Motorcycle Thread - Page 17 - Cut-Weld-Drive Forums

EVOlyn · July 9th, 2008, 01:21 PM

Well, not to get all sappy, but I've been dealing with some sort of progressive illness that is slowly but surely taking the use of my arms and legs away. Haven't gotten all freaked out yet, but the doctors still have no clue what's going on. A month or so ago I had to concead that I wasn't going to get Evolyn done this summer and unfortunately it may be sometime after that if the doctors don't figure something out.

I thought the motorcycle was a good distraction and something I could drive around for the summer. Kind of rethinking because it's not the easiest thing for me to handle and frankly there are days I just can't drive it becuase I'm affraid I won't be able to hold it up.

Well, enough wining, I still hope to finish Evolyn, just not sure when. I manage a little work on it every now and again when I'm able. Over the 4th I got the brackets made to support the steering column and the hold down for the gas tank fabricated. Even though it killed me, it felt good mentally to do something on the project.

By the way, thanks for asking.

crazyman_stanley · July 9th, 2008, 02:34 PM

oh bummer man. hope all turns out alright

max16v · July 9th, 2008, 07:52 PM

I thought I'd post this here to get some feedback from you v-rodders since I never hear from anyone when I post in my intro.

Well, since I've had my bike running there have been several issues that plague me to how I can correct them.

The first problem is a constant miss at idle. I haven't been able to set the timing right due to the miss and can can't get an accurate reading from the timing marks. I'm not sure if it's ignition or carburetor caused. The miss seems to go away once I'm cruising around.

Also, the second problem is a surge during idle. When the bike is cold, I have to manually give the bike throttle until it warms up or it will stall.

The third problem is cold idling rough but all of a sudden the RPMs will jump up to 2k from 1200 and run fine. After about 5-10 seconds the RPMs will drop back to 1200 and idle will be rough. It does this without any throttle input.

I'm stumped.

Here's a little info on the spark plugs: Cylinders 1-2 look good - light brown-ish, no oil deposits or fouling
Cylinder 3 is pratically clean. There is a little carbon on a corner of the insulator - the direction of the spark but the rest of the plug is clean. I'm thinking a weak spark. I put in new condensers and points. Bad plug wire?
Cylinder 4 gets oil deposits and fouls really easy.

If anyone can offer some advice, I would appreciate it.

**V8Transporter** · July 9th, 2008, 08:31 PM

Sounds like the carbs still aren't up to snuff. I rebuilt the carbs on my `82 Seca last spring (52 k miles since new, and I'm the first and only owner). I had `em off three times (oh, joy...) before I got them straightened out; and the bike ran, but lacked power and had some idling issues prior to pulling them down. Check the float levels and make sure the needles are really seating (my number three decided not to seat and kept flooding and bringing up the idle to about 25 hundred). Check the pilot jets for clogging. Make sure the throttle plates are all opening and closing at the same time. Touch the pipes when the bike is running and look for a cold pipe, which will tell you that that cylinder is not running. Check compression. Shoot the rubber mainfolds with WD-40 when the bike is running and if the idle drops you have a vacuum leak. If wiggling the carbs while the bike is running changes idle speed, etc, it's likely the manifolds. A small amount of gasget sealer can really help here (at the manifold to head, and a tiny bit on the carb flanges when you slide them into the manifolds//makes then easier to install). When the Seca was finally going good, I dropped some gas treatment in the tank for luck. Oh. and make sure the tank is clean. It doesn't take much to clog the carbs up. All this is a pain, but once the bike is running well, you can give yourself a pat on the back for sticking with it. A lot o bikes get `For Sale Cheap' signs at this point. For some reason the site won't let me and probably others from responding to intros...but it's probably just me.

**V8Transporter** · July 9th, 2008, 08:36 PM

Hey EVOlyn, I live in a woodsy area and a few years back one of my neighbors had something like that and it was from a tick bite. Once the docs figured it out it took him months to recover, but he got through it. At the time he was in his seventies and he's still around. Good luck my friend.

max16v · July 9th, 2008, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by V8Transporter

Sounds like the carbs still aren't up to snuff. I rebuilt the carbs on my `82 Seca last spring (52 k miles since new, and I'm the first and only owner). I had `em off three times (oh, joy...) before I got them straightened out; and the bike ran, but lacked power and had some idling issues prior to pulling them down. Check the float levels and make sure the needles are really seating (my number three decided not to seat and kept flooding and bringing up the idle to about 25 hundred). Check the pilot jets for clogging. Make sure the throttle plates are all opening and closing at the same time. Touch the pipes when the bike is running and look for a cold pipe, which will tell you that that cylinder is not running. Check compression. Shoot the rubber mainfolds with WD-40 when the bike is running and if the idle drops you have a vacuum leak. If wiggling the carbs while the bike is running changes idle speed, etc, it's likely the manifolds. A small amount of gasget sealer can really help here (at the manifold to head, and a tiny bit on the carb flanges when you slide them into the manifolds//makes then easier to install). When the Seca was finally going good, I dropped some gas treatment in the tank for luck. Oh. and make sure the tank is clean. It doesn't take much to clog the carbs up. All this is a pain, but once the bike is running well, you can give yourself a pat on the back for sticking with it. A lot o bikes get `For Sale Cheap' signs at this point. For some reason the site won't let me and probably others from responding to intros...but it's probably just me.

I appreciate the reply.

I had a MAJOR manifold leak but fixed that by boiling the boots in the wintergreen oil and water mix for a couple hours. Also I installed new (aftermarket) worm drive hose clamps which seals the carbs pretty well. All the exhaust pipes are running hot - had that issue before with the clogged idle jets, and fixed that by cleaning the tank, petcock screen, and installing inline fuel filters. When I rebuilt the carburetors I set the float height and installed all new idle jets, main jets, jet needle,s and fuel inlet needles. I know the mixture screws still need a little adjustment - #2&3 spark plugs are a bitch to pull out to check them. The timing still needs setting. I'm thinking an ignition fault with the clean spark plug (has hot exhaust but weak spark...) and probably the miss.

I'll pull the idle jets and give them another cleaning tomorrow.

road_dog · July 10th, 2008, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EVOlyn

Well, not to get all sappy, but I've been dealing with some sort of progressive illness that is slowly but surely taking the use of my arms and legs away. Haven't gotten all freaked out yet, but the doctors still have no clue what's going on. A month or so ago I had to concead that I wasn't going to get Evolyn done this summer and unfortunately it may be sometime after that if the doctors don't figure something out.

I thought the motorcycle was a good distraction and something I could drive around for the summer. Kind of rethinking because it's not the easiest thing for me to handle and frankly there are days I just can't drive it becuase I'm affraid I won't be able to hold it up.

Well, enough wining, I still hope to finish Evolyn, just not sure when. I manage a little work on it every now and again when I'm able. Over the 4th I got the brackets made to support the steering column and the hold down for the gas tank fabricated. Even though it killed me, it felt good mentally to do something on the project.

By the way, thanks for asking.

Yea...Tell your Dr. to check you for Lime Dieases (How ever you spell it!).

Had a freiend that got ot and Damn Near Died! Couldn't walk, hold his kids, Feed him Self....all that Shit!

It's been almost Six years and he is better, but not back to the same. He doesn't have to usse crutches any more, but he still walks easy.

BRUISER · July 10th, 2008, 11:23 AM

figured some you may like the last bike i built..

started life as a 1995 Kawasaki 1500 Vulcan cruiser.. knickname = BUBF(Butt Ugly But Fast)

BRUISER · July 10th, 2008, 11:23 AM

more pics

BRUISER · July 10th, 2008, 11:23 AM

more

BRUISER · July 10th, 2008, 11:23 AM

more

BRUISER · July 10th, 2008, 11:24 AM

then i decided to repaint it

Mikelrome · July 10th, 2008, 11:37 AM

Nice job. I liked it better all black.

**V8Transporter** · July 10th, 2008, 05:35 PM

Wow! From daylight between the rear tire and fender, to reeaally low.

I like what you did with the rear fender and hidden light..nice touch. Great looking bike, and you won't find yourself parking next one just like it.

road_dog · July 10th, 2008, 09:48 PM

Very Nice Scoot!

crazyman_stanley · July 11th, 2008, 06:43 AM

hey bruiser lets make a club that specializes in customizing ugly ass kawa into customs. haha
nice improvements!

bugdust · July 11th, 2008, 04:12 PM

I was at a guys house today that has a garage full of BMWs and Moto Guzzis. He probably has 25 bikes easily...most of them very nice. He told me I could have the BMW with sidecar, 400 miles for $6k

ThrasherBill · July 14th, 2008, 11:48 AM

Got the tail light mounted and removed the fender and stock light this weekend.
Next step (hopefully in the next 2 weeks) is the seat cover and then paint.

Mikelrome · July 14th, 2008, 12:02 PM

Bill, any chance your going to move all the letric into the tail for that clean look?

ThrasherBill · July 14th, 2008, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mikelrome

Bill, any chance your going to move all the letric into the tail for that clean look?

I'd like to but me and wiring don't get along so I think that's more than I want to get into. If I end up tearing the engine down over the winter I might think about it then. Right now the bike is my only transportation so I don't want to take a bunch of stuff apart and then have problems where I can't get it back together right away.

Mikelrome · July 14th, 2008, 12:13 PM

That thing is looking great, Nice work!

crazyman_stanley · July 15th, 2008, 06:26 AM

comin along nice bill. It looks like your bike might be the same as mine. Mines a 79 650. How much get-to-gettin does it got? Any balls at all? Did you rebuild your carbs? Whats the milage?

ThrasherBill · July 15th, 2008, 08:44 AM

It started out as a 78 KZ650SR. Some previous owner stuffed an 81 KZ750 in it with a 4-1 Kerker exhaust and Mikuni carbs. It really needs to be jetted down a bit, it bogs out in the top end. It's pretty quick off the get go but the only thing I have to compare it to is my buddy's ZX11 so it seems a little slow.

**jaransonT3** · July 15th, 2008, 09:32 PM

I have one of these (Honda Trail 90) in the garage that needs some work...

and I have not been able to get the idea of doing this to it out of my head...

What do you all think?

mkparker · July 16th, 2008, 04:45 AM

It's cool, but a lot of work. Maybe that 90cc in one of these would be better?