[2smokeTyler]

ok, thanks to this board (ratty 550 to be precise) i got my brakes fixed on my RD. i went and picked it up this morning, did a quick test ride, hit the 100mph water mark (i refuse to say ton) and rode it about 30 miles showing it off to my family and such. i loaded it up in the truck, brought it back to my fair city and thought i would go show it off at my buddies house. on the way over there i was feeling good, getting all kinds of looks and waves and just enjoying it. as i would hit my blinkers i noticed they were actuating slower and slower. after i visited with my friend for a while, i hopped back on to come home. on the way back, blinkers quit working, idle was erratic and when i hopped off the interstate, i couldnt go over 50mph or let the rpm's go under 5k. the first stop light i stopped at...motor dead. i pushed it through the intersection, pulled the plugs and they looked fine, so i wasn't worried that i holed a piston or stuck a ring. then i remembered "oh yeah, my blinkers quit...must be the charging system". so i called my cousin, wihout seeing the symtoms he says "regulator/rectifier". luckily, we have another one for the other RD motor we have, but who knows if it works. I have 60 miles on this bike now, and previously it showed no signs, so i guess it just took a shit on me today. now i realize that this bike is 32 years old, has been completely dormant for 15 years and that i should expect no less and actually have had it pretty easy for a project of this nature. but damnit, im young, im impatient and i have been building this bike for 7 months now. i want to ride with no events!!!! it is sitting in the back of my truck right now, going to take it back to the shop tomorrow. i sure wish i had a total loss ignition, i could at least ride while the sun is still up.

 

[CB550 Matt]

check this out

http://www.oregonmotorcycleparts.com/

and for charging at lower revs (not sure if it will work with hondas but i plan on finding out real soon)

http://www.tri-corengland.com/acatalog/Alternators.html

look 1/3rd the way down at the single phase 3 wire altenator


and here is a pretty good list of charging systems by type and age including models and makes

http://home.earthlink.net/~trinomial/chgtypes.html

70's hondas and brit bikes seem to share a common charging system design, including flaws at lower rpms

 

[Hoofhearted]

"I sure wish I had a total loss ignition system". I think you do!

 

[krapfever]

Its the cross we bear my friend.

 

[craig641]

Tyler,

You're beginning to understand why the standard rule of thumb is to spend the time making sure your bike is running great before you take it apart to make it pretty. Your bike is very pretty and now you're going to have to take the time to make it run right. When you would rather be out showing it off. You'll get there but it sucks to be doing it in the order you're doing it. Keep at it.

Craig

 

[HackAsaw]

if you are expecting any form of reliability from a 30+ year old bike with stock harness connectors

you are in for lots of disappointments

many weren't too swift when new

clue, learn how to measure voltage drops across connectors and learn what the meter readings are telling you

0.1 V is the industry standard max allowable for a ground circuit..... total

0.5 V " " " " " " " " B+ circuit...... total

fortunately, your bike is one that isn't too bizarrely wired so as to make an intelligent bare bones rewire a monumental task

 

[2smokeTyler]

we did change a lot of the connectors when we did the build. any that looked good, we kept. but this just sucks. i'm heading to the shop in about 10 minutes to get back to work on it. as far as the build, i really didnt know any other way to do it. it was a basket case when i got it. i guess i could have mocked it up and rode it for a while and then tore it back down to make it pretty, but then again goes my impatience and such. thanks for that link to OMP...if i have to buy new parts, i'm contacting them, much cheaper than NOS!!! anyway, i'll post up and let you know what i find out. oh yeah...i'm putting my new boost bottle on today too. you still jealous hack?

 

[Hoofhearted]

Hey 2smoke, Over on the Jockey Journal there is a guy giving away RD bits. Just in case you are interested.

 

[2smokeTyler]

i better get on there and beat hack to the deals!

 

[2smokeTyler]

ok guys, got the electrical problem fixed. turned out to be nothing more than some loose connectors. those were snapped in, taped up, and i brought the bike back to the house. i thought "what the hell" and for my maiden test voyage, i rode in to work. bad choice. i have 9 miles of interstate to ride, then 6 miles of highway. i hopped off the interstate and it acted like it was out of gas. i thought that was wierd, but i flipped on reserve, swerved to get the gas flowing, and it took back off. i left the last traffic light on my journey in, and made it about 2 miles before it went down. i pulled over in a driveway and tranny oil was blowing out the crank case vent...not good. pulled the right plug...perfect. pulled the left plug...white. so i look at my fuel lines (since it felt like i was out of gas) and i noticed that the lines were empty, but the tank was nearly full. so i'm thinking that my petcock got clogged (hitting the petcock did nothing) with rust and caused me to lose fuel to the cylinder. no lube, hot cylinder...stuck ring. we have drained the tank once already to remove a little rust, so i think we just have more in there now. i put the bike in gear and rocked it back and forth and got the piston free, so it wasnt too bad. i tried to run it on 1 cylinder but that wasn't working for me at all. i was only 3 miles from work when it went down, so the guys at work brought a van and loaded me up. all this and i was only 25 minutes late. i am really getting tired of this bike at this point. i am honestly thinking about cutting my losses and just storing the S.O.B. because riding it is getting me nowhere. maybe i'm just not cut out for the vintage scene...maybe this bike is cursed. The previous owner passed away, that is why my cousin had the bike to give to me, and always insisted that everything be replace with GENUINE yamaha parts...even the tires had to be stock! maybe he doesn't like my modifications! LOL!! i am just really tired of all this crap. i may have to just buy me a modern scoot sooner than i thought.

 

[2smokeTyler]

ok guys, got the electrical problem fixed. turned out to be nothing more than some loose connectors. those were snapped in, taped up, and i brought the bike back to the house. i thought "what the hell" and for my maiden test voyage, i rode in to work. bad choice. i have 9 miles of interstate to ride, then 6 miles of highway. i hopped off the interstate and it acted like it was out of gas. i thought that was wierd, but i flipped on reserve, swerved to get the gas flowing, and it took back off. i left the last traffic light on my journey in, and made it about 2 miles before it went down. i pulled over in a driveway and tranny oil was blowing out the crank case vent...not good. pulled the right plug...perfect. pulled the left plug...white. so i look at my fuel lines (since it felt like i was out of gas) and i noticed that the lines were empty, but the tank was nearly full. so i'm thinking that my petcock got clogged (hitting the petcock did nothing) with rust and caused me to lose fuel to the cylinder. no lube, hot cylinder...stuck ring. we have drained the tank once already to remove a little rust, so i think we just have more in there now. i put the bike in gear and rocked it back and forth and got the piston free, so it wasnt too bad. i tried to run it on 1 cylinder but that wasn't working for me at all. i was only 3 miles from work when it went down, so the guys at work brought a van and loaded me up. all this and i was only 25 minutes late. i am really getting tired of this bike at this point. i am honestly thinking about cutting my losses and just storing the S.O.B. because riding it is getting me nowhere. maybe i'm just not cut out for the vintage scene...maybe this bike is cursed. The previous owner passed away, that is why my cousin had the bike to give to me, and always insisted that everything be replace with GENUINE yamaha parts...even the tires had to be stock! maybe he doesn't like my modifications! LOL!! i am just really tired of all this crap. i may have to just buy me a modern scoot sooner than i thought.

 

[imslow]

welcome to the world of vintage bikes.

 

[imslow]

welcome to the world of vintage bikes.

 

[2smokeTyler]

before you all start bagging on me, i have ridden a lot of vintage bikes, i have raced an XL250, i rode the hell out of the 71 electra glide last summer and the FLH only left the stranded once! i have never had that many problems with vintages bikes until now. i dont know what it is. even when the harley had problems, it got me to where i was going (except for that one time...) at this point, and this may be because i am pissed off, but i am going to do 1 of 2 things. i am either going to bite the bullet and replace everything that i haven't touched yet (rods, bearings, seals, clutch) or i am just going to clean the bike up real nice like and just sit it in the house on display. but for now, i guess i need to focus on how i am getting home from work

 

[2smokeTyler]

before you all start bagging on me, i have ridden a lot of vintage bikes, i have raced an XL250, i rode the hell out of the 71 electra glide last summer and the FLH only left the stranded once! i have never had that many problems with vintages bikes until now. i dont know what it is. even when the harley had problems, it got me to where i was going (except for that one time...) at this point, and this may be because i am pissed off, but i am going to do 1 of 2 things. i am either going to bite the bullet and replace everything that i haven't touched yet (rods, bearings, seals, clutch) or i am just going to clean the bike up real nice like and just sit it in the house on display. but for now, i guess i need to focus on how i am getting home from work

 

[kenessex]

Sounds like you might have a leaking right crank seal which is pressurizing the tranny, and maybe a leaking left crank seal which caused the left side to seize. Pull the top end and see what you did. Crank seals on an RD aren't too hard to do. You might as well replace the outer main bearings while your at it.

Ken
Have I mentioned that 2 strokes are the work of the devil?

 

[UngaWunga]

The petcock has a screw inside the tank that can get clogged with rust particles, and another screen inside it that can get clogged. You can seize a 2stroke by running it out of gas...

If you're blowing out transmission oil, you either have a bad right side seal or you didn't put any Yamabond between the cases when you reassembled the engine and its blowing straight through the case joint. Or you didn't torque the case bolts down.

Or you just plan put too much oil in the transmission.

 

[2smokeTyler]

i know i put the right about of oil in, and i think you and ken are both right. i think i blew the crank seals out, but i am still sticking to my guns that the petcock got clogged and that siezed the bike out. it acted like it was out of gas, so i hit reserve and it acted right, i swerved around and i got 5 more miles out of it before it laid totally down. i have the motor mounts out and have to go buy some more tools to get the chain off and tach drive out. i'll post up what i find tomorrow. in case you are wondering...i have to go buy tools because my tools are at the shop 50 miles from home. i am so pissed, that i didnt want to be around anybody while i was working...so im tearing it down in the living room at my house. luckily...a harbor frieght just opened up in town so i have some good ole chinaman tools!!!

 

[UngaWunga]

Ya know, I'd much rather drive the 100 miles roundtrip to pick up my tools than use cheap ass chinese play-dough tools.

When you take it apart, make sure to inspect everything. The failure might be something else you haven't seen yet.

 

[2smokeTyler]

well...to be honest...im a little pissed. my gas tank checked out ok. i dont know what happened in there but my piston is straight up SCREWED!!! check out the pics in my other thread