Maiden Voyage

[Waveblaster]

Well I didn't smash a bottle of bubbly over the front fender but I did have a beer later on.

I tried uploading a picture but I seem to have encountered a permission issue.?

Anyhow . Loads of fun riding around the block . I managed to get around 10Km on the bike and was sitting on 70 to 80km when the bike seemed to lose power and backfire a bit. I brought home and checked the timing with a timing light. Aligned the electronic ignition so that the firing point is at the F mark. Still intermittent backfiring and miss. I am thinking coil as it is the old one and I am wondering if with the electronic ignition it has overheated.

I dont believe the cam is out as it started very readily when I first fired up unless something has loosened. Is it possible the two halves of the cam have moved?

I pulled the side plate off and checked the timing again. I noted the mechanical advance is very aggressive when activating. It jumps from the F mark to another line more advance. I assume this is as designed but the process is very on/off rather than gradual . Not sure if this is normal or an issue.

So it looks like I am springing for a new coil . Will any do ? or with the electronic ignition (Charlies Place) is there some requirement needed.

I am running D8HA plugs with the standard leads and what ever caps were on there not sure if there is a resistance issue.? The thing is the bike was running beautifully when I first started and began riding.


On a side note, the speedometer started to make a lot of noise and bouncing up to 80 MPH I am not sure if this is the bottom end or the gauge if anyone has experienced

regards

Greg

[sarals]

Greg, I can help you with the speedo. Maybe! Try lubricating the cable with white grease. Take it out of the sleeve and apply the grease. Then make sure the end that attached to the speedo doesn't push too far up into the drive, there should be a little bit of slack.

Mine did the same thing. LM told me to try what I just told you to try, and it worked!

[rustywrench]

Zing what a feeling to ride them the first time after a build. Congrats and a tip of the ol' hat to ya.
First knee jerk reaction to the backfiring and loss of power. Carb!!!!!!! Check float level and crud in the float bowl. Since this came on after a time, that is my first suspicion.

Many here have experienced the same speedo problem. The bearing on the bottom of the speedo itself gets dry and is screaming "LUBE ME".

As for loading pics, if you are using windows, resize your pic and upload it to fit the forum size. Hope all this helps. Rusty

[Waveblaster]

So as a precautionary measure I tried putting the points and condenser back in and guess what it fixed the problem. SO it appears the electronic ignition unit has failed .

On another note twice while riding I have popped the seal on the clutch push rod that sits inside the primary drive shaft. You can follow the trail down the road into my driveway. This time i have cleaned with a solvent , roughed the exterior of the seal and smeared with silastic. Will leave over night and see if it makes a difference.

[Tinman]

WB,
I'm curious. Did you replace the rectifier with a regulator? If I've read the advertisements correctly for the electronic ignitions, they're designed to be operated in conjuction with a regulator and not an unregulated charging system. That may explain the short life and failure of the electronic ignition.

At least you saved the points/condensor and are back up and running.

Good Luck,
Tinman