Well after a fair bit of fiddling and a huge amount of research on this site and the web in general I finally have my 64 C72 dream on the road. I took it for its first ride today and it was rough but after about 15 minutes was running pretty well. The day was not without its issues however.
Firstly its idling way too high which i think is the carb needle setting. I think I have to lower it a notch. Any advice on this point (so to speak) would be good. I had to clean out the carb and I put it back together as it was (on the third notch down). Turning the idle screw doesn't change the idle speed but closing the choke has it idling at a decent rate, until you put some demand on the engine and it starves. Makes for an interesting choke/throttle juggling act.
The second problem is that I don't think the battery is getting a charge. I had to jump start it as the battery was down to start with but it is a new battery. After about 20min of running, the engine cut out and I didn't have enough power to turn the starter or operate lights. I managed to kick it over and got it home, with no problem (2 min ride). I had lights while the engine was running. When I turned it off, I turned on the light to find that it had a very low glow, same for the brake. Not enough power to get the indicators going. I figure that the battery has run down/not charged while its been running, hence not enough charge getting back to the battery if any. I don't have a manual as yet, so could someone please let me know how to check the charge back to the battery and what it should be at - 12v I'm guessing. I'm guessing thats coming back off the alternator to the battery?
Any info/advice on these two problems would be great. Hoping to get a fair bit more time up on it tommorrow.
Cheers
Brendan
On the road but not without issuesThe needle position shouldn't have anything to do with idle speed. If the idle screw doesn't lower the idle, you probably need to put some slack in the cable. There is a barrel nut on top of carb, try turing it in to add slack to cable. Lot's of informative threads on weak charging systems on this site.
davomoto
Most C72 (DREAM) carbs don't have a cable adjuster on the carb but do have one in the cable. .............lm
RIDE IT DON'T HIDE IT!
Guys,
thanks for your suggestions/advice, all taken on board. As far as the battery dying, I think it was just the fact that the battery was already run down prior to going out on a ride, plus running the bike with the lights on. I will be looking at updating the rectifier in the future but will see how it pans out first. It looks like I'm only getting about 12.5v back through. Will be investing in a trickle charger in the mean time and then when I get time I will be rebuilding the whole harness as its a shambles after so many years of owners doing dodgy repairs and general ageing of the wires - will be a new one for me as I know very very little about the electrical side of things. Secondly I adjusted the throttle cable - shortening the outer which allowed the slide to bed into the carby correctly, and what do you know, I now have a dream that is purring as opposed to screaming. It was previously blowing a bit of blue smoke but I'm finding after a few rides this has settled down and its running pretty clean. Speaking to a local mechanic who has spent his life growing up with honda bikes and was keen to have a look he suggested that the cylinders may have been a bit glazed and the rings are just rebedding after sitting for so long, I'm not doubting him as it seems to be coming true. The running rich problem seems sorted with the carby adjustment. I have found that the points were sparking due to pitting so will replace those, they are working for now but not for long no doubt, the sparkplugs are pretty fouled so they will be changed aswell. Apart from this I've also had to give the clutch cable some slack as it was adjusted far to hard and slipping, I've lubricated the speedo cable as the needle was flicking over a 30 mile range on the dial, its now working normally, I will to go through and lube all the other cables now as I figure if one has dried out the others are probably in the same boat. I also found most of the screws/bolts on the case had worked lose and I was starting to get some oil leaks. I've given them a bit of a tighten, (being careful not to overtighten) and the leaks have stopped. My theory is that the gaskets may have dried and shrank a bit allowing the fixtures to losen - probably not right but the leaks have stopped and I will be keeping an eye out. Now the only thing needed is an air filter. I've had a look through the posts and will probably pick up a K&N RU-0160 pod which a few people have suggested as I have nothing past the carby. I have also had an offer though from a mate who said he would engineer one if he could get a decent photo, so if any one has one sitting out at the moment a couple of decent snaps/measurements would be great, its right up his alley and would result in a cheap original appearance filter for the bike. Does anyone use and inline fuel filter? I was thinking about putting one in to catch any nasties prior to the carby. I know there is a screen in the petcock (I had it off about 4 times to fix a leak, turned out someone at some point in time had tried drilling it off and the fuel was running in through the three mounting screws, hence the petcock couldn't be shutoff) thanks all - had to share the news as I pretty happy about it, will have to post some photo's shortly. Brendan
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