TexasAggie’s first bike build

TexasAggie said:
That’s what I remember reading, and I think ‘73 was the last year.
It makes sense given the inherent charging issues and weak batteries back then that you’d probably take your short trips with the lights off.
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Honestly, we just rode with the lights off like cars were driven with the lights off during the day, I never worried about it where I lived until it was required. But then, there were fewer cars and a lot less traffic then too.
 
Latest update:

I got the new coils and installed them without issue. As much as I want to, I haven’t kicked it over yet for two reasons though. First, the tire issue I noticed which I brought up in another thread. So the bike is currently on blocks as new tires get installed at a shop here in town. $20 + materials for at about the same price I could find them online and they are saving me days of lead time and hours of labor so I’m pretty pleased. Should get the tires back on either today or tomorrow.
After that, I’m going to set the valves while it’s still cold, check that my ign timing is still good and then fire it up and see what happens. I’ll update if it makes it for full ride around town with these improvements.
 
Think I might’ve figured out the noise, but it’s more bad news. Before I adjusted the valves, I decided it was prudent to reset the cam chain tensioner too. Broke it lose, and went to tighten it and I noticed the bolt was slipping.
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The shiny part is the thread cut clean off the tensioner housing.
Think I’ve damaged the thread too much for a tap?
When I replaced the tensioner wheels I kept the original plunger/housing and I’m now regretting it. Luckily it’s not very hard to pull off the bike.
I’m assuming now the noise was because I never actually got the plunger secured.
 
And if that's the case, it's dangerous to run it that way so good that you discovered it now. If you can't find one, I may have a good tensioner housing on my 350 parts bike but I have not examined it yet.
 
Yeah I wouldn't muck with it when you can get a NOS one off eBay for $20 shipped. Small price to pay for the lack of headaches/second-guessing down the road.
 
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Will that little bit of rubber coming off make a difference? I think my current plunger is that way too and the plungers alone seem just as expensive as buying as a unit.
 
If it was me I would put a Timesert in the original housing as they are an awesome permanent fix.
100% better than a Heli-Coil but not cheap.

if you aren't familiar just google timesert
 
Yendor said:
If it was me I would put a Timesert in the original housing as they are an awesome permanent fix.
100% better than a Heli-Coil but not cheap.

if you aren't familiar just google timesert
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I think I saw something about those googling for through-hole thread repair. I’m guessing a timesert will let the bolt thread all the way through unlike a helicoil?
 
Just looked it up, it would definitely work but the kit that includes all the necessary bits for M6 repair is $76
 
If I knew somebody/place that already had the correct correct taps/drill bits I’d fix it today over waiting on the new part to come in. I’m right in the middle of arguably the best riding weather this part of Texas gets.
 
TexasAggie said:
If I knew somebody/place that already had the correct correct taps/drill bits I’d fix it today over waiting on the new part to come in. I’m right in the middle of arguably the best riding weather this part of Texas gets.
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Of course I typed this out and thought “maybe the machine shop that did the head could fix this”...
Yep, quick phone call confirms it they offer timeserts and possibly for as cheap as the replacement part. I could’ve fixed this Saturday [emoji19]
 
Canceled my eBay purchase (thankfully they didn’t ship over the weekend), took my part to the machine shop and they cleaned it up and set a time sert and now the part looks brand new. They also cleaned up the threads on the set screw noting that the bottom had rolled over which is what caused it to tear the aluminum threads out. I think it also means it was still functioning when I was riding (ie still holding the plunger), but wasn’t going to work again without the machine work. Overall $25 and I’ve got a good as new if not better part so I’m pleased.

Got it on there tight, checked the valves, adjusted the right intake a little tighter but overall valves felt correct even with my new 2 person technique for holding the spot.

Fired the bike up, and it ran beautifully. The slight tick sound was still there, but I’m thinking it’s just the sound of worn rockers on a flat tappet engine that I’m just simply not used to hearing. I’ll try to film it before my next ride.

Only took a short ride (2 miles or so), but the battery held strong even with the headlight on the whole time ending the ride at 12.86 v so sparck moto looking good.

I still need to test a longer ride to see if I still have the idle problem and I’m going to try to do that sometime this week, but I’m feeling optimistic. I’ll report back any results.

Oh and the new rubber feels great
 
One weird thing I noticed since it was night:

I could see what looked like arcing from the right plug boot onto the tach cover. I twisted the boot down a little and I think it stopped, but I was wondering if that’s normal.
 
ancientdad said:
^^^Agree with above, you should not have any arcing from the plug caps.
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I think my spark plug hole is angled up a little like it was tapped slightly not straight. I’ve noticed it’s more difficult to get the plug socket on it than the left side. The plug boot is probably closer to the tack cover than it’s supposed to be as a result. Next time I ride it I’ll double check that twisting it fixed it, otherwise I might try something else to insulate it.

I’m guessing this could cause the coil to burn out prematurely.
 
Alright today was the day I tested out the repair, just got back home. Nice easy ride with beautiful weather and I was gone for about 45 min total (with two stops). 10 miles total and no idle trouble throughout. Very pleased and relaxing.

Here’s what it sounded like after the ride (warm, sitting on level on the center stand)

https://i.imgur.com/rB7CCKN.mp4

As I think ancientdad has noted, it’s definitely more audible on camera with my mic near the engine than it is riding the bike, but I can still hear it riding. I’ve checked the valves, cam tensioner wheels are new and adjusted when each rocker was free so it has to be wear right?

At this point I don’t feel it’s affecting engine performance, but who knows maybe I’m missing some hp I’m not really chasing.
 
It does sound a little excessive. The only worry is mushrooming the valve stem tips in the long run, but I'm sure the high tones in the video are exacerbating it at least a little. I can't recall if you've had the engine apart and a quick look at your other threads looks like it hasn't been, so in that case it could simply be some dished wear on the rockers that can't be accounted for with a feeler gauge. Nothing you can do about that without doing the top end, so ride and enjoy it until that time comes.
 
ancientdad said:
It does sound a little excessive. The only worry is mushrooming the valve stem tips in the long run, but I'm sure the high tones in the video are exacerbating it at least a little. I can't recall if you've had the engine apart and a quick look at your other threads looks like it hasn't been, so in that case it could simply be some dished wear on the rockers that can't be accounted for with a feeler gauge. Nothing you can do about that without doing the top end, so ride and enjoy it until that time comes.
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I did do a top end rebuild (started ownership with it actually it’s mostly on the old site) BUT the only thing I didn’t machine or change was the cam and rockers haha :facepalm:
 
Yeah, I didn't see it here but I thought you might have been in there before. Hard to say, maybe it's more the upper tones of a typical cell phone video than the reality of what it sounds like in person. And you've set them at .002" intake and .004" exhaust, right?
 
ancientdad said:
Yeah, I didn't see it here but I thought you might have been in there before. Hard to say, maybe it's more the upper tones of a typical cell phone video than the reality of what it sounds like in person. And you've set them at .002" intake and .004" exhaust, right?
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Yep .05 and .1 mm

I’ll note that for the intake that puts it pretty close to maximum lash I can adjust to. The right intake is set to about 6:30 if it was a clock face.
 
Took it to go pick up lunch today and it performed dutifully. I think I’ve got it running good now, going to retire this thread for a while again[emoji1303]
 
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