My Johnny Cash bike ( one piece at a time)

Temp hit 50 ...so tried to ride bike got to end of street AND promptly died pushed it home ...WHAT is wrong ...the fuel line was kinked ..and it started up . I have this running great at idle but not quite right at speed . I rebuilt these carbs a couple of years ago .. I suspect the slides on number three cylinder maybe hanging up . When I got these carbs all the slides were seized , the clunck test this one is slightly slower than the other cylinders . Still need to plate and insure bike so trying to resist riding ...hmmm got out my yellow Seca plated and insured OMG this runs so great . Other than needing a quick clean up it is good to go . The JCB on the other hand has some oil leaks and the front brake lines really need up graded to braided lines . I want to convert to the spin on oil filter , like my yellow Seca . The feel of these bikes is different my wife says the JCB is lower then old yellow ...she night be right . The thing the sucks right now is temp went up BUT now the mountain snow more is melting so lots of puddles and salt and sand discourages me from hoping on right now . Will see how it looks in a few days supposed to be warmer for week.

 

Glad you keep making progress on her. I too took one of my bikes out yesterday, just to get out. The roads still had spotty ice and yes the corners all had sand. I took it slow in the corners and stayed away from he ice spots. Coming home a deer jumped in front of me, all went well and I made it home safe. I hope to get out more this next week. Feels so good to get back on the bikes.

 

Yea no deers spotted , but now that snow is melting off there are hidden dangers ...trash, pieces of metal, even newspaper , and sand gravel . After several months of not riding ...you get rather "rusty" and the bike feels kinda alien . Since JCB is being pieced back together there are things that "feel" different from my other Seca .

 

Now it is raining ...so now riding for this kid , so worked on bikes , my yellow Seca the left rear turn signal lense one of the short screw had cracked off . Of course had a couple of spare parts. Worked on the JCB went and broke out my Morgan tune and synched carbs , I had done this earlier, they were not far off . Put on the clutch cable bracket and vacuum hose bracket , had bought these from xj4ever awhile back . Installed the side covers ...now I'm not sure what to do have not decided if I'm going to keep it or sell it on .

 

I'm not happy , under load only running on three cylinders, going to have to pull carbs off ...

 

Hmmm, maybe try a plug first?

 

Nope good spark , I think a slide is hanging up , these carbys were pretty gummed up when I got them , and the slides were seized. The diaphragms are good , I don't mind pulling the carbs off , but temp dropped again .

 

Good spark? Can you see it on load, when you're riding along? That's the time plugs fail..

 

When I put my slides back in I coat them with mystery oil just to help them slide in and hope it stick there for a while. Has worked on many rebuilds. My latest carbs I cleaned yesterday were really gummy on the slides. The bowels were okay but the nasty stuff was on the needle and slides. Always something interesting.

 

Think I figured out part of my carb problem , I pulled carbs , number three slide was a little tight cleaned it up much better . Did a bench synch . Put carbs back on and she screamed to 5k pulled throttle cable off of bracket idled perfect , I had fitted a new throttle cable , pulled apart throttle and I feel like an idiot I had it positioned wrong so cable had tension and it answered why the adjusting ferrule would cause it to rev with barely movement . Getting late still need to hook up airbox boots so will mess with that tomorrow

 

Decided to do the deed , when I did carbs last time used double #11 O rings seemed to work okay , But went and ordered the correct butterfly seals from xj4ever, took carbs to church ...had them on and off three or four times ...reving to 5k ...found the butterfly plate on number one was not quite set right , then found one of the brackets for the synch screw was bent down , idle knob was not touching ...it was little things i should have checked did a bench synch , still need to do a running synch but it idles at 1200 rpm , hooked up the airbox running out of time so will try to work on it this week .

 

Got sometime went to synch carbs , and starter gave up the ghost, of course for a change had another starter in cabinet . Finally got carbs spot on ....and it still is not running quite right , it still feels like it is only running on three cylinders , open throttle and it picks up ...the only thing the coils are new CB 750 and plug wires were changed last night, plugs are new and gapped, carbs went to church all seals replaced , new airbox boots ,new airfilter . The only thing I have not done is check valve clearance or the "new" old exhaust system is partially plugged ...I'm tempted to swap exhaust system off my yellow Seca ...but it runs sooo good I really don't want to touch it .

 

Perhaps the inlet valve on the cold cylinder is not opening enough?

 

Update ,did a compression check clod number one and two are 150psi and three and four 140psi with throttle wide open felt good that I have good compression. Broke out my colortune plug ( sorry to our Brit friends colourtune) while plugs were out one and two plugs were white...very lean three and four were dark grey ...when I put new CB750 coils on I did not like the plug caps so I had some other caps left over from another bike and used these ...think that is part of my issue ,changed out all four and I think it may have helped ...my such is even on the Morgan four motion and have a nice blue flame ...BUT now it is raining out and with no plates or insurance on bike yet not a good idea to ride yet ...so only rode it to corner and back .

 

I give up idles fine , with partial choke runs fine , crank throttle wide open takes off , barely open throttle from stop it sputters, stutters with choke off . The carbs have been soaked twice , rack broke all new seals , full synched ....my next thing to check is the mufflers ,if I can get them off there is a slight rattle at 2500 rpm .

 

I'm fuming , went and got insurance on bike 13$ a month , that is taken care of. Went to my favorite BMV ...oh joy waited 25 minutes only to be told even though I have title , I have to have the seller fill out a BILL OF SALE I bought it at a swap meet last October...have no way that I can contact seller short of trying to mail a form to him.. otherwise lady said I would have to file for a lost title....I HAVE THE MICHIGAN TITLE. But that is Indiana for you. I still have to have a police officer verify VIN. Oh I'm sure that will be fun.

 

I feel for you, kinda in the same thing for one of my bikes. So the Michigan title is signed? If so I am really confused as that is normally the bill of sale when signed. Maybe you can find your states statue that states that and sow the DMV person? I know that might be asking for trouble bu if it is written in your states statue they have to follow it.

 

We Canadians are freakin sheep! I couldn't insure a skate board up here for that.

 

You're barking up the wrong tree re those mufflers - if it revs to 4K with some extra fuel you have idle jet issues or float level issues. Did you check the progression holes "squirted" fuel when you stripped them? Are they the right idle jets?
Lastly - did you check the holes in the bottom, and springs above the vacuum pistons - just in case someone has been in there?

 

I had an issue with the registration on the XJ. The title had 16 digits but the frame has 17. It was missing a "1" in the sequence. I had to get a dealer to confirm the title document was incorrect and issued me a letter showing the correct VIN. I took the letter in to have the correction made and the lady told me that I had to have 2 letters from different dealers...

On another occasion, I was told that I couldn't have the ownership changed until I had an appraisal done...

In both cases I asked for a reference, something in writing where I could find this information. Turns out I didn't need 2 letters nor in the other case did I need an appraisal.

 

BMV makes things way to complicated , I think they enjoy doing this .

 

Not a problem unique to US either.
I have a local vehicle registration and taxation office that makes up the rules as they go along.
Absolute shower of asshales.

 

So both of us might need to look into this web page and do this for our bikes. I hear it is the same cost for their title.
https://dmv.vermont.gov/registrations
There might be a step by step how to on the forum too, I have not done a search yet.

 

Yeah,they seem to get a kick out of it - sort of a power thing?

 

I bought another set of carbs , took them to church, these are back up carbs . The set installed on the bike runs well and synched , idles good . Took it out to road behind my edition took it up to 55 ran well, pulled up to 6k I think I may have worked out carb issue

 

Pray tell us?

 

I am so frustrated my carbs are pzhofrinc got them synched with my Morgan pro rode around block felt okay shut off , started next day would run right columns were totally off ....rode around block and idle was hanging , tweaked synch screws and it was better. Got tired so swapped in my backup carbs could not get idle below 4k ....knew this was a vacuum leak . Had a meeting to go to , came home and decided I would look closer at the backup carbs ...found several issues when I rebuilt these the return spring on number one carb was not on bracket right , number two carb the outboard side the nylon spacer was cracked. Number three carb I had an extra nylon washer , so if I tightened nut the carb body would hang up , number four the return spring was not seated correctly keeping the shaft from seating all the way. Did a bench synch , the carbs snap much better. I have rebuilt several carbs but since these were back up set I feel pretty dumb for not checking . well it is late and I doubt my neighbors would appreciate my running at 1130 pm going to swap out in morning...I will see .

 

If you had a spare set of carbs that would tell you the story. Sometimes carbs are just weird and they don't work for some reason. We miss something we normally don't or maybe even a factory issue when they were molded.

 

After rebuilding my carbs last week I was convinced that I put them back together spot on. After sitting on the couch for an evening examining the carbs every now and then I also discovered 2 dumb return spring issues. You tend to overlook things when you intensely busy with something...

 

My spare set of carbs , I tried using two number 11 buna O rings ....no luck at some point I will order the correct seals from Chacal. So the set I've been having problems with , been to church , and new butterfly seals from Chacal looked at this set and SHAZAM same thing number one return spring was on wrong side of arm , and number three had a extra nylon seal ...this answered why i could not fully tighten nut without binding . Nothing like breaking the rack a second time. Well I'm a total genius was trying to get spare set dialed in , could not get a consistent idle , gave up went in to eat lunch and came back out...I had left ignition on 8 volts . While I charged battery , put original set of carbs on and ...it ran like it should only had to tweak number three and number one . Hooked back up airbox and letting it cool down will see if it runs right from cold . This has been a real hoot , still got to plate it and start some cosmetic items .

 

Okay went out after letting bike sit for a few hours , completely cold crossed my fingers a little choke and started up took choke off and it idled perfect at 1100 rpm . happy dance . Synch is not perfect with my Morgan pro but it runs good , so still need to check valve clearance so will check after I do the deed. Now my turn signals won't work unless you hold button down , well that is for another day.

 

So got a little time to look at turn signals , had a spare flasher , no luck will work if you hold left or right ,but shuts off if you let off button. Took the control apart , I think every spider had taken up residence in there. Cleaned out tweaked the contacts and got it to work , put cover on ...and it would not work again . I had two sets of spare controls , plugged in and these did not work either . Plugged back in original unit worked, but noticed the slide is stiff looks like there was lube that dried up ages ago . Out of time will look tomorrow.

 

Think I got it working, put controls back in ,will see , now this weekend going to check valve clearance.

 

I'd have grabbed the closest piece of paper and filled out a BOS on the spot.....scribble a Johnny Hancock and Bob's your uncle!

 

Oh boy tore into valve clearance, number four intake.000 clearance. All the clearances were out , had spare shims was able to get most as close as I can , but need two 260 and a 265 . I really don't want to tear into my yellow Secas original engine , but as I recall a couple of these shims are in there . Will think about it, this answers why bike has not ran as well it should . I think I cleaned my local yamaha dealer out of shims on my spare engine last summer , but I'm on good terms with the owner .

 

Put back together, put valve cover on and rode around the block and was leaking , think I lost all the oil...had not noticed a small section was cracked . I had a new gasket , so installed and took care of the leak . Looks like this was why it felt like it was only running on three cylinders , why synch was never quite right . I still need to recheck synch but idles perfectly.

 

Whoo got bike titled and plated , spent less than 20 minutes at BMV a new record. This has been a real hoot nice to be legal .

 

So bummed now that I can get to ride at high speed back to seeming like running on three cylinders...and the valve cover started leaking...BAD . Pulled cover off my spare engine so fixed that . Pulled carbs back off and put spare set on and this looks like that has solved problem. The carbs that were on there has been to church and has new butterfly seals , just can't figure out why .

 

Did some more trouble shooting, the set of carbs I've been using , number two slide would not go all the way up , and number four when I tried the clunck test just dropped with no resistance. Pulled hat and when I put it in a corner was rolled . Swapped two slides out of spare carb set , crossed my fingers, took it our pulls as well as my other Seca . I will not call it 100% still have to hook up airbox . I just ordered from Chacal new butterfly seals for my spare set of carbs .

 

Hooked up airbox boots ...Wow is all I can say ...runs fantastic hit 70 with no problems. Synch is almost perfect , decided DO NOT mess with it anymore . Now I need to order new braided brake lines , and upgrade to the spin on oil filter .

 

Took bike out rode 20 miles , wanted to keep close to home . Only problem I have is ATARI will cycle sometimes going down the road . This just started , a couple of days ago I swapped TCI to trouble shoot running issue. The plug is in bad shape so not sure if that is cause or not. So happy bike runs so well.

 

What'd you do to get the airbox boots back on? I'm having a hell of a time getting mine on with the carbs and motor in the frame. There's not enough clearance to squish them back out of the airbox and onto the carbs at the same time, it seems.

 

Put a little silicone grease on the boot lip ,pull boot out lightly , I use a Craftsman hook tool and work it around till boot seats in airbox , use hook tool and run it around carb bell mouth . I start with the inboard boots first, I remove the 10mm bolt at the top of the airbox this allows box to move back a little more .

 

I took bike out to the gas station , got alot of looks, and one guy asked me about the bike talked to him for 20 minutes. Made me feel good .

 

I ordered the braided steel lines and spin on oil filter kit ...got it today from xj4ever , got lines mounted up . Ran out of time to bleed try tomorrow.

 

Went to try to bleed ...no joy ...had to do the deed ...swap out master cylinder...I had a spare to do it on the Seca 750 , if you've never done this it is not real easy. The headlight has to be pulled out of bracket , I pulled the cluster up.and out , the headlight bracket has to have fasteners removed . The brake cable has to be removed from arm on master cylinder , the low float wires have to be removed to the headlight bucket . Installed "new" master cylinder, used my Myty Vac and have a nice firm brake lever . I was never able to get a real good lever before , I think it was a combination master cylinder and original rubber lines from 1982 lol . Ran out of time tonight have to put it all back together. Yuge shout out to xj4ever for brake lines very nice , I have these on my yellow seca as well. I have also bought the spin on oil conversion, I have this on my yellow seca as well ...highly recommended!!!

 

Got it all put back together, a firm brake lever , ran out of time . Tomorrow I think I will change oil and mount my spin on oil filter conversion from xj4ever. I have this on my yellow seca definitely a great upgrade.

 

Just curious, at what point in the MC piston stroke l would you say it gets "firm"? Half-stroke?, 3/4s? (I'm referring to how far the piston actuator arm is actually traveling - not the brake lever travel (it's adjustable).

 

I can tell you mine engages the brake almost immediately with only minor lever travel. It was this way before changing brake lines and rebuilding the calipers and after doing the work and bleeding. Sometimes I wish it had more travel.

 

Almost right away , same on my yellow seca.