Lord Gruntfuttock

Yeah think there is. I rewired the whole thing, will have to look at diagram. The old harley switches are a known point of failure. 12v straight to starter solenoid terminal should tell me something. Wondering now if it's just the battery failing, maybe starter motor draw drops voltage enough for pull-in coil to drop out...

Yeah I was wondering what they're for, currently one side is used for exhaust bracket mounting, I've also seen a factory pillion peg bar that bolts up to a plate on the rear engine mount bolts. Progress update: A mixed weekend. Made up new leads (had an MSD clamp former from doing my car) and connected ignition to coil and static timed, used the pencil in spark plug hole method. TDC on front cycinder lines up with dot timing mark, and set ignition to just turn off and locked down as per instructions... Then it got depressing, thought I'd spin it over on the starter to check spark, and just got a rapid clicking noise. The solenoid was banging rapidly in and out for some reason, annoying as I'd just buttoned everything up and thought I was good to go. Tried jumping from another battery and same result, so I called it quits for the day... Next morning after a think and a breakfast beer I pulled the clutch cover again as the only thing different was the thrust washer, and I wondered if it was preventing full throw of the solenoid? No difference, so I pulled the rear exhaust to check starter solenoid resistances again, and pulled starter motor to test, all looked good... Also manually pushed solenoid arm in and out and checked meshing with clutch ring gear, all good as far as I could tell. Decided to fix the things I could, managed to get heaps of clearance for kicker past rear pipe... And I tapped out the positive battery terminal to 8mm, as the 6mm post thread had become worn. Surprisingly on connecting things up again, the starter motor spun the engine freely? Quick test with coil connected and plug held against engine showed excellent spark, so I fitted everything again, plus battery cover, tank and fuel lines. Assumed I'd fixed the issue without finding anything obviously wrong (maybe a bad connection somewhere)...? Sadly, when trying starter again, same problem, solenoid banging in and out rapidly. No idea how this actually happens, it's as if bringing it in breaks the circuit so it rapidly cycles on the spring. Or the voltage dips below that which can bring in the coil, shouldn't be shorting as have fuses in the circuit... Really stumped at the moment. Sprockets move freely, starter arm moves in and out ok, solenoid coils test well, 12V at solenoid from start button, battery at a strong 12.6V. Not sure if it's binding mechanically or the electrical circuit is compromised somewhere. A few things to test yet, I'll try running a 12V lead straight to the starter terminal in case the starter button is faulty, and I'll remove the battery cover and try attaching another battery... So currently perplexed, but on the plus side I'm close, and really good at adjusting the clutch now...

Yeah suspect you're right. Priority now is just getting it going again. Can make do with it hitting rear pipe in the meantime. Rearsets will take some thought, esp as the ones I have aren't folding...

Last night after work I adjusted the valve clearances and re-routed the starter lead and oil line away from behind the rear exhaust... Had the day off today and had planned an early start on the bike, but it was snowing this morning so I stayed in bed... When the sun came out I hit the shed and: heat shrink wrapped the exposed starter solenoid terminals cleaned the carb, cleaned the air filter foam installed carb manifold, carb and filter, and connected accel cable cleaned genny, fitted oil slinger, new bracket and gasket installed and connected generator. fitted starter motor cover, installed generator breather tied up new ignition wires, fitted footpegs fitted exhausts, fitted kickstarter, discovered starter hits rear pipe removed exhausts, bent mounting bracket, refitted exhaust discovered kicker still hits rear pipe, swore loudly, will come back to this fitted rear brake cable, fitted battery cover traced old points wiring fitted seat hump, found new plugs and put battery on charge Glad I cleaned the filter foam, lot of grease and sand came out of it, just rinsed in kerosene, shook dry and reinstalled... and carb looks much better with the grime removed... So nearly there, big day and called it quits before I made mistakes hooking up the ignition. I looked at my old leads, thought I could use them again as they were good ones, but seems they are spiral wound stainless core, which may not be good for electronic igntn? (I'll read instructions). The kit came with new ones so no big deal, just not the straight plug in swap I was hoping for. So some hopefully simple wiring, static timing and we're almost good to go...

The bottom plate of the chain tensioner had come loose (can see it in pic above with 3 springs) and there's no way of installing it all together without removing the timing chain again, so I crimped it in place with vice grips, fitted new nyloc nuts on the clutch basket, a lock washer under the clutch locknut, a copper thrust washer and new gasket, and fitted the cover... Then adjusted the clutch as per manual, went well, and clutch feels and operates OK. So I loosely fitted pegs and pipes to check clearances etc... Got some issues with the rear pipe and cabling to sort... But main thing is the kick start arm will clear the pipes (by a few mm, pipe will move in a bit from here). Was really worried they'd hit and I'd need a new exhaust system... So getting there, really got no idea how I'll make rearsets work with the kicker, but that's a future problem...

Suns out guns shitty old bikes out... Winter hiatus over, thought I'd look again at this again, had parked it in despair after things got hard and I gave up. Biggest issue after sorting the starter solenoid was a weird electrical fault where putting the key on lit up all the indicator lamps solid. No idea how this could happen looking at the wiring diagram (all rewired by me) and assumed using jumper leads had fried the electronic flasher. To get at the wiring I had to remove the battery tray and oil lines (again) as the common earth point was a stud on the back of the regulator. Separating things and testing them seemed ok, and reassembling exactly the same seems to have fixed the problem? No idea how, assume a bad earth or something but I'll take it... Next was the clutch, I'd replaced the old twin centre spring setup with a machined multi spring system that was supposed to be an improvement... But the clutch lever was hard as hell to operate, wondered if I'd put the wrong springs in, had chosen heavy duty ones as recommended. Used my clutch tool again to remove the releasing disc... And tried it with 3 springs removed... Which felt about the same, clearly something was amiss with the release ramp system. Looked at it and I'd been assembling the cover with the ramp in the wrong position, rotating it further back fixed things, and finally could feel the clutch moving as it should. The ramp itself is in good condition, only been peened in place once looking at it... Slightly stiffer at the lever but I expected that, and it may settle in with use and the case full of oil. Encouraging though, and I discovered I'm missing a lock washer and thrust bearing that I'll install when I button things up properly. With this case back on I can start fitting pegs, levers, brake parts and exhausts again...

Never realised how much the early chain drive ones resemble the ironhead. Think they all went rubber band around 92...? Would be a fun city bike for sure...

Did someone say strippers and clingfilm...? And I've been caught out with incompatible paints too, or just being too impatient and spraying before grease and wax remover has evaporated off. Inadvertent wrinkle finish. It sucks but you learn...

Great looking car. Details on your vapour blaster build please?

Dig the carb lamp...

Great info. Cheers...

I like the red toolbox? reflection on the side of the tank...

I swapped from external reg to internally regulated new alternator in a '71 Ford. From memory I jumped between 2 connectors on old reg and it all worked. Except it drains if left. Suspect I need to install a diode somewhere too...

Love the swappable O2 sensor/gauge system. Cool piece of kit...

I highly approve a properly crimped and heat sleeved connection...

Do they call them a harness in the states? I'm sure there's an off the shelf one for that model available somewhere. Would be a faff but prob easier in the long run...

That is one of the coolest tank shapes ever...

How does it sound...?

pointless sharn. got a mate who was doing an older BMW cafe racer. He designed a beaut looking tailpiece, painstakingly made reverse molds etc, and glassed up the new piece. Something went wrong with the release wax though and the whole thing was permanently stuck together. Think he gave up...

So been dicking around for ages trying to get the starter motor working. Everything checked out ok, tested new solenoid, tested motor, tried old solenoid, tried new one again, each time having to shift oil lines, tank and wiring to get things in and out. It's been a cunt really... Solenoid works like this (simplified circuit)... Start button energises the pull-in coil, with current going through starter motor until the main contacts close (which removes voltage across the coil) then the hold-in coil remains energised until the start button/relay is released... Diagnostics proved everything worked except the starter motor engaging, hard to test as I couldn't just run a wire to eliminate the starter motor as it would become a short circuit if the contacts closed. A 12V lamp worked, and showed I wasn't getting full 12V at the motor terminal, was reduced by volt drop across the coils... So all pointed to something mechanical preventing full movement of the plunger. Mechanically the Bendix sprocket and lever looked fine, but looking through old pics I realised a roll pin on the plunger had worked itself through the operating arm lever, happened way back somehow and I hadn't noticed as it was under a spring... Fitted a new 1/8" pin, slightly longer to prevent it happening again... And works perfectly. Except for the electrical gremlins that now seem to have appeared. I have a few things disconnected though so will work through the issues logically...

Popped the cover to see what is happening in there, had a 3am think that maybe the tension on chain was too tight, or the loose cover meant the bush wasn't supported or something, plus the only change since it used to work was the new clutch spring setup... Looks like oil is coming through transfer valve into primary, as designed. Not sure if it's too much until things are running... Supporting the end of the shaft with my hand, I hit the starter button and the ring gear is definitely engaging properly... So I removed the clutch innards and slackened off the tensioner in case anything was mechanically binding... And with the case back on, the result was exactly the same, a solid clunk as the solenoid pulled in and ring engaged, but no rotation, even with another battery hooked up... Then I put 12V straight on the starter terminal (another bike battery connected in parallel)... The starter motor spun freely when not engaged, then when I tried with the starter button in and solenoid engaged, the engine spun over perfectly, which was a relief... So there's still an issue but at least I know things do work. Not sure if it's low voltage or a wiring issue, but at least I can put things back together after logically sorting the problem...

Tardy update, had other stuff happening. I popped out to the shed to look at it and noticed it'd dropped all its oil all over the floor. A bit discouraging and bloody messy so I just ignored it for a while... Wheeled it out yesterday and cleaned up the floor, and tools, and everything else that had been rust-proofed. Checked my oil line connections, drain plugs and oil filter etc, nothing obvious so I assume it leaked out the clutch cover, which was a bit loose, a worry if so as it seems it's still collecting oil... But a bigger worry is that the starter still isn't operating. The solenoid is banging in with a hearty clunk, but the motor does not spin. I know the starter works as it spins well on the bench, even tried connecting another battery in parallel but same result, so it's not a low voltage issue. Tried measuring voltage at starter terminal but it goes to zero when trying to start, so measured current, it's drawing a decent 26A DC, so the motor is trying to run... Can only guess it's mechanically binding somewhere? Kicker spins engine ok, so unsure where to look next. I'll open the primary cover next time I feel enthused enough to look at it...

I 'think' they are before legally required? I have the exact same model with farm rego, plates etc, so interested to see how you go...

Slept on it as I couldn't face pulling everything out again. This morning I confirmed the battery was fully charged, and tested the solenoid in place by connecting 12V directly to the pull in coil, still nothing, so (sigh) pulled everything out again... Bench tested the solenoid and it was definitely working OK, both the pull-in and hold coils worked perfectly, better than the old one I tested beside it. I wondered if things were binding as it was on an angle, so fitted the solenoid nut as a spacer, looked much better... And it seemed to work better. I pulled the starter gear shaft out and ensured the thrust washer was in place, and re-installed everything, with thick washers as well as the factory spacer, it definitely looks better aligned... I'd removed the primary cover and checked operation, a solid clunk as the gear moved in and out on the starter button, which was a relief. Unfortunately the starter motor didn't spin, it was getting power and spun ok on the bench so not sure what the issue is here, maybe something is binding...? Carried on with other stuff to make some progress, fitted the chain to help spinning the engine when adjusting the valve clearances, and discovered the new sprocket cover hit it (couldn't even get cover on). Ground out a bit of material for clearance and fitted cover... So getting there. The starter is a worry but everything works in isolation so must be solvable. also welded up the broken tank mount so another job ticked off. Still got carb to fit, ignition and valves to set, clutch to sort and general fettling, but feels like I'm getting closer...

Had a busy couple of days, adjusted the clutch and it felt slightly better, but still not releasing completely, hopefully it'll shake loose with some oil in it and the engine running...? Fitted the starter housing and was installing the angled oil tank bracket when the vented bolt snapped off, inside the case. Luckily was an easy extraction as it already had a hole drilled through it... Debated fitting a solid bolt but it's not an easy thing to replace without pulling lots of gear off again, so decided to make one. Machined a nozzle out of brass... And brazed it into a drilled bolt... Fitted it and carried on, bit concerned that the solenoid bolts up on an angle...? But decided to carry on, it was a stinking hot day so my apprentice found some shade for a snooze, while I got sunburnt... Installed all new oil lines, fitted tank, battery tray, battery and connected starter wiring... And oil was getting to the filter when I kicked it over, thought I was close to cranking it on the starter... Except nothing happened, apart from a click from the starter relay...