Trying to revive a sleeping bike

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I wouldn't let a little cosmetic damage discourage me.  A lot of us have done repaints, and you aren't the first to find a lot of rusty frame under the tail cowl.  Fortunately, if you take your time, you can make some amazing improvements in the looks of your bike for a not exorbitant amount of money. 

The good news is that there are many here who have restored Bricks that were in pretty bad shape and documented their work here at Motobrick.com.  There isn't one job on these bikes that hasn't been documented somewhere here. 

The most important thing you need is some patience.  Take your time and our advice and you will have a machine to be proud of. 

It looks like you have a decent place to work, so it shouldn't be too hard to do this as a winter project.  I would strongly suggest that the first thing to do right now is to remove the bodywork and do a good clean on the frame and the wiring before the weather gets much colder.  Working on a dirty bike can really make even nice jobs suck. 

My favorite cleaner for this step is S100 which you can get at any Harley dealer and a lot of other motorcycle shops.  Once the frame is clean, keep it by your laundry tubs to clean parts as you remove them to be worked on.  Clean parts and a clean bike make this work a lot nicer.

[Swampyankee]

I had the bike in the barn initially, but have since moved it to the garage under. The concrete floor, and stone walls for that matter, are a bit safer for working with fuel spills and the like. Plus, since my project cars are in there, it's where all the good tools are.   

[Laitch]

I'm piecing together my understanding of the operating system on this bike.

This manual explains how it all works. You could have downloaded it from the site but I've saved you a step.

[Swampyankee]

I did download it but I'm one of those that refer to the instructions as a last resort   

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I did download it but I'm one of those that refer to the instructions as a last resort   

Probably not the optimum way to go through life.

[frankenduck]

I did download it but I'm one of those that refer to the instructions as a last resort   

Here's part of the owners manual you should read:

[Swampyankee]

Well, I did read THAT part! The bike came with all the original owners and operation manuals, as well as warranty info, etc. and some receipts for maintenance and repairs, which I pored over. I also did read through past threads about these bikes and watched a bunch of Chris Harris videos on maintenance and repair before I even decided on a brick. I also went through the downloaded repair manual to familiarize myself with it, and continue to research info on diagnosing my bike's particular issues. But sometimes it's also good to tap into the collective knowledge of folks on forums like this.

So excuse me if I ask too many questions. Just looking for moral support as much as knowledge....

[Past-my-Prime]

Ask away! No one HAS to answer. Other people might have the same question.   

[Swampyankee]

This manual explains how it all works. You could have downloaded it from the site but I've saved you a step.

I assumed your link was to the Repair manual. Now that I'm on a computer and not the tiny screen of my phone, I see what you have provided here, thank you. I did not see that in the downloadable content, or did not recognize what it was. It provides the description of the operation of the FI system that I was looking for. As I go through the steps, I am leaning toward problems with the ignition/spark rather than the injection system. Given the amount of fuel I see being passed through, I would think the bike would start readily, even if it did run poorly and die from a too-rich mix, as long as a good strong spark was present. It does not want to pop even when initially cranked. The other thing is, when I pulled plugs and grounded them to the block checking for spark while cranking. It was pretty weak at best, and jumping across from the side of the center electrode to the base of the prong as opposed to jumping from tip to tip as it should. When I did have it running and idling, the removal of #2 plug wire made no change to the idle, which tells me #2 wasn't even firing.
I plan to check resistance of the coils and if ok, see if a new set of plugs would provide a solid spark. Hopefully I have the same easy fix as this guy. http://www.motobrick.com/index.php?topic=14612.0
Could corrosion of the hall sensor also be causing poor ignition response? As mentioned earlier, the bike has seen some weather.

[Laitch]

Given the amount of fuel I see being passed through, I would think the bike would start readily, even if it did run poorly and die from a too-rich mix, as long as a good strong spark was present.

If the fuel/air ratio is too lopsided the mixture is unlikely to ignite regardless of spark.

Don't get into the Hall Sensor itself yet. First, clean all ground connections, including the main one under the tank, the hall sensor plug connection, the four-pin tank connection to the fuel pump, the Jetronic and ignition control unit plugs including their respective terminals, and the coil and plug wire terminals themselves unless they are new. The cleaner recommended by many here is DeoxIT D5, often found in music stores selling electronic instrument, sometimes sold in auto part stores and easily found online.

Brick engines are dependent upon good electrical connections. A disused Brick left out in the weather can be stubborn to start and if electrical connections are not thoroughly cleaned up, starting and running might occur but will likely be undependable.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

I see that Laitch essentially said everything I have typed while I was typing, so let me just be an echo:

Considering that the bike has been out in the weather for a while, have you gone through and cleaned all the electrical connections?  There are a couple connectors under the tank that carry ignition signals from the Hall Sensors.  A little attention with Deoxit may help things along.  Also, if you haven't already, you should clean the ground connections, especially the one under the tank on the frame backbone.  You should be sure that the coil connections are clean and tight as well.  Over the years here, I've seen many bikes come back from the dead from cleaning the electrical connectors.

I think you are correct to be installing new spark plugs.  If you don't know how old the originals are, they are definitely worth the relatively small expense to be sure you have good ones.

[frankenduck]

If you suspect spark problems then the early K100 coils are not as reliable as the late coils.  Do measure the resistance across the coil terminals.



If you can find the newer coils on Ebay or wherever they are interchangeable with the early coils.

[Swampyankee]

I will check out coil resistance while I'm in there. I went through the same thing with the coil on my boat last summer.
I use Deoxit for cleaning scratchy pots on my guitars and music gear, and I've already used it on the 4 pin connectors for the fuel pump, so I'll check the other connections you mention. Looks like I'll be pulling the tank again. It'll be a bit heavier this time with the 3 gallons of fresh gas I put in. LOL

[frankenduck]

If there's a decent amount of fuel in the tank then you'll want to lean it against a wall with the front pointing up to keep fuel from dripping out. Either that or put a cork/stopper in the rear outlet pipe.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Have you cleaned the ground connection on the left side of the transmission above the shifter?  The wire connected there is the main return from all the bike's electrical stuff to the negative terminal on the battery.  It's sort of in an unnoticed location, but still exposed to the elements.

[Swampyankee]

I did clean that one ehen I installed the new battery.

[Swampyankee]

Back to work on the brick after the holidays. Got the RS bars from eBay someone posted the link for, as well as a replacement throttle cable (don't ask why I needed one!) so I decided to install both items together. Got the C 'bars stripped with minimal dismantling and disconnections, although I had to bend the mounting brackets on the crash pad to get at the clamp bolts since the bracket ends were under the rear two clamp bolts. The RS 'bars were alot less of a "stretch" to install the controls on, but I overtightened the clamp bolt on the clutch side and snapped the threaded side of the clamp off !@#$%!.

Moving on, I tried bolting the crash pad back where I found it but it sat way too high. I checked on line and found that the C pad is different than the RS pad, in that the RS pad bolts to the 2 cap screws at the back of the handlebar clamp bases. Looking for an alternative to ordering an RS pad on eBay, I thought maybe I could modify mounts on the one I have, by straightening the brackets and possibly re-drilling holes where needed. Upon closer inspection I noticed someone had enlarged the holes in the brackets and had bent the brackets to mount on the clamp bolts. The pad was the original RS pad, modified to mount higher for C 'bar clearance. Straightened the brackets and they lined up perfectly with those 2 cap screws at the back of the clamp bases, albeit with slightly larger holes. Problem solved.
After routing the replacement throttle cable, I installed the ends and tried adjusting the excess slack out, but even with the adjuster at full extension there is still too much slack - as much as 1/4" (?@@??). Is there a spacer I'm missing, possibly down by the throttle bodies? Hint - I bought the cable on eBay. Although the ends are correct, could there be a different cable that requires the extra inner cable length?

The last straw was when I reinstalled the air filter and spring clamps on the air box. The loop in the spring clamp that contains the pin just split, discharging the pin !@#$%! As one of the clamps were already missing, I'm down to one holding the box together. Looks like I'll be looking on eBay for a couple clamps along with a new air filter element (don't ask why!) and a clutch-side handlebar control.

And I still haven't installed new plugs, troubleshot the coils or other electrics to get this thing running! Did I say 1 step forward and 2 steps back??

[daveson]

I had the problem with the throttle cable too long when I put a cable from an '88 RT model on an '85 RT model. It was then that I noticed that the cable support brackets at the throttle body had different offsets. That might be the problem. One possibility would be to make a spacer to put under the bracket. It would want to be tapered so that the inner cable leaves parallel to the outer.

[Swampyankee]

I was thinking of making a spacer. I could turn one up at work - or have an apprentice do it for me  with an I.D on one end to capture the nylon bushing end of the cable, and the O.D. on the other end to fit in the receiver at the throttle body, and a slit cut in it to fit onto the inner cable. Might just work... Now to determine what length to take up sufficient slack, or just make it long enough so I can drill it deeper if it's too long.

Meanwhile, anyone have a spare clutch-side lever perch?

[Swampyankee]

I've been tinkering with the project bike as time permits. New spark plugs made a big improvement in getting it running and I was actually able to take it for a ride. But once the bike warmed up it wouldn't restart without unplugging the fuel pump and burning off excess fuel, then plugging it back in again before it died. No way to operate the bike on a daily ride!
After getting flakey "warm" ohm readings from the temp sensor, I went ahead and ordered a new one. Still waiting for it to arrive.
Can't wait to get it installed and get this thing sorted mechanically so i can move forward with putting the fairings back together.