So, if my timing is off by enough, would that make it quit even though it idles well? I just went out to try and ride it again, and as I was trying to accelerate in 3rd gear it lost power and died. Fuel isn't getting burned and it's fouling the plug, is that the deal?

MiCarl estimated earlier in the thread that 1.8mm with my 47mm bore x 42mm stroke is 16.83°. What is involved in fabricating a pointer using a degree wheel? I'm game for anything at this point and I have a timing light, of course.

if this has been mentioned before then sorry just forget it, im setting my timing on the rd lc with a dial gauge, i dont have points i know but you may be able to prove were your piston is actually sitting, just a thought.

Yes, I've been timing it with a dial gauge which is the factory procedure as described in the service manual. Fitz is suggesting an alternate procedure.

Thanks.

I've read up on degree wheels, downloaded a few images, and am in the process of making one. Here's the process I'm planning to follow:

1) Find TDC using my dial gauge;

2) Make a mark on the generator housing;

3) Remove advance governor bolt and insert it through the hole in center of degree wheel;

4) Reinstall bolt, align 0° point on wheel with mark on housing, and tighten;

5) Hook up timing light, start motor, and check timing at idle and while revving.

If you see anything goofy with that process, let me know. Since there's no tach on this bike, I'm not sure how exact I can be. I'll report back later this morning with my results (and probably a couple of questions, as usual).

Using degree wheel and light to check timing, it appears that I am running ~33* before (to the right of, as indicated on the wheel) TDC. Pretty close both at low idle and revved up a ways. This is without the advance mechanism blocked open. I'm not positive whether or not the governor is actually able to move freely with the degree wheel installed.

After lunch I'm going to adjust the timing back to about 17° (MiCarl's estimated conversion of 1.8mm) and see how it runs.

Any input welcome...

THAT sounds more like it, and 33 degrees is "way hot" for that tiny motor.

If possible, try to block the advance mech fully advanced when you set it; it probably goes to full advance before it even gets to 2K RPM, and the "spec" was with it blocked at full advance, remember.

It sounds like progress to me.

First, I should have said "to the LEFT of TDC" on the degree wheel. Now here's my report:

With the governor blocked open, I could only get it down to ~25° BTDC at idle and it still ran above 30° revving. I had about a third of the adjusting plate range to play with and moved it all the way to the end.

With the governor starting in the "at rest" position (no matchstick), I think I was close to 17°. I'm averaging, I guess, because it's bouncing around quite a bit.

So I tuned it again and drove it at that setting. No real difference. It was sluggish to accelerate and died after one trip around the block.

Could too much oil be a factor? I put in a half gallon of gas pre-mixed at 32:1 just to be safe until I knew that the oil pump was working. I haven't added additional gas yet. By the way, I run non-oxygenated 92 octane in my cycles, but I've heard that some smaller bikes shouldn't use that high an octane.

Now what?

I made an error in my earlier calculation (I forgot to divide stroke by 2 to get the radius of the crankshaft )

-1.8mm is 23.896 degrees.

Well, I'm probably pretty close to that with the governor blocked open which is what the manual specifies for dial gauge timing.

Also, wondering if I'm running too rich. Still using the method we talked about with the air screw and idle speed. I know I'm past the 1.5 turns out default setting, though.

So...I tuned it again and left the idle up a little higher - about 1500rpm - and added a gallon of unmixed gas to the tank. It seems a bit happier. In fact I was able to ride it around the neighborhood and run through the first three gears and it showed no sign of wanting to quit.

Still has no power. Might be a good time to mention again that I had the cylinder honed and put in a new piston, rings, wrist pin, and needle bearing. Did not crack the case, however.

On the way home, while shifting from 2nd into 3rd (I think), I pulled in the clutch lever and the rear wheel locked up and the bike quit. Not good. Glad I wasn't going very fast. Forced the bike to the side of the road even though it wouldn't roll. I was able to change gears, but I could not get the motor free even in neutral. The lever was very tight. After kind of muscling the bike back and forth and playing with the clutch lever and shifter, I finally got it to release and headed back down the road. The minute I pulled the clutch lever, though, it happened again. Now it seems "half-stuck." It rolls with the clutch lever pulled in (difficult), but not very freely.

MAN, am I getting sick of pushing this thing home!

I did disassemble the clutch when the motor was out and inspected everything. Thought I got it back together properly. Sure seemed like it was working fine. I had put in a NOS push screw because the nylon worm gear part on mine had a couple of cracks in it. Then I followed the manual for the adjustment procedure. Also, I'm running Castrol 4T 10W-40 in the clutch/transmission.

Really bummed out right now because I don't see any way I can take this bike down to my daughter tomorrow. This clutch thing makes me nervous because the bike won't be safe to ride until/unless I can fix that.

Dammit, Jim.

No, you can't hand it off to your daughter just yet. Something is clearly wrong, although it may end up being something stupid-simple or a show-stopper.

This is one of the challenges with 40+ year old Japanese motorcycles, they hadn't been at this nearly as long as the British, Germans, Italians or even US. Of the Japs, only Honda had truly "mature" products by '68, everyone else was still in a learning curve.

I'd start by revisiting the clutch. It doesn't sound like the motor is locking up "the motor" it sounds like something else is locking up and since you could shift gears, it has to be between the crankshaft and the transmission. And what could that be? The clutch. Something may have broken or is coming apart.

Let's have a look!

We're losing containment! I've got to have THARTY minutes, captain.

Thanks, Fitz. I'm going to give it a rest until I get back next week. Probably a good idea right now anyway.

In the meantime, I am wondering whether this will turn out to be a reliable enough ride for my daughter, especially with me being 5 hours away. I'm sure I can sell it and at least break even if not maybe make a few bucks. We'll see...

In the meantime, though, I called a guy back about an '80 Honda CM200 that would be a nice bike for her, although bigger. I'm going to look at it over the weekend. If it seems decent and I can buy it right, I probably will.

But what do you make of my lack of power on the Trailmaster, at this point?

I ended up buying my daughter a nice 1980 Honda CM200T Twinstar ($600) over the weekend and getting that tuned up and ready. Taught her how to ride on Tuesday. That was fun..and funny. We had a good time. All her friends now think she's the coolest.

So I'm back to this problem with the Trailmaster clutch. The picture below is of the inside of the clutch cover. The push screw has a nylon worm gear which you can see. For the photo I removed the adjusting screw that pushes the ball bearing up against the pin in the middle of the pressure plate.



Next is a video that shows the movement of the clutch. Like I said last week, I really don't have any experience working with clutches so I'm not sure if this looks correct or not.

I tried to find a way to embed this YouTube video but maybe the forum administrator has not yet allowed that???

Not sure if anyone is still following this thread, but I posted a picture and video of the clutch over the weekend. I'm definitely going to need some help on this one. Not sure If I should be disassembling the clutch at this point or looking at the transmission or what...

Thanks.

OK, maybe I'll start with a couple of specific questions: Are the screws that pass through the springs and hold the upper/outer pressure plate to the lower/inner pressure plate supposed to be tightened all the way down? My manual provides no details about that. I tightened them down. However, it seems to me that this may not be corrected, because it allows for no movement of the springs whatsoever. Why have springs at all, if this were the case.

If I'm correct about this, how do I determine how much to tightened those screws? By the way, the springs are all within the specified length range.

Thanks!