1968 CL350 Restoration

[brianwilsonsdog]

Well after replacing the needle I got fuel flowing to the left side carburetor. I got the bike started and after maybe 30 seconds of blue smoke it seemed to run normally. I had battery issues after that so I'm charging up the battery tonight and tomorrow I should get to do the proper tune for the carbs although I wouldn't be surprised if something else comes up. We'll have to see.

 

[stl360+450]

Good progress!

 

[brianwilsonsdog]

Went out to start it this morning after charging the battery and I was getting zero electricity, none of the gauges lit up. I checked the battery voltage which was good, so I decided to take a look at the fuse. I opened up the little thing and out falls a piece of metal somebody had shoved in there in place of the fuse. Started up with a fresh 15 amp fuse and I was able to ride it around even without the carbs being tuned. It is definitely running on both cylinders now and feeling a lot less like it's limping along. However I still have a few issues.

When I gave it throttle the rpms would hang for an extra couple of seconds before falling down so I'm guessing that might be related to the carbs not being set properly. The other thing is after starting and stopping a few times (kickstart because the electric starter is broke) I had trouble getting it to start back up again and it didn't really want to idle either. I am thinking maybe there's an electrical problem here as I noticed some flickering on the lights along with the weaker idle but idk. Is this possibly a sign of a bad regulator/rectifier? I am told those tend to go bad easily and that might also explain why I keep having to charge the battery.

 

[ancientdad]

When I gave it throttle the rpms would hang for an extra couple of seconds before falling down so I'm guessing that might be related to the carbs not being set properly.

Could be carbs, but could also be the advancer return springs are a little loose not retarding the timing as far as it should.

The other thing is after starting and stopping a few times (kickstart because the electric starter is broke) I had trouble getting it to start back up again and it didn't really want to idle either. I am thinking maybe there's an electrical problem here as I noticed some flickering on the lights along with the weaker idle but idk. Is this possibly a sign of a bad regulator/rectifier? I am told those tend to go bad easily and that might also explain why I keep having to charge the battery.

The charging system on these older bikes is barely above break-even overall and it doesn't start recharging the battery until above 2500 to 3000 rpm, so riding around at low rpm for short periods actually discharges the battery a bit. If you have a weak battery it will drop faster and definitely could affect spark strength.