rocket.
Anyhow when the next buyer discovers us we can quickly point him in the right direction.

[dave500]

so?this is the end of it,,but the start of another,,,,,how do i adjust my points/clutch,,i bought this bike etc,,a long haul for antijohnny,make sure you tell the buyer he also takes over this thread and is commited to remain posting untill we are all satisfied with the end result.

[Artf0rm]

Is that bike really worth 2grand in that condition?

[Anti-Johnny]

hey guys. no I am still around. and the bike is still mine. It is being stored in Austin. the guy holding it was a little premature in posting it for sale. I have been travelling around europe for the last month and not near a computer. even this is a hassle, french keyboard is all crazy.

I have made arrangements to have the bike taken to my dad in el paso to be worked on. i still have two months until i return home. I have also made plans to pick up a lightly used bandit or sv650 and make this cb my official project.

the engine that i bought ended up being a complete piece of #$%*. it looked good but pours oil and blows oil out of the spark plug holes. i shouldnt have bought it. anyway i will have my own co,puter in a couple days so i can make a proper post

[thrutheframe]

+1 for not giving up!

[Greggo]

Good news!

[ak58lp]

I see you are back on other posts Johnny. Can you give us an update on the bike please?

[Tews19]

Whoa.. is that a section of piston ring? If it is... the only way a part like that could make it past the piston is if parts of that piston are gone too.. Either way, it's gonna be some work. Sorry to see that A-J. Good luck.

If you broke a piston bad enough for a piece of a piston ring that big to make its way to the sump, I would expect to see more pieces of piston, also. Did the bike suddenly belch great volumes of oil smoke? It might be that the piece of ring, as well as the sealant found in the sump were left over from the last "rebuild", and the new loss of oil pressure was due to a plugged oil screen???

I really couldnt say where exactly it came from. I know it started feeling "not right" then I lost pressure. No smoking though. The bike didnt seize. Just starting making the wrong kind of noise, no clanking or clacking or anything, just didnt sound right. I cant really say what kind, just that it was like metal on metal. No smoke. And it did kick over after cooling a bit. But I only had it on for a second or two. The bike still shifts through gears alright with it not running. I cant really turn the back wheel with it in 5th anymore. It will move but it is stiff, and will move for a bit then its stiff again. It might be nice if I knew the right adjectives to use here...

I dont understand how the piston ring got through the screen. I should have had a picture of what the screen looked like. Stalactites comes to mind. I thought maybe an oil passageway might be blocked and that caused it to over heat. and blammo. But again, I know how to change my oil, clutch cable, rebuild my forks, a little wiring, various miscellany. This has been the extent of my first hand motorcycle schooling.

Is there a test I can do to find out if this is actually a piston ring portion or the other part youre mentioning? I threw it away, so I couldnt measure the curve of it. The guys at the co op were fairly certain when they saw it that it was piston ring.

Piston ring and bearing retainers look very similar, except bearing retainers are half-round parts where rings are fully round (until broken...).

It appears that someone has assembled the engine in the past with 'way too much gasket sealant, hence the collection on your screen and the globs in the pan. The metal chunk you have there has been properly captured in the pan, so it didn't go through the engine, and the screen on the bottom of the oil pump has been collecting thegoo and preventing that chunk from futher circulating, all part of the genius of the design in this dry-sump engine.

This chunk is the clue to what happened, but it is hard to tell what that was until the cases are opened for a look-see. I was about to ask if it had a ring mark on the end, but if you don't have it now, I can't ask. Retainers have no marks: piston rings have a tiny engraving mark on the squared end (which is the top-side of the ring when assembling).

If it was a piston ring from the current top end, the engine would not have run at all from such a catastrophic failure, as it would be from the upper rings and the whole side of the piston would have to be gone to allow it to fall into the case. My estimation at this point is that this event happened before you got the bike, and this is debris left over from a top-end rebuild, with too much sealant applied. The symptoms you describe sound more like a seized camshaft than anything else I can think of, which could come from plugged oil jets in the head: these could have been plugged from too much sealant applied to the base gasket under the cylinders, which then would have moved up the 2 oil passages to the head and slowed down the oil flow to the top end. It would take a little while then to tear up the cam and cam bearings, which seems to be the chronology.

All these musings won't get you back on the road, however.

In your situation, looking around for a used engine would be the least expensive path to running again, followed by parting out the engine you have for cost recovery. On eBay or CL, you can make $35-$50 for each engine cover, and if the cases are good, someone on the forum might like to buy them to replace some that were crashed with a thrown chain (I can think of several candidates!). The sprocket cover is also a hot item on eBay, I've noticed (that's the one with 2 screws that covers the sprocket at the rear, chain side).

Rebuilding: the costs for taking it apart begin with the gasket kit, about $100. But...I suspect that taking the engine out, followed by removing the cam cover and inspecting the cam and bearings, would be all the further you would have to tear down. In that case, all you would need would be a new cam cover gasket instead, plus a used cam and cam bearings, possibly a rocker or two. I know this forum can come up with those kinds of pieces on the cheap, as I was in a similar situation 2 years ago and when I asked, I ended up with all the parts for nothing but the postage (I was unemployed at the time). This is a great community, all of whom would like to see your smiling face collecting bugs again as soon as possible. So, since the bike is a boat anchor at the moment, maybe taking the engine out for a peek under that cam cover is the wisest first step?

I have become a witness. This is great stuff Hondaman... I only hope that one day you are able to help me with an issue I have with my 550... Or do I not want to have some help from you? eitherway reading your posting was great....

[Really?]

You can buy his book.  Not sure if it is cc restricted though but from what I have read the "Thought's of HondaMan" are highly regarded.  He has a thread titled this too.

[Tews19]

You can buy his book.  Not sure if it is cc restricted though but from what I have read the "Thought's of HondaMan" are highly regarded.  He has a thread titled this too.

I searched the site and it said the words were to long?? Not sure but, ya I don't know

[Really?]

Thy this link - http://www.sohc4.net/?p=2416

He made the SOHC4.net homepage.  I didn't know that.

[Anti-Johnny]

Hi guys,

So I am stuck in Vienna for another couple weeks with classes. Getting smart.
A few developments have come up since I was gone. The bike fell at the guys house it was being stored at so it got a little more banged up. So I arranged for it to be taken to my old lady's mom's garage. Thats where its been for almost two months.

I had the engine swapped. About 5 of the head bolts were stripped on my "good engine." And when it was all swapped out, it pumped oil from oil breather. #$%*ty.

I got the engine from the same guy that sold me the bike.



I spent a few hundred bucks getting it all back together, including the price of the engine. It actually ran and drove, but spit up about half a gallon of oil.

I havent seen it for about two months now. And I have no idea how I will be getting it back or what shape its in.

I also got fired. Which I am waiting to get pissed off about. I set this whole thing up 6 months ago and they told me it would be fine to take a leave for this summer program. It may be fine. Or its a sign to get a new job. Point is, I am broke and need to get a new bike and a job when I get back. Which means this bike may in fact be dead for me.

I have enjoyed drifting through europe and living in vienna though. Got to meet a lot of interesting people, and some promising job leads. My german is getting better, and I think I will be getting my TEFL certificate when I get back. That way I can live over here while I wait for all my big boy job applications to go through.

I havent made any real decisions on the bike yet. I am trying to stick in this fairytale over here as long as possible.