Hmmm.....interesting the way you say infamous. Good to know though. I'll look and see if it has the valve or not. Hopefully it's something I can determine without pulling the rest of my hair out. I can still run straight 60 in the primary if need be. Thanks for the info man.

 

[QUOTE=bfgoodmudder;7052439][quote=IronMick;
You may need a new regulator - 15 amps is way too high.


I'm guessing you meant volts....?[/QUOTE]

Yes. Hmmm, i musta bin asleep at the wheel there, eh.

 

Ok, I see where the valve is. Looks like a lot of people plug them off. I don't think I'm gonna plug it just yet though. I'm gonna run it the way it is and see what happens. I know it's gonna leak so I might as well invest in some 60w. At least I won't have to guess which ones leaking....lol. Think I read that 60w can cause tranny sticking but I'm gonna go with it and see what happens. Clutch cable and gasket should be here today. Just waitin on that damn coil....

 

Smoking your starter an pegging volts to 15+ volts is pointing to a dead short, I'd find it quick before you burn something up.

 

Valvoline makes a great 60wt oil,I use it in both holes works great..and suggestion,while changing oil,replace the ck ball/spring in the front part of the oil pump.

 

I'm thinkin the dead short was the positive starter terminal which was touching one of the brush leads. I think I have that problem fixed.... I honestly don't know how they keep from shorting out anyway as cramped up as it is inside the starter case. Originally, the leads were sleeved with protective liners but those pretty much fell off the first time I had the starter apart. I insulated the positive lead with a heavy vinyl and very sticky 3M tape. Heat resistant according to the carquest man but I think he's full of it. Might still have to find a better way. Not sure about the battery. The one it had when I got was pretty much toast to start with so against my better judgement, I tried jump starting it from my truck. May have been part of the problem. Also used a 2-10-and 60 amp smart charger which may also have caused some craziness. I know at one point the battery was sizzling pretty good, which is when I noticed the 15+ volt overload. It wasn't long after that, that the coil fried like an egg. The fact that the battery was dead to start with probably didn't help. It was also a refillable battery and for all I know the previous owner may have filled with plain ole tap water instead of distilled. Either way, things seem much more manageable since I stole the 230 cca battery off my riding lawn mower....lol. It actually spun'er over pretty good. Still waiting on a Deka 385 cca battery to slap in there. Things didn't seem to heat up until after I cranked on it a while so if I can get it tuned up right so it doesn't have turn over 15 times to start, it should be fine.... A lot of ifs, mights, and thinks there I know...

Cool, I just ordered some from the local carquest. They should have it tomorrow. I have one quart on hand but that ain't gonna be enough. Gonna have to look in to that ck ball/spring. I'm lovin these inside tips.


Got the clutch cable and primary cover gasket today. When I pulled the primary off I discovered that the chain tension adjuster had broken which is what all the rattling was the last time I spun it over. I was able to weld it, and I think it'll hold but it almost acted and looked like cast steel the way it broke. I figured if I can pound on it in the vise maybe it'll hold up under the constant beating of a primary chain.

Anyway, after that little bit of fun the cable and gasket went on with just minor modifications to the 12" over clutch cable. Ends were too long and had to be ground a bit to fit right. Clutch feels pretty good. Tighter than hell and I love a tight clutch. Feels like you got somethin in your hand. The last bike I had was equipped with a hydraulic clutch and I didn't like it much.

The only thing that worries me a little is when it's in gear and I pull the clutch in, it still feels like it's engaged (won't roll) I didn't have time to add oil or make any adjustments so I'm not gonna draw a conclusion on that one yet. I can't fire it up until I get the coil anyway. Once all that happens she should be very close to test ride status.

The tranny does shift in and out of neutral nicely. I hit 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.... Not sure about 4th.... Don't really know how it should act when not running but it felt pretty good. Shifting action actually feels tighter than my 30k mile evo softail did....go figure.

 

Got the 76 to fire up today and took it down the road. Not too bad but she'll be under the knife for a little longer yet. I'll post some pics later and explain a couple of problems I'm still havin trouble with, but right now I gotta go to work. Gotta love the graveyard shift.

 

Here's a pic of her as she sits. Like I said I had it running but it's running rough, still smells a little like old gas. I am running 87 octane. Not sure what's best to use. It sounds pretty good, revs up nice, no serious misfires but it won't idle for long. I'm not sure if the timing is out or if it's something else...carburetor???

I charged the new Deka 400 cca battery which was supposed to be fully charged upon arrival, let the bike sit overnight off of the charger, and she fired up for me again today. Not real easily though. It has a nasty catch on the compression stroke and sometimes it slams the starter to an abrupt stop. I'm guessing I need to adjust the valves, but I'm not sure if I want to screw with the timing or not.

Oh, I also noticed the points were pitted so I cleaned it up a little and got the pits out with emery paper. Fire still seems a little eratic but like I said, I don't think it's misfiring....too bad. Not real sure what to think. If it is the carb, I'm stumped on what to do with it. If I'm lucky, it just needs to be ran and cleaned out a bit. I have seafoam but I'm not jumping on that one yet.

Only other problems are the front wheel seemed out of round when I rode it. Not sure if it's the wheel or the tire or what. Also, there's a sort of clatter coming from the primary. I'm guessing that's the adjuster which probably didn't hold up after I welded it. At least I hope that's what it is. What else could it be? I found a new one on E-bay for 20 bucks which seems to me like money well spent. Should have it sometime next week. Will wait to get it before I tear it back apart

All in all, this sucks. I was hoping to have this bike on the road by now. As it is, it's hard telling what it will take to make that happen. Once I do get it running right, there's still a wobbly damn front wheel to contend with, not to mention a little wiring. I will say that it did shift well and has gobs of torque, even in it's current state. Will be fun as hell to ride. Clutch feels great. It totally changed after I rode it up the road and back so it will need to be adjusted again, maybe just the lever play.

As much as I enjoy wrenching on my toys, this one I think, is going to test my limits on riding vs wrenching. If anyone has any good ideas on how to best keep her on the road, I would appreciate it. Much more of this and it's gonna have to go to a shop where somebody else can wrench on it for a while. And no self respecting grease monkey wants to see that.

 

I would use minimum 91 octane fuel. 95 if it were available.

 

Thanks Mick, that answers that question. I'd like to get your input on those other issues too if you have the time, and if my explanation makes enough sense to get anything out of. I appreciate it man.