Mechanical/restoration supervision sought

[surfer]

Excellent and inspiring work Ivor. A good thread to read as well.

[Alive]

Any luck with the oil yet?

[Macktheknife]

Ivor, you are an inspiration to us all mate, well done.
That is looking like an amazing job and I can't wait to see you back on it again.
Huge respect.

[psyguy]

so, i finally managed to buy the correct engine oil and so there were no more excuses not to procede to the final task - starting the engine
the battery although suposedly fully charged wasn't strong enough to get the engine going and i ended up connecting the car battery - and she fired up immediately!
a little warming up and she idled beautifully, no undue sounds, noise, rattles, etc.
i went for only a short ride and thought she's acting so much better now, responds to throtle more easily, with a nicer sound, definitely has more grunt, and just feels somehow properly "tight"

very happy

[psyguy]

as promissed...

[psyguy]

i started the rebuilt engine just a couple of days before needing to move house
so, being a bit worried that everything goes smoothly on the day of the move, i went to start the bike again the next day (so, one day before the move). she started as well as the day before and idled nicely

finally, the next day i got my gear on, ready to take her for a ride from avondale to my new place in massey

and guess what, she wouldn't start!

it did start eventually, but worked on only one cylinder! i fiddled with the cables and got her to work on "up to" 3 cylinders, meaning one would work constantly and the other two would kick in on and off...

anyhow, i decided that was good enough (i wasn't going to be messed up with by an old bike ) so i rode like that for that 20 mins ride and at least got her to my new place. it wasn't an enjoyable ride though...

i think i wanted to take a bit of a time off from working on the bike so i can go for a few proper rides, work those new rings in, but i guess it's back to the workshop for me


so, would a good soul out there suggest how to go about diagnosing the problem i have?
i'm pretty sure there's either no charge at all in the spark plug leads or the charge is inconsistent (on/off)
what's the first thing to test?

[jimbo]

well done that man lookin good..enjoy

[psyguy]

many thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread
i couldn't have got this far without your help!

[surfer]

Really impressed with what you have done.

How much charge is in your battery?

Did you put the ht leads to the correct cylinders?

Have you checked the sparkplugs are firing by holding them one by one against the engine?

Are you using the same fuel that you had lying in the bottom of your tank before the rebuild? If you are drain it and put some new in. Likely you are running crappy fuel or the fuel has bits of debris in it and this has been sucked into the jets. Also your carbs may now need a clean.

What condition is the inside of the tank in? I guess on an older bike you could expect some rust.

Drain the carbs by turning the drain screw open, it is under the fuel bowl. Also check for water droplets. Have a look in the fuel/float bowl and see if you have debris, if there is some there you can bet it has found its way into a jet. You will need to blow the jets clean with compressed air. If you are worried about other debris dropping into the carbs put an inline fuel filter (really cheap to buy from Repco) between the tank and carbs (I fitted one to my bike for same reason).

[psyguy]

...

thanks surfer
here are my thoughts

• i did use the old fuel, but everything was alright on the first two ocassions with the same fuel, so i don't think it's the fuel.
• the same goes for the spark plugs, they are nearly new.
• i checked the carbs and they appear clean, definitely no debris. plus, i used one of those carb cleaning fuel additives. i know what's it like running with the dirty or poorly set carbs and i think they're not the problem here. (eg, one cylinder didnt fire at all during the 20mins ride)
• i charged the battery just before starting the engine and while i think it's not at its best i think that shouldn't be the problem once the engine is running.
• i held the two most problematic leads against the engine (with the engine running) and i could see no spark.
• i think the leads are definitelly faulty but i don't know how to test this for sure. also, the leads can't be separated from the coils (they apear sealed) so i can't try switching them with one another.

[jonbuoy]

Bikes looking great BTW - If your sure its the leads you might be able to graft a new set onto the coils like this:

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=137

[psyguy]

Any luck with the oil yet?

hi alive
i was hopeing to go for a ride with you as soon as my bike's done, but it'll have to wait i guess...
cheers

[Eurodave]

held the two most problematic leads against the engine (with the engine running) and i could see no spark.
i think the leads are definitelly faulty but i don't know how to test this for sure. also, the leads can't be separated from the coils (they apear sealed) so i can't try switching them with one another.

On my GS750 I had similar lack of spark problems, so I replaced all the spark plug caps with new NGK long right-angled ones,gave the battery a good overnite charge, & hey presto, all good

[surfer]

On my GS750 I had similar lack of spark problems, so I replaced all the spark plug caps with new NGK long right-angled ones,gave the battery a good overnite charge, & hey presto, all good

I agree with Eurodave here. This is the cheap easy way to go. You need to have a fully charged battery as it will only add to the misery of fault finding an electrical problem if it is on the low side. Get a multimeter and check that the battery is fully charged up. Then check to make sure you are getting about 13 to 14 volts with the bike running, if it will go.The fact that it ran ok when you first kicked it over is promising.

Then check the wiring running up to the faulty coils from the battery in case of a loose connection or break in a wire.

If this doesn't sort it out it could be the coils and or condensors, and points. Check the points first. Then if not running properly replace the condensors, then replace the coils. (I am assuming points system due to the year of your bike). If you have electronic ignition, you only need to replace the coils as you won't have condensors or points.

Hey are you living in Massey now?

Good luck.

[Alive]

hi alive
i was hopeing to go for a ride with you as soon as my bike's done, but it'll have to wait i guess...
cheers

Have you sorted the electrical prob yet?

Have you checked the coils are connected properly?

What 2 cylinders are giving you the problem?

Could be that you need to replace a coil