August 2011 8

Hello, new here so apologies if there is another or similar post. Just a little info on my skills/knowledge for heads up: I’m no stranger to bikes and working with wiring but I’m no expert. 3 or so years working with bikes; specifically my own, and much longer with tinkering in electronics. Ill know the proper names to some things but most of what i know is self taught meaning i either made a name for a part my self or just call it by its looks, ex: “that spiny thingy”(starter).

The bike: Okay I am going to try an keep this simple in three parts: I.Before/II.Did/III.Now
I. The bike was not starting but had energy flow from battery to dash, lights and what not. Bought a new relay assuming that was problem but did not help. When i pressed the start or fiddled with it i only heard a clicking noise. I tested the starter and it spun. I then proceeded to pull the engine off after i had taken its top off(where the sparks enter) to see a little bit of rust build up.
II. After i had the engine out of the bike(don’t ask how i did it… torture), I cleared it of the rust that i saw and also took the sides off, the crankshaft and… the thing with the circular copper ring(the right side). I resealed everything with the proper sealant and then some how got it back into the bike with a wench system made of straps and me. Rewired everything from memory and i believe i had not missed any thing but that’s where part III come in.
III. So ow i don’t have power at all to anything. I used my meter to test the wires and i seem to be getting juice up to and around the headlight area. Yes that battery i was/am using is charged.

Few extra things: Tried putting in 3rd gear an what have you and pushing it, but it stops/locks up. No gas in it, see no point if im just working to get a spark. No other fluids except oil untill/if i get a spark. Checked the fuse box thing(one with the fuses that look like memory cards) all good, but not sure how to check the other, bulky looking ones. And yes,  has been kept in a garage since i have had it as well as when i bought it about 1-2 years ago, only exception was when i moved it got a little wet. One more thing, I wouldn’t mind a more simple wiring set up like the one i saw here, http://cycles.evanfell.com/2010/03/simp … e-racers/. A simple push start without a key i wouldn’t mind compared to the cornucopias amount of wiring i have now… I also have a manual which i can provide img scans and post them here.

I am just trying to get it to spark at the very least. An would love to get it to run before the end of the winter and before i head off to the Air Force.

Ill provide what ever you need if you/it can help, more info, pics, video. Any help would be appreciated and apologies for the long messy description.

~Enoch

Well, if you’re not getting power to the electrical components you’ll just need to do the laborious work of tracing the wires and determining where power is and isn’t.

– Is the starter not activating when you hit the starter?
– Is there no spark when the motor turns over?

Sounds like you had a fun time pulling that motor and reinstalling it, ha. Been there done that. It takes some effort.

This engine was hard to start and ran poorly before I cleaned the carburetors. Now it starts and idles ok but it spits back through the carbs when running above idle. The problem is most obvious on two of the four cylinders. I haven’t driven it on the road so I don’t know how it runs under load or at highway speeds.

My problem is that I don’t understand the spitting problem. It is more likely a carb problem or could the valves need adjustment? Can ignition problems cause carb spitting?

I’ve never worked on an engine with multiple carbs before. Could the spitting be caused by incorrectly balanced carb adjustments?

Any thoughts/comments are appreciated.

Thanks!

If you haven’t adjusted the valves in a while I would recommend doing that anyway. It’s far better to check and adjust them now then the spend more time on the carbs only to realize the valves were way out of whack the whole time.

Coughing like you describe can be a cause of poor valve adjustment or poor carburation. It often takes a couple trys to get the carbs completely clean and adjusted. If you have a couple floats that are adjusted improperly it could flood those cylinders causing them to cough a sputter like you describe.

If it were me, I would probably just take it out onto the street and run it a mile or two and see how it goes. Then adjust the valves for good measure, then go back to the carbs. The carbs are likely your culprit.

Timing is a consideration, but I doubt it’s the cause. Your bike has an electric ignition.

I was riding down the hihway 72mph and then hit a bump and no gears put in and out different gears and nothing its like the trnny is all in neutrai no oil or nothing coming out  I have a2005 yamaha 650 vstar classic, 17000 miles on iy any thoughts I havent taken any covers off or anything feels like the drive shaft is still engaged . thanks

You’re post is a little difficult to understand. You can’t shift in and out of the gears at all? Or you can shift but the transmission doesn’t seem to be driving the rear wheel? If you turn the rear wheel is it cranking the engine?

hi’ i recently change the oil seal of my cr 85r front fork due to some leaking…i wanted to know which oil i will be replacing and how much in ml?? or cc??

I don’t know off and hand, and you’ll need to specify the year to get the correct information. I usually run ATF fluid in all my forks, but if you are actually racing on the track you might want to go with a fork specific fluid recommended by Honda.

Hello Evan.
Im working on a 1974 CB350F and the muffler has a hole in it about the size of a quarter.  It looks like the result of a bad welding job from this bikes past.  Likely at some point in the future the entire exhaust will be replaced but thats just not in the budget at this time.  I am wondering of anyone knows of a “quick fix” (dangerous words, I know) that will make the bike sound like it did before the hole sprung up.  Im not a welder and dont really want to spend the money to have a professional do that since im gonna replace the exhaust anyway.  I was thinking something along the lines of metal screen and tape but dont know if that would work. Thanks for your help.

Hey RidinCB350. I love the CB350 fours, they are one of my favorite all time bikes. Unfortunately they are absolutely plagued by holes in the bottom of the mufflers near where they attach to the headers.

On one of my CB350F’s the previous owner just covered the holes with ducktape:

I guess it works as a temporary fix, but it’s kind of stupid in my opinion. It just bakes the duct tape onto the mufflers so you can never get it off, and the exhaust will eventually eat its way right through.

A welder could patch up the holes for you. Or if the holes are small an easy temporary fix is to use some aluminum from a beer can (two or three layers thick) and attach over the hole with some hose clamps.

I have a 78 cb400 hawk II with the CDI ignition, this bike has been xtremely customized and hardtailed, I`ve been trying to get it wired up properly but have been having trouble, are there any simple wiring diagrams for something like this?

You can just use the factory wiring diagram and compare it to whats on the bike. Did you hack the wiring all to bits already? Or are you starting with the full harness and customizing from there?

OK. This bike ran great. I blew the original engine 3 years ago. I just installed used engine. Engine is fine but just like every other bike Ive seen sit. Runs on one cyl until it gets up in revs than it kicks in or if I have the choke out. It is getting better as I drive it more though.
The problem is it also spits and backfires a lot Just off idle, than clears up as I give it more gas. on idle its ok unless the choke is on than it spits a little. But its really hard to ride when it spits and backfires right off idle where you start off from all the time.

You need to check the carbs first and foremost. If you have some clogged jets or dirty needles you’ll see all of those symptoms. Start with the carbs then go from there. Cheers!

Well i was going for that look as you know and need a little help on removing the ign. switch, on/off switch, and neutral switch, maybe oil press. wire. To a toggle, or simple key ignition with push start. As in your diagram the rectifier has a red line(soild red wire), what about the black wire, red-white, yellow-red and green-red. And possibly the black with white wire to coils. Can you break it down for me so i get this right the first time.

thanks for all your help, my first cb, chuck

In my diagrams I am just demonstrating which parts need to be connected to get the desired functionality. The wire colors are not specific for any particular bike, and in many cases there may be additional wires from one component to another depending on the design of your bike. You should use your factory wiring diagram and compare it to my simplified diagrams to determine which actual wires you are safe to keep or remove. If you’re just trying to strip things down a little, just remove the blinkers and gauges, and swap the ignition switch for a three prong on/off/on toggle. That’ll trim down things a fair bit without you needing to do any drastic trimming.

Cheers.