Honda Dream CA77 305 Points and Timing Walk-Through

[LOUD MOUSE]

Removing the engine is a pain for sure but not impossible if you take your time.
I use a car floor jack to lower/lift them.
When you have the top off I'd like to see a pic with the same line up's. ............lm

With what you have described and show I'd say it is "1" tooth off time. ................lm

DAMN!!!!
And with your ongoing track record I am betting you are right!

Looks like I'm going to be learning how to drop a motor soon.

[stepper]

Removing the engine is a pain for sure but not impossible if you take your time.
I use a car floor jack to lower/lift them.
When you have the top off I'd like to see a pic with the same line up's. ............lm

Will do LoudMouse.
Quick question...
It looks like this may be the cause for my fouled plugs. I have been getting sooty black plugs that were ever so slightly wet. I thought they were gas fouled but I am starting to think that I may have a blown cylinder head gasket. And earlier today I shined a flashlight into the spark plug hole and could see a whole lotta black soot. Could this have caused my gasket to fail? I haven't noticed any smoke from the exhaust and I will perform a compression test as soon as I can get my hands on a gauge...

Please keep in mind that this motorcycle has only been running on idle since I got it as it is my first bike and I want to get it dialed in before I put her on the road. So with that in mind, I have not witnessed it in full operating temperatures or RPM's.

Thanks again!
JV

[Nick]

Don't pull the engine apart until you've confirmed that all the basic stuff is correct.

In your pic of the rotor, the F line next to the T line is the one you use for static timing. You don't need a light either. You can just slip a piece of cellophane between the closed points, put a wrench on the crank, and slowly rotate the engine clockwise. The points should release the cellophane when the F line lines up with the marker line.
This is the way I usually check the timing on my Dream. (Heck, I timed plenty of race bikes this way back in the day.)

There will always be brown stuff in the area from the points rubbing block wearing, that's why you put a small amount of grease on the cam (they make point's cam grease). Also, the felt always gets mushed up, remove it or relocate it, put a dab of grease on it.

Your points look good to me. Try elongating the holes slightly to allow the plate to turn a bit further.
If you get it started go for a ride. No need to baby it either. The old Honda engines love to rev and they were built to do so!

Take it out and give it a good thrashing, then see what the plugs look like, adjust the idle etc.

[LOUD MOUSE]

<<<<<<<<<<Try elongating the holes slightly to allow the plate to turn a bit further.>>>>>

Do you actually think that if you have to change the plate that there isn't something not quite right?
Read back where the timing was at the dot.
That should tell you something. ........................lm

Don't pull the engine apart until you've confirmed that all the basic stuff is correct.

In your pic of the rotor, the F line next to the T line is the one you use for static timing. You don't need a light either. You can just slip a piece of cellophane between the closed points, put a wrench on the crank, and slowly rotate the engine clockwise. The points should release the cellophane when the F line lines up with the marker line.
This is the way I usually check the timing on my Dream. (Heck, I timed plenty of race bikes this way back in the day.)

There will always be brown stuff in the area from the points rubbing block wearing, that's why you put a small amount of grease on the cam (they make point's cam grease). Also, the felt always gets mushed up, remove it or relocate it, put a dab of grease on it.

Your points look good to me. Try elongating the holes slightly to allow the plate to turn a bit further.
If you get it started go for a ride. No need to baby it either. The old Honda engines love to rev and they were built to do so!

Take it out and give it a good thrashing, then see what the plugs look like, adjust the idle etc.

[stepper]

Thanks Nick for the suggestion...

Actually, After coming home from a late night cook out that involved some very good eats and a few shots of moonshine I went ahead and took a shot at lengthening the slots on the plate with a Dremel. I got it to the point where the top screw has no more room to move without interfering with the points assembly. Unfortunately, this did little to retard the timing.

So, this morning I visited my local Harbour Freight and picked up an $89 motorcycle jack, compression gauge and a free multimeter all at a 20 percent discount! (last day of sale btw, but they seem to always have some kind of sale going on).

The compression gauge was telling me that both cylinders were rating at 70PSI!!!
But after a quick search I learned that the Pittsburgh brand kit is apparently infamous for consistently giving readings at 40-50psi less than actual. Needless to say I returned it within an hour and I think they forgot that I had a 20% discount on it.

[Nick]

....Do you actually think.....

It's not uncommon for the points rubbing block to wear so much that you run out of adjustment on the backing plate (mine is like that now). It doesn't mean the cam's out of time, nor does it mean you can't use other methods to time it that will work perfectly okay.

After almost 20 years of semi-regular riding my Dream still has the same set of points that were in it when I pulled it out of the junkyard.

Regarding the compression, here's another guerilla tuning trick:

Just put your thumb over the spark plug hole and kick the engine over. If your thumb gets blown off forcefully, the compression's prolly okay. Or, you can also simply feel how much resistance there is at the kickstarter.

Check the tappet clearance, make sure carb is in order, check timing, adjust cam chain. Do everything as per the manual.

Also check that the centrifugal advance is working and that it is not frozen up.

Pulling the engine and taking it to bits can be a lot of fun; putting it back together properly takes a lot of time, money and knowledge.....

[LOUD MOUSE]

OK.
I'm not sure where you obtained your knowledge but MOST IS NOT CORRECT!
You have 1 DREAM 305 HONDA and the same points.
SO WHAT!
If you think modifying the points plate will adjust a mechanical miss assembly you are some mechanic.
,,,,,,,,,,,Just put your thumb over the spark plug hole and kick the engine over. If your thumb gets blown off forcefully, the compression's prolly okay>>>>>>>>>>>>>
FIVE POUNDS COMPRESSION WITH A C110 50CC ENGINE WILL PASS YOUR TEST!
WHAT YOU OFFER THIS FELLER AS ADVICE WILL ALLOW THE engine to run BUT IT WILL BE OUT OF TIME AND WILL RUN HOT AND SEIZE EVENTUALLY.

Ya better be careful stepper!. .....................lm

....Do you actually think.....

It's not uncommon for the points rubbing block to wear so much that you run out of adjustment on the backing plate (mine is like that now). It doesn't mean the cam's out of time, nor does it mean you can't use other methods to time it that will work perfectly okay.

After almost 20 years of semi-regular riding my Dream still has the same set of points that were in it when I pulled it out of the junkyard.

Regarding the compression, here's another guerilla tuning trick:

Just put your thumb over the spark plug hole and kick the engine over. If your thumb gets blown off forcefully, the compression's prolly okay. Or, you can also simply feel how much resistance there is at the kickstarter.

Check the tappet clearance, make sure carb is in order, check timing, adjust cam chain. Do everything as per the manual.

Also check that the centrifugal advance is working and that it is not frozen up.

Pulling the engine and taking it to bits can be a lot of fun; putting it back together properly takes a lot of time, money and knowledge.....