Ahh….electrical problems are so much fun.  Well, I did make some progress.  Again, the issue is that the rear brake light and tail lights do not work.

The mystery wires that were holding up the speedometer cable turned out to be wires that were supposed to go to a front brake light switch.  That switch is missing.

It also appears that the rear brake light switch is not working.  I can’t get a good continuity test on it no matter what.

I’m not sure what all this has to do with the taillight, unless somehow that voltage travels through the same wire.  I’ll find out when I get a replacement switch.  If not hing else, I can tap into the brown wires in the headlight bucket – those are positive leads whenever the headlight switch is turned on.  By the way, when you’re weaving through the wires in one of these old Hondas, dark green is ground, blue is the positive lead when the headlight switch is turned to high, and the white wires are the low beam positive leads.

I got my use out of my multimeter this weekend.

After finally finding my tester, which was seemingly lost because I actually put it away last time I used it, I determined that I did in fact have a blown fuse.  I replaced it and I’m back in business.

Also, I did replace the broken speedometer with the one from the former CB360 project.  I believe at some point I’m just going to put the entire cluster on from the 360.  It has a center module for the highbeam, turn, and neutral lights rather than being inside of the tach on the CL200.  I just like the look of the guages more…and I alsready have them so no additional $$$.

The last issue I have before it’s street legal is that the taillight and rear brake lights do not work.  I checked and the maximum amount of voltage they’re getting is about .1 volts.  The buld is definately good.  Any suggestions?  I’ll post this on totalmotorcycle and see if anyone knows what to look for.

To my surprise, I started the CL200 today.  As anticipated, it started right up and ran like a champ.

About 3 or 4 minutes into it, I saw smoke rising though.  The wire from the speedometer cable was glowing red hot.  It was never connected because the speedo is shot (tonight though I replaced it with the working one I had leftover from the CB360). 

By the way, the wires you see holding the cable up were actual live wires for something….and melted together during this incident.  I cut off the ends in order to get them off of the speedo cable. 

I immediately shut it off, but now the entire electrical system is dead.  No power anywhere.  I checked the one fuse it has, it’s fine.  I tried reconnecting the two wires that I cut as well.  Any suggestions?

Well, I got the bike back today.  All I can say is “outstanding.”  It runs like it’s new.  It rides like a 36 year old bike should ride.  I love it.

So, back to the restoration, to the left is the right side cover after about three or four rounds of filling and sanding.  Looks beautiful, right?

I have to say…I’m pretty pleased with how this is turning out.  Here is the side cover after the second round of primer.    As you can see, I did cut the remaining vertical bars out and just make it an open vent.  I have to argue that it’s almost looking like a professional job.  That’s important to me because it will hopefully set the stage for the rest of the bike’s restoration….I tend to lose steam and start settling for “good enough.”

Finally, here is the left side cover as-is.  It’s intact and just has some scrapes that will need to be filled.

Well, no pictures tonight since I can’t seem to find the camera, but the side cover is coming along and is really turning out to be a good lesson for having patience…which is necessary with body work.

The good news is that the CL200 is coming back on Saturday.  The guy is another really great person to know and with his permission I’ll also give out his name.  Anyway, for just over $350 (including pickup and delivery) he said it’s running and riding well now.  Here’s what he did:

• Install a new clutch cable and adjust the clutch – the clutch cable was just too short and causing all of my grief.
• Acid wash the tank and remove all rust
• rebuild the petcock
• Install new ends on the battery terminals
• Adjust the carbs
• Change the oil
• Install a new front brake cable and adjust the brake

I can’t wait to ride it!

I am truly sorry I haven’t posted in so long.  Between a lack of funds and the hecticness of late summer, I really haven’t had much time to ride my rider (2008 Kawasaki Vulcan 500) let alone work on my CL200.

However, over the weekend it finally made its way into the shop.  It seems that the issue with no power was most likely due to the clutch cable being too short.  The guy recognized the problem right away.  A new cable is on the way and I should know for sure in a few days.

Aside from that, I’m paying him a little extra to clean out the tank and do a few other little tasks that are very difficult without the right tools.

So, hopefully in a week or so I’ll be back on it….finally able to ride it and do the slow restore as planned.  On another positive note, a good friend of mine may finally have the go ahead from his wife to buy a bike.  He’s more into the sport bike scene, but hey – I’m more interested in the company than I am in what they ride.