Balls

The other week some kids were playing with my balls and they busted my balls. I have to admit my balls were not looking so good anyway, so yesterday morning (since I still haven't had any luck finding a source of parts for the Honda) I decided to spend some time on my balls. You know cleaning them up, shining them up, re-hanging them, etc. I think it’s probably safe to say that I now have the best looking balls in the neighborhood. (Kathy said she wished I had done them in pastels but I’ve always been more of a brass balls kind of guy.)

I KNEW IT WAS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!

We went to the beach for a couple of days after I ordered all those parts.  When we pulled into the driveway I was hoping to see a box of motorcycle parts that the UPS guy had dropped off.  Not there.  Well, there really wasn't time for them to have gotten here yet anyway...it was just wishful thinking.

Did I mention that I had found several sites on the Internet (brought to us by...)  Anyway after spending hours looking for parts on line, finding numerous sites that list every single part of the 1976 Honda CB500T right down to the smallest washer, most of which are no longer available through their site, I found one site that stated not all parts they list are available but if they show a price for a part they stock it.  That's where I ordered parts from. 

I didn't have any part when I got home, but I had an e-mail from the site I'd ordered parts from.  Two e-mails as a matter of fact.

The first e-mail listed the parts I had ordered which they couldn't send, because they didn't have them in spite of the fact that they were listed and had prices, and what did I want to do about the rest of the order.  The second e-mail said that since I hadn't responded to the first e-mail they were canceling the whole order.  Not really a big deal because the parts I needed the most were the ones they didn't have anyway.

I found a motorcycle salvage yard in Beaumont, TX which purports to be one of the largest motorcycle salvage yards in the US.  Hopefully they will respond in a more positive fashion to my inquiry as to what pertinent parts they may have in their stockpile.  Meanwhile I'm on hold here for a while.

KICK START

Sunday I was ready to order some parts.  Well actually I had ordered parts when I remembered the broken kick-starter  shaft.  I canceled the order and decided I'd better look into that kick start thing to see if I was going to need any parts for that beyond the shaft.

I knew the right crankcase cover needed to come off and I could see that the right exhaust pipe was going to have to come off in order to get the cover off...

The studs where the exhaust bolt to the engine were bent, and after about two hours of careful prying and shimmying (which resulted in me getting my head skint (#@@&??!!!) on the turn signal. I was able to get the collars holding the exhaust pipe off. 

Now the bad news:  I've gotten both crankcase covers off, and still can only see one end of that danged kick starter shaft.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I need to look at the book.

Hmmmm, step one; drain the crankcase oil,  Hmmmm,  guess that explains all that slippery liquid that came out unexpectedly.  Step something- or- other:  separate crankcase halves as in chapter 4.  Oh-Oh!  Chapter 4 is about the engine and it's... Whoa, you have to pull the engine to do that, and I can do that, I mean I did it to the old VW,right, but I'm not really ready for that just now, I just want to get the dog-boned thing running.  I've considered the fact that I may, at some point want to, or need to rebuild the engine, but I really wanted to ride it once or twice and maybe get attached to it, and you know, give her a nick-name so I could whisper sweet nothings to her while I was caressing and removing her cylinders heads.  You know what I mean, right?   But all that for a kick starter?

I don't know somehow it all seems a little too forward.

I ordered the parts I've decided I need to get the electric starter working.  If it starts and runs, all's well.  If not...Chapter 4.

PROGRESS?

Well, not really.

I guess I'm just gonna have to tear the thing apart and order some parts.  In spite of the Lock-Tite the screws holding the starter clutch to the rotor worked loose.  The holes in the rotor are just too far gone, and it looks like short of replacing the rotor this is going to be a continuing source of aggravation.   The good news is that it's cheaper to buy the whole alternator assembly than it is to buy a rotor.

I did learn what the awful clunking sound was that occurred when you let off the starter button.  Did I mention that sound?  Anyway the starter chain is a little loose and was jumping a couple of teeth on the sprocket sometimes when you let off on the starter, so that's good because it sounded pretty rough, like something was tearing up in there, but that's gonna be a relatively easy thing to correct.

It also looks like some light sanding with very fine grit sand paper and some rubbing compound is going to clean up enough of the rust to at least make it presentable.

 

RATS

Well, I didn't accomplish much yesterday.  Cleaned some parts, J-B Welded the wallowed out hole on the alternator stator and went shopping for some parts at a big bike shop up in Rock Hill.  That was rather thankless as the only thing they had on my list was the woodruff key.

When I put the alternator together this morning I was very optimistic.  Everything fit together snugly and seemed solid.  That was a big improvement.  Even the worn out screws seemed to fit tightly and I lock-tite-d them in.  I got everything back together and didn't have any left over parts, (that's always encouraging.)

The moment of truth came and I hit the starter button.  The engine turned over and fired briefly, but failed to catch.  I kept trying but was hearing that freewheeling sound again, and occasionally things would mesh properly and turn the engine over but it never actually did start.  I'm confident that the rotor is no longer slipping on the shaft so the starter clutch must not be locking on the starter sprocket fully.  The manual said to grease the clutch parts, and I did, but perhaps I gummed it up with too much grease.  I guess tomorrow I'll pull it back out and clean it up and try again.  (I'll also have to check the position of that 'neutral indicator' thing-a-ma-jig, 'cause right now it seems to think everything is neutral.)

Did I mention that the original starter switch is missing and that there is a makeshift button in the starter circuit that essentially puts the thing in a state of perpetual 'hot-wire?'  Well, that's the case, and while looking through the manual at the wire diagrams and comparing the schematics to the reality of what was actually there I noticed that there is no starter solenoid.  Hmmmm.  Did I mention that since it seemed like it was close to starting, I kept trying until that makeshift button kind of started smoking?

I guess I'd have to say that the most positive thing that I accomplished today is finding an on-line parts source that actually seems to have more parts "available" than "not available."

In the beginning

LiveJournal Tags: motorcycle,motorcycle repair,liquid tape,honda,honda CB500T,CB500 T,alternator

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 29
I 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)