The Home Stretch (Red)

It’s been a long journey to get to this point. The electrics are done. Everything seems to be in order. I’ve triple-checked all the bolts that need to be torqued, and am glad that I have systematically used a green paint pen to put a small mark on everything as I applied final torque. All my preliminary electric tests have passed. All the fluids are topped up to spec. It’s “go time”.

Let’s see if we can get it to start.

Nevermind the utter destruction that is my once tidy basement. Two years of this project has created quite a bit of clean up for once I am done. The real news is that the bike fired up nearly on the first attempt. Huge relief in that.

Ok, so it was not running well, but it fired up. I spent a good deal of time making adjustments and finding issues to solve. There were really four problems that needed more attention.

First, the battery was not up to scratch. Admittedly, it was on the shelf for a couple years and on a tender for most of that time, but it did not really want to take enough of a charge. So, I ordered a new one from MotoBatt. Easy fix.

Second, it was only firing on one cylinder. That’s a big deal for a two-cylinder motor. I spent a good deal of time adjusting and testing the ignition system, eventually getting it to fire on both sides. It still was not really happy and had a good deal of vibration. Ultimately, I wound up pulling each carb off to revisit them. When I rebuilt them, I did a solid job of getting everything clean and was pretty confident with the result. Even so, with both sides firing, the right was burning very hot and the left was comparatively cool.

So, I pulled both of them and went through them almost completely. I was confident thet the enricher (choke circuit) was in good order, so I did not tear them down. Everything else got a second fresh rebuild. Originally, I kept the old jets and simply cleaned them but decided to do more research and added new needles and jets throughout. I also revisited the float adjustments and found that I was off a bit with each of them. I also found one fouled o-ring that needed to be replaced. In the end, this seems to have resolved the issue with even firing and burning. Now, both sides burn at nearly the same temperature measuring at the exhaust pipe and on the cylinder after a few minutes of running. They still need to be properly balanced, but I have a good idle and easy starting.

Third, I noticed that there is an occasional “chuff” when I turn the ignition on. This had me worried about a short that may have been igniting some residual fuel in the system. Twice, I got a VERY loud back fire instead of a simple chuff. Both times, after several attempts to start were not successful. A lot of hunting and some internet sleuthing resulted in this being caused by a “wasted spark” once the ignition system is powered on. Apparently, this is a side effect of the design of the EME system I am using and not something to worry about on its own.

Fourth, is the Gen light which comes on at unusual times. Normally, this light should be on or flicker at idld. Mine does, so check. When the engine revs up a bit, around 1800 RPM, it should go out as the alternator begins producing enough power to satisfy the system. A little higher and it should go off and charge the battery. Mine goes out as expected, but then comes back on above 2,000 RPM. Normally, this would indicate insufficient charging. I’ve tested every component and have still not been able to account for this issue. I also swapped out the diode board just in case it was shorting on the front cover since it had very little clearance. So far, all my tests pass. The battery is getting a charge at higher RPMs, the voltage meter is properly limiting output to just over 14 volts, and I cannot find any ground faults in the system. I tested the regulator at different settings and observed the change in output, but no change in this behavior. My current theory is that the system may not need nearly as much power as it can produce as a result of the full LED conversion.

I am using the R21 system with a higher output charging system and a KatDash for the instruments. I may swap out the KatDash in case it is the problem, but that will take a few days. So for now, I have been riding it around a little to begin the mechanical break in.

I am going to redo some of the wiring in the charging system as well, since I have a couple wires which don’t quite have the heat tolerance I want and may end up on the phone with NWT again to see what we can dome up with. I’ll make another update when I get that all sorted.