CB100: Wheel Swap Test

 

Not the best session.  Found that the metal race doesn't actually seem to fit the bottom of the CB100 steering head.  Had to go with old fashioned loose ball bearings.

Also discovered that S90 fork bolts are way too short to use with the CB100 bridge.  Was cinching up the left fork using the temporary long 10mm bolt and ended up wedging the top of the fork into the bottom of the bridge.  Had to use a hammer to knock it out.

 Rear wheel installed with no issue, but it's a no go on the front until I can figure out the fork situation.

 

 

Evie: Ain't Got No Compression

 Not getting anywhere on 30 psi.

 

Red: Slipping Clutch, Part IV

Installed the new "two nut" clutch cable.  Even with all that extra length it was still a tight fit.  Ended up having to remove one of the nuts just to get enough slack in.  But at least it's on.

10/8 UPDATE: Test ride on the new clutch/cable.  The very good news is that there's loads more power on tap.  So for sure I must have set up the old clutch badly to where it was always partially engaged and robbing stealing power to the wheels.  

Bad news is that twice on the ride, the clutch "stuck" and wouldn't pop free when I released the lever.  Not sure if it's an internal issue or if it's the cable.  Hope it's just the cable...

 

Red Clutch Slipping Part II

Next attempt at the clutch fix after spending time on the carpet working out how the different plate thicknesses affect the clutch arm slack.

Popped out the clutch and swapped one of the disks for the extra-thick version.  The total width of all four plates together was 10mm.  However, after reinstalling the basket, saw that it was very far away from the primary gear (5mm), which is a good initial test.  

With everything reassembled, that proved to be accurate.  It was better than before in that now there was at least a little slack in the clutch arm before it engaged, but it was nowhere near enough to install the cable.

Realized two things:

1. There seems a strong possibility that I had set up the cable before in such away that it was always partially engaging the clutch.  This would have explained the lack of power and that feeling like the something wasn't getting transferred from engine to wheels.  It would also explain why the clutch plates wore down so fast and thus started to slip.
2. While it seems worthwhile to setup the clutch thickness to get it in the ballpark, it also makes sense to just get another clutch cable but the kind that has the adjustable nuts at the end (like Roxy currently has) which allows for much more flexibility in setting up the distances (especially when using aftermarket disks).  Put the order in already...
   

 

 

Red: Clutch Slippping? Part I

 

So on a ride last week after a nice long cruise, Red started hesitating as I rolled on the throttle.  Low speed in first seemed fine, but anything beyond that she'd hesitate and lose power.

At first, thought it was yet another carb issue.  But in idle in the garage, there was no hesitation at all as I rolled on the throttle.  Quickly realized it felt much more like the clutch was slipping under power.  

Silver lining in that theory would be that if the clutch plates were already on there way out, maybe it would explain why she never felt as spunky under acceleration even after the big bore.

So went down with the goal of at least inspecting the clutch and then taking it from there.  Had spent a lot of time on the carpet building up a new one, or at least preparing a second one, but realized there was no point in a straight swap without taking the time to really investigate the current one.

At first, everything was almost too easy.  Pegs, exhaust and kick pedal all came off quick and easy.  Right cover came off no problem (probably thanks to that anti-seize).  

Popped out the clutch and got it disassembled.  Was pretty pleased to find what I was expecting which was a set of very smooth friction plates.  These were the type with the "wide" sections so probably the best of some old ones and not the new "narrow" section ones from recent eBay purchases.

Measured them both at about 2.5mm which was almost at the limit.  Oddly though, the new ones were almost almost the exact same width.  Thought that would be a bonus though since it wouldn't affect the overall thickness.  Soaked them in oil and got the whole thing back together easily, even the small springs which I just pushed in using a flathead and downward pressure with the thumb.

Clutch was even all aligned on the first try and slotted right into place.  Still too easy...

Got ambitious and decided to do the right thing mechanically and swap out for a new right cover gasket.  Had to peel off some old gasket along the upper edges but not so bad.  Ended up changing the outer clutch cover gasket as well and those screws were almost frozen.  Used the Husky along with the 7mm wrench and got them out without having to resort to the impact driver.

So got everything all put back together only to be totally and completely stymied as now the clutch cable was waaaaay too short.  Pretty much impossible to get the cable installed with the amount of slack present.

Having gone through all the prior work on the carpet, realized that something had changed the position of the basket such that it was now pushed out much too close to the actuator.  The arm now had absolutely no free play (it was basically engaged just at rest) and had way too far to travel to ever be able to attach to the cable.

Since the friction plates themselves were exactly the same width, the only other thing that could have changed was the thickness of the gaskets (though the weird thing is that the replacements would have to be thinner than the ones they replaced to cause this).  Or maybe they both contributed a small part to the entire problem.

But following clutch logic, 2 thicker friction plates should force the basket closer in toward the engine, thus allowing more play in the arm before it engages.  Only one way to find out, I guess...

Evie: No Compression

Stole the points with the nice new white wire from the model engine.

Also got a new roller from eBay to replace the very worn one.  Got that installed along with the new points plate.  Added 650mL of new oil, got the aux gas bottle and battery hooked up and everything was going swimmingly but then...

No compression at all.  Absolutely nothing.  Feels very much like it did when Ivy had the valve stuck open.

Really should have caught this sooner when I first installed the kick pedal... but oh well.

Suppose it could be something with the rings themselves but given that the Early Head is entirely untested, kinda thinking I may as well do that leak test.

 

 

 

Evie: Worn Points

Installed the temporary clutch and got the right cover all sealed up.

But went to set the static timing and at first couldn't figure out why the points were never separating.  Found that the bottom edge of the black plastic, the part that rides on the advance lobe, was just way too short - or at least much shorter than the other points I compared it to.

Just didn't have enough "reach" to force the points open as the advance rotated.

So... need new points.

 

 

Roxy: Stymied Left and Right

Getting stymied from every angle today.

Detaching the switches and getting the old handlebars off went smoothly.

Put on the new black bars and was looking for a comfortable position, though never quite felt 100% right.

Went to cut off the left side and after doing way more turns with the Ridgid than usual, realized that the metal was way too thick for the cutter!  Was already bottoming out against the tool before it had cut all the way through.

Left that to simmer and went to start the bike using the new throttle cable and setup and she would not hold idle!  Classic symptoms of being way too rich: had to dial out the idle and air screw way, way out just to barely keep her running.

So bizarre since really nothing on the carb should have changed as I'd only swapped in a different cable.  So tried swapping back to the old cable to test and still had the same issue.  The Sheng had been running fine just the day before!

Saw heavy white vapor coming out of the throttle cap and air intake side whenever the engine died, again confirming a rich mix.

 

 

Roxy II: Top End First Try

Putting Roxy's top end back together with the goal of getting her back on the road with a few custom modifications.

Swapped out the temporary bad jug with the +.25 that came off Red. 

Had to open a new gasket set to get the one that goes between the crankcase and the jug.

Had a little trouble with getting the baseplate on without messing up the oil spring but was able to finesse it on.

Installed the CS90C (#1) carb which seemed like the best bet since it had been in use on both Red and Ivy in the past.

Initially had a lead out of the drain screw and had to cut a DIY gasket out of an old ripped intake paper gasket.  Also had gas out the overflow, but that stopped after a few good taps on the bowl.

Went for first kick and found it was very, very tight.  It was a hard push all the way through the cycles.  And not so much as a cough.

Checked spark and it was ok.  Replaced the plug anyway.  Still nothing.

End the day stymied!