Sorry that this update comes so late, but there's been a lot going on behind the scenes relating to the build that will come into play in the next couple of posts. I'm hoping to get the bike finished in the next few weeks and have been doing a lot of work aimed toward that goal, so let's keep our fingers crossed that will happen.
There's a lot still to cover regarding the electrical installation; in fact, it looks like it will require a couple of more sessions to complete. I'll begin by fitting some of the peripheral components, then move on to installing the main wiring harness and getting everything to work in the next post.
Time to get down to business! Here are some of the items I'll be including in the next couple of posts - I may or may not get to all of them now, but we can at least take a look...
At upper right we have the coils; to the left of that is the electrical panel assembly. Directly below that is the right rear upper engine hanger bracket (whew!) with its mounting bolt and washer. To the left of the hanger is the positive battery cable, followed by the battery box (with mounting bolts), the negative battery cable and, finally, the rear brake switch with spring.
In addition I'll be installing some of the following today
At top are the headlight bucket and the headlight itself, along with its wiring harness and mounting hardware. Below and left is the main (ignition) switch. then the turn signal buzzer. Moving right we find the horn with mounting bolts and tach cable guide and, finally, the front turn signal assemblies.
As I said, I'll probably not get to all of this in this post, but rest assured that I'll get around to everything eventually.
To begin today's build, I installed the battery box. I sandblasted the old one then painted it up with POR 15 Chassis Coat (now POR-15 TOPCOAT "Chassis Black") which matches the original semi-flat finish. Here it is after painting with all of its little parts displayed
The mounting rubber and "collars" (small metal tubes) are in good used condition from an ebay "Box-O-Bolts" auction. This next shot shows the assembled box with its mounting hardware and associated components. To the right of the box is the battery retaining band; directly below that is the negative battery lead. Then we have three mounting bolts: 1 8X100 bolt (with split washer, washer and nut); 1 8X65 bolt with washer; and 1 8X40 bolt with washer. To the left, completing the list, is our old friend the right rear upper engine hanger bracket. I've tossed that thing on and then ripped it off a couple of times before, but now is the real time to mount it. If I ever edit this build thread, I'll probably remove any mention of it 'til this step as it really isn't needed at any other time than now...
I started off by fitting the engine hanger bracket. It's installed from the rear of the downtube, the central hole fitting over the upper rear engine hanger bolt which extends from the engine; the bracket is loosely held in place with the 8X40 bolt which extends through the frame mounting lug into a nut that's been welded to the rear of the bracket
One thing to mention about the above pic is something we've discussed before, but bears repeating: All of the frame mounts here have been sanded down to bare metal front and back, and the engine has been relieved of paint as well, so that a good ground connection exists between the frame and engine. All of the exposed metal has been coated with dielectric grease in an effort to cut down on corrosion at these connections.
I then mounted the battery box into its spot in the frame. There are a pair of brackets welded onto the upper frame rail (below inset)...
...that the upper left "arm" of the battery box fits into. The 8X65 bolt (with washer) is inserted through the frame bracket, then through the "collar" that runs through the battery box mount, and into the rear bracket where it's attached via a nut welded onto the back of the bracket.
There's another mount on the lower right corner of the box, and it fits up against the hanger bracket, sandwiching the hanger between the battery box mount and the frame rail. The 8X100 bolt is used to attach the box; after running through the frame and box mounts it's affixed from the rear using a nut, split washer and an 18mm washer (inset below)
Installation of the battery box is completed by attaching the negative battery lead at the upper rear hanger bolt using a nut and split washer. Once the nut is torqued down, the cable is routed up into the box, ready for use.
Next peripheral to consider is the Electrical panel. I picked this up with a used wiring harness several years age on ebay. Don't know what caused the green corrosion you can see on the connectors - it's hard to say
I used good ol' fashioned brass cleaner and skinny files on them and they came out nicely with just some mild pitting. I stripped the panel completely down, sandblasted and repainted the carrier, then spent a relaxing afternoon refurbishing the wiring harness and all of the other little parts that make up one of these panels
Here's the finished panel. Front
and back
It fits into an opening provided on the left side of the frame using two each 10mm bolts and 18mm washers (inset below)
and, until I install the wiring harness, that's all she wrote on that...
Moving on, the next components to consider are the coils. Here they are with their mounting hardware: two 10mm bolts with nuts and washers, and two wiring clamps
As you can see, the coils are connected to each other by front and rear carriers that fit into the frame. The wiring clamps are attached at the breather cover and help route the wires for cylinders one and four; I'll get back to those in a bit. Installation of the coils is fairly straight forward. Both the wiring harness and coils are grounded to the frame via the front coil mounting bolt. Honda originally provided the ground path by leaving part of the frame bare at the coil mount; it looks to me like they just slapped some tape over the mounting lug before painting the frame. Here's a shot of the mount prior to refinishing the frame, showing the original ground relief (below left - this occurs only on the front left portion of the frame mount)
On the right, I've scraped away the powdercoat, emulating the original relief. The area of relief is slightly different on mine; in an effort to keep this bare patch as minimal as possible (Honda couldn't have cared less) I used the coil mount held up to the frame to delineate the actual mount contact area. I can always remove more powdercoat if it turns out to be necessary...
...and, of course, I'll smear some dielectric grease on this exposed metal before actually mounting the coils.
The coils are fitted to the left side of the frame utilizing the two 10mm bolts, nuts and washers, with coil 2&3 on the left and 1&4 on the right
The front bolt has been only temporarily fitted; I'll need to use it later to attach the main harness ground wire. I've fully installed the rear bolt, however; additionally, I've routed the HT wires to their respective cylinders, with the wires for #1 and #3 crisscrossing each other through the frame opening.
Now, here is where those little wiring support clamps come into use
The wires for #s 1 and 4 cylinders run back over the top of the engine before being directed toward each respective spark plug. I don't know why Honda did it this way... maybe to keep the wires away from the heat of the pipes... I just don't know - but this is how Honda's engineers decided it should go, so that's why we're doing it here. The little supports are attached via the two outermost bolts on either side of the breather cover and the wire is run through (below left)...
Click on pic to expand
...then the clamp is bent up over the mounting bolt, keeping the wire securely in place (above right). This acts to lift the HT wire so that it isn't lying directly on top of the engine. Here's a view from the top, showing how the wires are routed (#1 cylinder on the left)
With the coils in position, the next item on the agenda is the Main switch. Here it is with its related housing (aka "cover" or "Main Switch Bracket"): bolt, washer and mounting nut with washer
There's a little bracket welded to the left front down tube. The housing is positioned onto the rear side of this bracket via a "lip" formed on the backside of the housing (inset below) that fits into a slot on the bracket
The 10mm bolt and washer are then inserted from behind through a hole in the bracket into the housing where a nut has been welded into position to accept the bolt
The switch itself is then inserted into the cover from behind, and the big washer and nut are run up to hold it in place. There's a slot in the switch body that corresponds to a pin stamped into the housing face, orienting the switch into the proper position, so there's no chance of getting the it in wrong
I'd like to take a moment to give yet another thumbs up for POR-15 BlackCote (now POR-15 TOPCOAT "Gloss Black"). I painted these parts 3-4 years ago in a painting marathon one weekend at work, then transported them all back home in my old Summit wagon. Unbeknownst to me, this little cover slipped out out of sight and disappeared into the far recesses of the Summit's interior. I used the Summit as a work car and generally treated it like a pickup - we hauled sheetrock, paint supplies, trash and various other sundry items in the back of it. It was a nice little machine that came out about 20 years ahead of its time...
The upshot of the story is that when the tranny went on the Summit I decided it was time to part with it (one of the worst mistakes of my life... I loved that little PTV). While cleaning it out for the last time I came across the ignition switch housing packed down with all of the mud, crud and debris in the back of the car. It was covered in dirt, leaves, sand, fur and who knows what else; one look at it and I knew for sure it would have to be stripped and repainted. It looked like something that had dropped out of the south end of a northbound ungulate, then rolled in dirt and used as a kickball. I was sure it was a gonner.
I took it inside and ran some hot water over it and, lo and behold, to my amazement it came out looking much as it had the day I painted it. There were a few minor abrasions in the paint, but otherwise it was as good as new. It made me wish I had taken a before picture just to show the difference, but I had been absolutely certain that there was no way it could have survived its ordeal and I didn't bother. Wish I had, now. Turned out there was no need for repaint, and I'm using it just as I found it after cleaning.
POR-15 TOPCOAT... Tough stuff!
Moving on toward the front of the bike, the next order of business is this little item: The Dreaded Turn Signal Buzzer. Those who know how me will be surprised to see this here; it came with the bike when new, so it must be included in the build, whatever my personal feelings toward it may be...
It makes a racket that corresponds to the turn signals, reminding you and everyone else within three square miles that you have the turn signals on. For an idea as to how it sounds, picture the most annoying short-duration noise you can think of, then imagine it repeating itself over and over and over again as you sit in the middle of a sweltering traffic jam. Imagine drivers in neighboring cars starting to stare at you as you sit there with the sweat pouring down your back; and kids start crying and one little girl starts screaming "Momma, Momma! Make it stop!!!... and her mother, already driven half berserk by the din and the heat, turns around to shut the kid up and her foot slips off the brake onto the accelerator, sending her Hummer careening into a utility pole that collapses onto a gasoline truck refilling the tanks at a neighborhood Piggly-Wiggly; with the resulting fireball traveling three city blocks up the sewer system where it ignites and explodes a hidden pocket of natural gas that decimates an entire strip mall and sends a thirteen-story insurance building rocketing 1,473 feet into the sky before crashing back down to earth... in the middle of a poodle farm...
But, I digress... sorta
Seriously, though, I do have some objections to this buzzer. If you're driving defensively you won't need it; if you're paying attention to what you're doing while driving, then that light won't stay on for long. However, if you believe you have more important things to think about other than maintaining an awareness of your surroundings while riding a motorcycle then, yes... keep the buzzer.
It fits into this bracket attached to the inside of the left headlight "ear"
There's a square mount that fits into the hole in the bracket, and the "speaker" is oriented back toward the driver
The wire is then routed down through this wiring clip welded to the inside of the "ear"
For our final installation of the session (drum roll, please) we move to the front of the bike to the horn. I'll fit it using two bolts with washers, and I'll be installing the tach cable guide as well (the curvy wire thingie in the center bottom)
The horn mount sits out in front of the frame...
...and the horn is installed using the bolts and washers. The cable guide is entrapped behind the left bolt, fixing it in place
And, with installation of the horn I'll call this post complete. Next session will cover fitting the main wiring harness, the front blinkers and, yes, installing the throttle cables.
'til next time
