Another One Followed Me Home 84 1200I

[ritalz]

Sealed the deal and brought home another project. Clock shows 80k and almost complete. Starts, runs, drives and needs a front tire and the lower fairing pieces are missing. Someone removed the air shocks and put on some shorter manual shocks so it sits very low in the back. Will have to assess what else it may need when I get some time. Don't have a plan yet for this one.

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[NotSoLilCrippseys]

Looks clean. I suppose swapping rear shocks for shorter ones is one way to adjust standover height challenges.

You might drop the front end a bit for the full dresser "lowrider" look.

[Fred Camper]

Improved step over but loss in cornering lean angle. So you may want to push the back end up again depending on how you ride. Looks like a nice bike for sure.

[ritalz]

Spent some time assessing the project today. Pulled the seat, faux tank and fairing off to get a better look. Nothing was bolted down like it was supposed to be. PO said he thought the regulator was bad, not. Tested the stator and all three wires were live while the motor was running. Stator plug was burnt and one wire completely burned away from the plug. Spent considerable time cutting back wires and wiring in some extensions. All wired and tested with running voltage in the 14.0 to 14.7 range. Ran it for quite a while with the multi meter attached to be sure. Fan cycled a couple of times while it was running. I keep finding bolts missing and plugs unplugged. There is a small gas leak that drips from the bottom of the tank. Will have to find the source, hope the tank isn't rusted out. Clutch seems ok, shifts through the gears while on the center stand. Front tire is shot, rear still has tread but will require a closer look. I do have a set of taller shocks to swap in sometime later. Part of the inner fender was removed, probably to accommodate the lowered profile. I'm really leaning toward a mild custom, naked and possibly bagger look. Also the choke cable seems to be unhooked or broken. Day one was very productive.
I took a video but it is too big to attach here.

[Oldewing]

Nice work Al.

[Fred Camper]

The gas leak may be the drain plug, once it is removed it is a PITA to get it to seal again. I finally used a oil pan seal washer to stop the gas smell in my garage. It did not leak enough to ever make a puddle.

[ritalz]

Weird because I only had a short time to work on it today and there was no leak. Gotta find out why the choke cable don't do anything. Makes cold starts a bear.

[ritalz]

Choke cable was dry and dragging a lot. Not sure why but the carb end was not even hooked up. Tried removing the rack but couldn't see what was holding it. Removed the 8 runner bolts and loosened the clamps. Pried upwards and got the airlines out of the heads and fuel lines disconnected. Removed one small vacuum? line from the bottom and the rack still would not slide out. There may have been more vacuum lines under there but I could not see them. This is my first encounter with 1200 carbs so I am in the dark. Cleaned the #2 & 4 carb tops and lubed all the linkage, #1 & 3 will get done later. Buttoned everything up for the day and had a good test fire.

[ritalz]

Another busy day today. Cleaned #1 & 3 carbs and synced the rack. Got them to even out on the gauge but there is still more vibration than I like. Have not yet done a compression check. Stripped all the wiring out of the fairing so I could hook up everything to check functionality. The neutral light is the only thing missing but could still be unplugged. I've pretty much decided the fairing is not going back on. Some parts will be for sale soon. Regulator is still putting out a little more than I like to see. Cleaned the plug and ground connections and that did no good. At idle, voltage climbs to about 14.8.

[Fred Camper]

Many things knocked of the list. You will find it soon. She will be running good soon.

[ritalz]

I don't doubt that I will find and correct the missing items. The general condition of this bike is pretty good compared to some I've worked on. My immediate goal is to have all the pieces functional before I start modifications. Intending to use the stock cluster in a custom made enclosure. Hoping it turns out and looks ok. Not having a garage will slow me down in the near future.

[NotSoLilCrippseys]

Seems that you're moving right along here, even sans garage. From the writing, it would seem that bits were removed and sort of just placed back on the bike. Maybe the choke cable came off for a carb rack removal that didn't quite happen, and the cable never made it back on the rack. Missing bolts/bits suggests a, "screw it, just make it sorta fit because I'm done trying to work on the bike." If you find the thing that led to that frustration - stator wire connector fried? - maybe you're on easy street.

Photos, please. They're fun.

[ritalz]

Yes, I think someone had an ambition for this bike but it proved to be too much. They were good enough to throw all the removed nuts and bolts in the left saddle bag. Today I mocked up the stock cluster on top of the triple tree. May not be the prettiest but it will be functional. One more small bracket for stability and it will be ready for a cover to be fabricated. Traced the neutral light problem enough to believe the switch is bad. Continuity through the wiring, bulb is good, power on one leg but it never gets grounded to complete the circuit. Pictures; I'm real bad about taking pictures to follow progress. Perhaps tomorrow I can make that first on my list.

[ritalz]

Not much progress today. Brackets for the cluster are done. Traced the neutral light wires again and pretty sure the switch is bad. Not going to worry about that for now. Timing belts are ordered. Starting to think about how to mount a headlight. Need to sift through some boxes to see what I have on hand. I did get a few more pictures to show the progress. There's a lot of wires to be dealt with and some will be eliminated.

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[Dr. Frankenstein]

I see you have a '73 CB500F in your lineup - not to hijack the thread, but is/was that a decent bike...? I have a line on a '71 that needs a lot of work, but am seriously considering it. I love the looks of that bike, but know nothing about it's performance.