Tidying up a '79

[EMS]

They are not the same carbs as on your 79 but for $220.- well worth picking them up.!

[Mello]

Since I was still waiting for the carb kit etc., I decided to put the bike together. I know what you're thinking, and you're right (as Magnum PI used to say).

Mounted all the parts, reinstalled the carbs and set the engine back. I had bought an aftermarket headlight bracket to fit the headlight temporarily and some indicators, just to get the bike to go. Hit a couple of snags on the way.

First, tried to start the bike and all I got was a click and then the idiot lights went out. Couldn’t find anything wrong but as I moved the battery, they came back on. Thought it must be the live wire so made up a new one. Hmmm, same problem! Suspected the solenoid or the battery so I took the battery out of the Blackbird. Same problem! Eventually found that I had forgotten to reattach the earth to the engine when I tilted the engine. It was just making contact for the lights but would not allow enough for a start.

She starts, runs, but not well. More or less what I expected from what I have read regardign how clean the carbs should be, but hey, I had the time. I've found a source for some chemical dip so hope to get that later today. I will hold off doing anything until I've got my grubby paws on Mike's manual though.

Took her for a ride around the neighbourhood and it was fun, despite the odd splutter and backfire.

The only other issue is that the head and tail light don’t work – think it’s a problem with the left handle bar switch sa I took these apart.

[Mello]

Finally our postal strike has ended and my carb kit from Randakk arrived with Mike Nixons book. I must say that I'm impressed on both counts; book is very clear and easy to follow and the kit is excellent. I was very pleased that the float bowl replacement screws are included in the kit as a couple of mine were pretty second hand.

I soaked the carbs in the cleaner I had bought before following the instructions for cleaning (read the book through first). I hadn't noticed before that the PO or his @&$! "mechanic" had done me the disservice of breaking one of the float posts! Luckily it still seems to hold the pin ok but I will need to keep an eye on this.

Sadly, I was in a rush to finish the job yesterday as I'm away for the week and wanted to hear the bike run. Put the carbs back forgetting to adjust the pilot screws properly! Now I need one of those fancy 90 degree screw drivers to adjust them or take them off again! On well. But she starts easily and runs well, if a little rich.

[daves79x]

No offense, but same advice I give everyone - DON'T RUSH - it will just guarantee you more time and trouble. These bikes aren't very forgiving if you screw something up. If you didn't spend 10-12 hours on the carbs AFTER you got the book and kit - you will. Good luck just the same!

Dave

[steve murdoch icoa #5322]

Congrats on getting the bike running even if you do have a bit more adjusting.
Spending money on tools for the CBX is a good thing in my books. It means that hopefully i am not paying somebody else to fix the problem besides the satisfaction of doing it myself.

[Mello]

No offense taken Dave. I took my time making sure I followed the book. I didn't think I would finish but took pretty much the whole day. It was getting late and since I'm away this week wanted to get the carbs back on. So I rushed the last bit where I should have done one more check over to make sure. Some lessons are easily learnt

Thanks Steve, I agree, the right tools make everything much easier and less frustrating. It's not fun when you have to battle!

[Mello]

Dave, thanks for the advice and putting up with my inane questions via email

I was away last week so couldn't play with the bike. I took her for a ride and there was a miss from the left side every now and again. The idle was a little uneven which I thought might just be adjustment. The tool for this seems unobtainable locally so I have ordered one from eBay.

After some investigation of the miss fire, I found that the pipe for cylinder 3 was noticeably cooler than the others. Taking the plug lead off seemed to make no difference to the bike. When riding and opening the throttle, with the slides raised, she ran flawlessly. I suspected that there must still be dirt in number 3. Mikes book says you don't need to remove the pressed in jets but Dave told me he removes them. Today I bought a set of M2.5 taps and a few screws and nuts (and more carb cleaner). I must say, I'm getting good at removing the carbs!

I decided to give 3 a go first and struggled to get the first jet out. I now have the technique nailed so will give the rest a go tomorrow. The jet was definitely a bit clogged still. Cleaner was going through but not as well as it now does.

Seems like there is only one way to learn with these carbs - the hard way! At least there is some light now!

[Mello]

Surprisingly, number 3’s jet seemed cleaner than the others, 6 in particular being very dirty! See pic attached. After that, I was pleased that I’d done the right thing by taking the jets out (was quite apprehensive doing this at first).

Thought I’d check the plugs while I was at it and give them a clean. I’d changed these just after I got the bike so thought they should be good anyway. To my amazement, plug 3 had no gap! This was the hole that had to be helicoiled. I have no idea what happens to bikes when you leave them at a bike shop but how does someone put a plug back when it looks like that?

She starts, idles and revs cleanly now. Very smooth, so I’m a happy chap! It was raining the whole weekend so didn’t get to ride. Instead, I tracked down the issue with the tail light not working and the front brake light. The tail light was quite easy to solve. The switch for the brake seems faulty. I couldn’t get it out (not sure if there is some trick to this) but it seems to work just as you squeeze the brake lever. Anymore movement and it goes off again.

[daves79x]

Good for you! Those front brake switches get frozen in the bracket - force will be needed after removing the locking screw. You need a new one anyway, so go ahead and dig it out.

Dave

[Mello]

Thanks Dave.

Finally stopped raining today so took her for a quick spin to see how she goes. super smooth. super sound

I ordered a new switch, although the old one now seems to have had a new lease on life and is working

Ordered new brake pads as the brakes seem quite weak so hoping fresh pads might make a difference. Plenty of meat still on the old ones but they look really old. Cleaned it all up but think a caliper rebuild is not far off.

My idle adjuster tool haven't arrived yet but reasonably happy with how she runs for now.

Hoping the rain stops long enough for a good rode this weekend. We have an old bike run on tomorrow and Saturday from Durban to Johannesburg so want to go follow for a bit. Only bikes pre-1937 are eligible to enter.

[Mello]

We often get rain in March but this has been exceptional! The weather cleared a little on Friday evening so I decided to leave early on Saturday morning for Newcastle, a short 320 kilometre ride from home to watch the old bikes making their way to the south of Johannesburg.

An eventful ride in the end. About 100km into the ride I noticed an oil leak so decided to stop and inspect it. Seemed to be minor and looked like it was coming from the cylinder head cover. More concerning was the slight fuel leak from the hose onto the carbs. Decided to continue. At around 160km or so, the bike spluttered a little so I thought it must be time to switch to the reserve. Switched the petcock over and shortly afterward, the bike just died and I cruised to a stop. The fuel line has come off and fuel was pouring over the engine!

I cut a bit off the fuel line and refitted it. Seemed to solve the fuel leak. Problem now was that I had no idea how much fuel I'd lost. Made it to the next town ok and filled up. Then hit road works. The road was in very bad condition with many stop and go sections. Eventually i decided to turn back and head home, missing seeing the old bikes. Some pics here on the website http://www.djrun.co.za/2014_Photographs ... liams.html

Apart from those couple of mishaps, the bike ran very well. When I got home, I gave her a clean to try to pin point the leak (the engine was coated in oil by this time). Some oil had run up to the coils. Close inspection showed some cracks!

I ordered a set of dyna coils and new gaskets. My brake switch has arrived and strangely, the old one has worked flawlessly. Still waiting for the new brake pads though.

For now, that's about as far as i will go with the bike. Once we're back from our US holiday the plan is to pull her apart and powder coat the frame and centre stand (the only bits I haven't done), blast and paint the engine and hopefully I can get my hands on an original headlight bracket / stay. The tank and tail section will go for painting (I have the decals except for the 24 valve one). Wheels and brake calipers need a bit of attention too. All in good time

This forum has been great for all the advice and info. Thanks to all who contribute!

[NobleHops]

I confess I laughed as I read this - not at you but because like most of us, this bike is demanding a lot of your attention to get sorted and you are bonding with it in the process, and that's the same way it went with me.

That valve cover gasket (if that's what you mean by cylinder head cover) is a likely suspect, and subject to shrinking, and I found it a bit of a PITA to install the first time I tried. There are also sealing rubbers and caps that go on those 8 bolts up top, and those are also prone to shrinking and thereby not putting enough pressure on the rubber gasket to help it seal. Do a few searches and you'll likely find a thread of mine when I was puzzling this out, but in advance of that I'll share the few key tips that others shared with me:

The tach drive has to be removed before you mess with removing the valve cover, or you will have Sorrow.

Remove the upper engine mount hanger bracket and the engine will sag a mm or so and that is a big help in getting the valve cover off and on. It's a very tight squeeze under the top frame rail.

Use a socket as an anvil to drive the shouldered valve cover bolts out of the rubber sealing washers (thanks again Dave).

When setting the new gasket, let it warm up in the right shape in the sun if possible, so it doesn't fight you when you're trying to get it installed. Put a thin layer of three-bond around the (clean) channel it rests in, set the gasket, then a dot of three-bond at the corners of the half-round sections where the cam caps are before you set the cover.

The mounting bolts are shouldered, and take VERY LITTLE pressure to seal once they are grounded. If you try to tighten them like an ordinary fastener you'll get, you guessed it, Sorrow. Just snug them, that's all.

Replace the tach drive seal while you're at it. Tach drive assembly gets reinstalled LAST.

After you set the gasket in the channel in the cover and try to install it, you're going to find that there is an oil pipe in the valve area that makes it a PITA to get the cover over it without dislodging your carefully-placed gasket. Use a small thin putty knife to hold the gasket in place as you work it over that oil pipe (thanks SteveG I think). You will be grateful for that third arm you have when you do this.

Thread:

viewtopic.php?f=25&t=5792&start=15&hili ... ver+gasket

Search (is your friend BTW):

search.php?st=0&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&keyw ... t&start=30

Photos of an old gasket and new:



Remove the sealing washers from the cover bolts (note that this is an '80 with larger washers)







79 vs 80 sealing washers (80 is the larger to the left):





New gasket set and ready for installation:



Victory!

[Mello]

Don't worry I smiled to myself when reflecting over a cup of coffee at one stop. You can only expect these "challenges" (or opportunities) with older bikes, especially when they have a dodgy maintenance past. The issues I had are realtively minor and not totally unexpected. What has been confirmed, however, is that these are really great bikes worthy of restoration. I'm sure the hassles will reduce with just a bit of proper sorting out of the mechanical bits.

Thanks for the description and great pics. Will be of great help when my parts arrive.

EDIT: Yes, meant valve cover. I also ordered the little grommets but not the tacho drive bits. Will have to get that.

[EMS]

Awesome and detailed instructions, Nils! Great pics to go with it. You can probably put a "restoration manual" together with all the data you collected during your project.

One thing, though ( I may be corrected again on this one);
The larger bolt seals, IMO, go with the Prolink bikes and with a different valve cover. I don't think there was a difference in these between 79 and 80???

79 vs 80 sealing washers (80 is the larger to the left):

[Mello]

Mike, I think Nils is right. The 80 had the same part number as the 81 (I was surprised, thought it must be a mistake).