Suzuki is Sold! More Honda work

It's been a while, but I sold the Suzuki the week after Thanksgiving. I'm glad to have that out of the driveway. It took longer than I wanted, but that was still a fun bike to play with.

Now that the Honda runs, it suddenly stopped starting. The first time I started it I had no problems, but a few days later I went back and the starter clutch wouldn't catch anymore. Strange that it happened so quickly, but it's apparently a common problem with the Honda's. I pulled off the clutch and found that one of the pins that keeps tension on one of the rollers was broken.

How it works is the starter spins the large gear, which has a hub center to the three rollers. When it rotates counter-clockwise the rollers grab the housing around them and rotates it. The flange bolted to the housing has a spline hub that is over the crankshaft. When the engine starts, it rotates faster than the clutch and disengages the rollers.

 After doing some research on this issue, I discovered that someone else on the forums had found out that a sprag clutch (one way bearing) from a newer Yamaha FZ6R fits and is a huge improvement. So a few minutes on ebay, and I found one for $30 --- a stock rebuild kit costs more! In order to make it fit, I elongated the three original mounting holes. Accuracy isn't a big concern because both the clutch and the flange center themselves to the hub of the big gear. A burr bit for the dremel made quick work to elongating the holes.

Here you can see how many more points of contact this clutch has versus the OEM one. This one functions similarly to the original, but instead of rolling these 'lobes' pivot to provide bite or slip depending on the direction of rotation.

Here it is all assembled with some red locktite.

Now that the starter grabs perfectly every time, it needs to stop again. I didn't take many pictures of this, but I installed rebuild kits in both front and rear master cylinders as well as all three calipers (two in the front, one in the rear). I didn't bother painting anything, I just wanted the brakes to work. Some day in the future the brakes will change along with some other goodies.

Now that there is brakes and a running engine it is rideable. There aren't any lights, but at least it's moving. More to come later. The 60*F winter is gone, and now its back down in the 30's, so progress will be slow again.

Lots of Updates - Suzuki and Honda

It has been a while since I've been able to update this blog, but I have recently spent some time on both bikes to share. First I will start with the Suzuki....

Since I've had it running, it hasn't been running very well. It's a little hard to start, and the idle is really tough to keep consistent. Once I think its stable and I take it out, the idle bounces all over and the exhaust pops. Well ok, so there's still an air leak somewhere. The carb boots on (some) of these models have o-rings behind them, so I was sure that they were the originals and cracked.

After getting the carbs off and the boot screws out, which were old and #3 phillips (ugh), you can see that the orings were either cracked or rock hard and flat letting air/water/dirt in.

I bought a new set of orings and replaced the phillips bolts with stainless button heads with allen heads. A wire brush, a pick, and a bit of anti-seize and it all went back together.

Put the carbs back on, filled up the gas, and fired it right up. The idle is very stable now but it won't adjust much less than 1200-1500rpm when it should be closer to 1000rpm. I think the airbox has some leaks in it because no matter how much of the idle mix screw I turn it won't lower. Oh well, good enough for now, it idles steadily it's just a bit high.

Now for the Honda! The carbs have been on the bike for a bit but I just haven't had time to attempt to start it. So I finally made time for it and it works! I had to steal the battery and tank from the Suzuki because the Honda tank isn't ready yet. I first connected the tank, made sure no fuel leaked, and attempted to crank it over. It turned which was exciting, but nothing coming from the exhaust. I banged my head against the wall for a while trying to figure out why, timing was ok, spark was there, what was going on! Then it dawned on me..... I didn't check the idle mix screws! DUH! 1.5 turns out and they should have been 2.5-3 turns for the jets on there. 3 turns to be sure and BAM she fired right up and runs really really nicely. Almost like I knew what I was doing ;)

I know - video doesnt work. Still havent fixed that......

Big Gains From Half a Bike

So this is a bit of a fast forward because I spent more time working than taking pictures. The first thing I did was take out the original hack-job harness, which was the main reason the bike was even for sale.

I picked up a harness on ebay from a GS1100E, which turned out to be a fairly different bike than the 1100GL I have. After a good amount to studying several wire diagrams I was able to determine which connectors would work and which ones wouldn't. Long story short, I re-terminated all of the wiring for the gauges and indicators up front. I also found that the ground wires inside were melted through so I built an external ground harness. Finding that issue took some time, and several blown fuses, but it works great now.

Now that the harness is done it was time to see what else this thing could do. The harness was ran through the bike and connections were made. Before attempting to start it, I wanted to verify that the ignition had spark. Testing each plug, I found that only 1 of the 2 coils would give spark. Great, the ignition module that I thought was a free upgrade (DYNA S) had a blown sensor. I had previously cleaned out the carbs, so I was confident they were ok, so why not try to start it on two cylinders anyway???

Well, with only two cylinders that fire, no air box (yet) I only had to turn out the idle screws another 1/2 turn and full choke to get it to run. This is pretty much the only way it will run right now but it works! I have a new ignition in the mail so hopefully this week this bad boy will be rolling under its own power.

...wait this isn't the Honda!

You're right, it isn't. A coworker found this gem on craigslist. Its a 1982 Suzuki GS1100GL - yup 1100cc. Not running of course, the wire harness was torn apart and abused becuase it used to have a front cruiser fairing on it. The previous owner didn't know how to fix it, so needless to say, I practically stole this bike, and now am going to get her running ASAP. Here's the plan:

1. Find used wire harness on ebay for cheap - done, $38
2. Previous owner said coils are bad because he isn't getting spark - coils tested fine with an ohm meter, the ignition module was also wired wrong (surprise)
3. A quick run through of the carbs with some carb cleaner and a pipe cleaner
4. Clean out the gas tank, it looks like its had no gas in it for a while and its kinda nasty in there
5. Will need at least a front tire when its running, might as well get both
6. Bleed/flush the brake lines, the rear caliper is missing the bleed screw (durrr)

Once all that is done, I plan to put some miles on it while I get the Honda going. Excited that I will have something rolling in a few weeks before its cold again.

Almost ready to start...

Found a few hours today to work on the Honda. Now that the carbs are completed, they were ready to put on the bike. I picked up a 4-into-2 exhaust, but ran into a snag while trying to mount it. The mounting studs on the right two cylinders were either bent, rusty, or non-existent. I decided that I would remove the bad studs and these two cylinders would have bolts instead of studs.

Well, that turned into the battle I'm sure anyone would expect. Over an hour with vice-grips, a hammer, PB blaster, and a ton of sweat later, this is how they turned out.

After the studs were out, I ran a tap through the hole and cleaned up the threads. The new bolts went in very smoothly and now the entire exhaust is mounted (mostly).

I was also able to get the carbs into their boots, which was just as fun as removing the studs. Four carbs into four hard rubber boots was a huge pain in the - everything! But I won the battle and they are on, but still need clamps before it can run.

So now that fuel delivery and exhaust are taken care of, the starter was the next step. A few days ago I was inspecting what would be needed to start it and found a super fuse.

What is supposed to be in place of that copper wire is a 30A fuse. The battery is wired directly to the solenoid, and that wire/fuse is the main fuse for power distribution to the rest of the bike. After discovering this modified fuse I rerouted the main power line. I tied the two power wires to an inline 30A fuse and terminated it to battery terminal. The two starter solenoid wires are now the only wire on the top of the solenoid.

Using a mutimeter I verified that the starter system now functions as it should. The only parts missing to attempt starting the engine is the power cable from the solenoid to the starter itself, a battery, fuel delivery/tank, and oil in the engine. I hope my next post is a video of it running!

Back to the Honda!

Well now that we have moved to our new place, I have finally found some time to work on the Honda again. The other weekend I was able to get side covers back on the engine and just recently I finished the re-assembly of the carbs.

They are setup right now with jets to accommodate for high flow filters and exhaust. These carbs are known to be a pain to tune, but I'm ready!

Also before the move, I had replaced the front tire because it wouldn't even hold air. So in order for me to be able to roll it, a new tire was spooned on.

More to come soon, I hope to attempt to start it within the next two weeks!

Sold - Yamaha XS650

Guess what?! Yup just sold the Yamaha. Threw it up on craigslist last week and boom, a buyer came by today and had to have it. How badly did he want it...

Bad enough to ride it home in the rain!!! I followed him home (obviously) with some extra parts in the car I had for him. Good thing too because it was raining so much the foam filters turned into sponges. The bike died in his neighborhood and had to huff it home. Once she was in her new home, we pulled the filters, wrung em out, and fired it up without filters. They did their job though because there was no water at all in the carbs.

Here she sits while the new owner took a break from pushing it up hill. I'm sure I will see this bike again.