Saturday, June27
Today I took possession of a 1976 Honda CB500 T motorcycle. My son Tony brought it up from Charleston for me to tinker with. (I had made 2 failed attempts to drive down to pick it up. Both times I was thwarted by my Jeep over-heating.) Tony had owned this bike for about a year and had had limited success with getting/keeping it running. He finally decided he'd rather ride his new Kawasaki than work on this old Honda. I know almost nothing about motorcycles but have had a moderate yearning for one for a while but could never really bring myself to make the leap. Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of this is that my wife didn't object. She actually has been rather supportive to the extent that she actually found a friend to loan me a trailer with which to get the bike. This is a major turnabout for her since in the past any mention of a motorcycle was met with scorn and ridicule.
Here's what I knew about this particular bike: a) it didn't run, although I had heard it run once, b) the electric starter was non-functional, c) the kick starter was broken off, d) when Tony had gotten it running it was never for very long. I am looking forward to the challenge of getting this thing going at least as much as I am actually riding it. Maybe even more because let's face it, at my age and with my total lack of motorcycle riding experience, I'm much safer sitting on the floor in my garage working on the thing than riding it.
Over all the bike looks to be in decent shape for being 33 years old. The chrome is all bad, rusty and pitted (but solid) but not as bad as might be expected for being in the salty air for so many years. I like the style of it a lot, and if I get her running and reliable it might be worthwhile to do some restoration, you know, get some parts re-chromed and what-not.
Tony also brought along a couple boxes of miscellaneous parts, some of which were for the electric starter which he had taken out since he couldn't get it working anyway. the first thing we did Saturday was to reinstall these parts. While doing so I noticed that there was a key way cut into the rotor for the alternator but there was no key. This looked wrong but what do I know about these things. After putting it together and trying it out it sounded as the engine was not turning, the alternator was just spinning around on the crankshaft. Tony got out the manual and I was looking over his shoulder and saw a mention of the woodruff key. I said we hadn't put one in. He asked what it looked like and I drew him a picture. He said he'd seen something like that fall out a while back and didn't know what it was and just tossed it into a box. We found one at a small engine repair shop and installed it. It wasn't an exact fit but we managed to get it in, but the battery was too weak to turn the engine over.
Then there were these three screws which kept mysteriously wearing out in the middle. I think these were the original reason Tony had given up on the electric starter. They connected the starter clutch to the rotor of the alternator. The cause of this wear is obviously caused by the wallowing out of the hole where the dowel pin locks the clutch to the rotor, which can be seen in the right photo below.
It was my feeling that the reason he could never keep the bike running very long was that without the key in the shaft, the alternator wasn't actually charging the battery so when the battery ran down the bike quit.
The next day (Sunday June 28) we got a battery, charged it and installed it. The engine turned over and actually fired up, but only briefly. Then the poor fit of the key came into play and the rotor began mostly slipping again catching occasionally but not long enough to actually do any good. But it was a promising sign, I thought.
Monday, June 29I tore back into it and found another problem. I actually think I may have created this one. The wires for the alternator were damaged because they were not fun through the slot in the housing. On a positive note I found the rubber grommet that was missing which caused the alternator wires to get damaged, and which Tony says had been causing a small oil leak. At some point in time it had slid up the wires and gotten out of sight. If I can find an electrical repair shop to fix those wires I'll be in good shape there.
I found another key today at Home Depot, but it isn't an exact fit either. I'll either have to modify it or try to find one at a motorcycle shop. (I actually found the right one on-line for @ $2.50 but the shipping was $14.95.)
Tuesday, June 30.
2 words..."liquid tape."
I took the alternator down to the auto electrical repair shop today. The guy took one look and said "I don't really work on that stuff." Where the wires were damaged he said he couldn't splice them because they wouldn't have room to be flexed in the housing the way they needed to be. I knew that, and that was the reason I decided to take it to the shop. I was hoping he'd just replace them, but he wouldn't do that. Another guy came out of the back of the shop and told him to put some "liquid tape" on it. The first guy said he didn't have any more. I wasn't sure how to take this 'cause I'd never heard of "liquid tape."
Then the second guy says "just go over to Auto Zone or Advance Auto, they'll probably have some. It's like the paste you used in school with the little brush and all." Well, I was feeling a little foolish but I went to Auto Zone and asked for "liquid tape." The sales-dude in Auto Zone looked kind of quizzical and asked a sales-dudette who pointed to a display on the counter. Did you know they have a spray on product called "Liquid Duct Tape?" Well, they couldn't find any of what I was looking for and didn't really know what I was talking about so I went to Advance. I asked the clerk if they had liquid tape. He actually knew what I was talking about but said that they no longer carried it. He described it the same way the guy at the repair shop did so I figured maybe I wasn't actually on a snipe hunt. I decided to try the local Wal-Mart Super Center, and what do you think? They had it, and I bought it, and while it was kind of messy to work with, it seemed to do the trick. Below are before and after photos of the damaged wiring and in the center: what to look for if you have a problem. (this is an unsolicited testimonial)
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