Well folks, I guess whenever you get into projects like these, you have to accept that at anytime you may stumble upon a huge setback….one that just takes the wind out of your sails.
I guess it’s not that dramatic, but I have come to an enormous setback on what I’m considering phase I of this project, which is to just get it running properly.
I did get the carbs back on and it DID start nicely and run on both cylinders…that was a major milestone. The problem is that it has no power. When you let out the clutch it can barely chug along at all before stalling. Also, I noticed that just pushing it in gear while it’s not running is really far too easy. The back tire should be almost (if not completely) skidding but it’s not.
Without even looking into clutch issues, it definately seems to be a lack of compression. I’ll have to get the compression tested (maybe see how much that tool costs – may be handy for later use). Also, I’ve started shopping on ebay to get a new set of rings and a complete set of top end gaskets. I’m REALLY hoping that once it’s apart I won’t find any cracked heads or pistons or anything like that. The fact that it runs ok and there’s no smoke pouring out of it seems to indicate that it’s probably worn piston rings.
The other thing I noticed is that there’s a whole lot of oily mess that seems to be blowing out of the loose (as I found out) right hand exhaust port (see the pictures above) or out of the tachometer housing.
All in all. this really isn’t a huge deal, but it does kind of kill my plans to have it running in July. Engine overhauls are beyond my expertise so I’m looking for someone that will do it really cheap. I propably wouldn’t mind doing it myself in order to learn, but parts for this bike are rare and expensive. I guess this is a lesson learned – don’t choose a rare bike for a learning project. However, what’s started is started and it’s gonna get finished.
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