New member - Hello!!

[Gorminrider]

Hi,Guss. another pic-tip (at least it works for me): If you click on the picture inside your post (before you post it or as an "edit") there's an option to resize it....800x600 or 1024x740 are both good choices if the picture uploaded supports it...ie: is not itself a tiny picture

Larger, as in "full size" might overcome some peoples' screen size and scrolling sideways or adjusting zoom of the browser puts me in bad temper

[Guss77]

Thanks for the tip!! Test pic... original size was 2.4megs, chose large option for kicks and it shrunk it down to 400k. This is a pic of two mystery plugs hanging under my tank. Lol.

272EB8DA-7DC0-4C69-9D50-A48D9FDE23D0.jpg

[Guss77]

And an original size (iPhone) ... 2mb ish.
F8236458-1EF5-4081-AC71-1635D8E802B0.jpg

[Gorminrider]

hmm. Maybe it doesn't work for every one.Maybe your browser isn't supporting certain options? I double-click the picture before posting
...or maybe I'm the only guy that can see this picture as bigger!
BikeCluster1-Apr21-2020.JPG

[Guss77]

I’ve only tried posting pics from my iPhone so far!! I’ll try from the pc and from the 3rd party apps/sites mentioned as well!! Thanks for the help!! I’m off to rent a compression tester.

your picture looks fantastic btw!!

[steve murdoch]

hmm. Maybe it doesn't work for every one.Maybe your browser isn't supporting certain options? I double-click the picture before posting
...or maybe I'm the only guy that can see this picture as bigger!
[ATTACH=CONFIG]61710[/ATTACH]

I like that pic too.
Had buddy with one of the CB450S and he couldn't kill it and he did try.

[Gorminrider]

(Oh! stevemurdoch I didn't think anyone would see it in the herd! Yes, it's very likeable. I'm trying NOT to kill it )

[Guss77]

got my o-rings today! Thanks Robert

this Imgur site is really good.. btw.. thanks for the tips!

also managed to get my fork seals off with help from my awesome nephew and a small butane torch! LOL. Gonna be a busy weekend!

[Guss77]

Update:
- points gap and timing: adjusted the points. Gaps were off in both, very tight on both. Set them to 0.35 as per specs. Firing setting was off on both as well, too soon on 1/4, and too late on 2/3. I had the cover off when I fired it up after just for kicks. I could see a spark once and a while from 1/4 point... but not from the 2/3 point. Is there supposed to be a visible spark? The point set on my parts bike looks rather newish compared to my '77. So maybe I'll swap them. The points on the '77 look really old. That oiler thingy is completely dry. Should I add some grease or oil to it? The cam shaft had a bit of rust on it. Oil it?
- Valves: intake are within spec 0.04 0.05, 0.07, 0.04. Exhaust are out: 0.09, 0.10, 0.08 0.10 (I could almost get the 0.15 feeler into #4. That's too big right? I need to find some bigger shims I suppose.
- cleaned both sets of carbs, swapped them 2 times and could not get rid of the low/mid-range wobble/hesitation. The more I rode it the worse it got. Then, I noticed my throttle was slipping a bit, so I took it off, went for a ride and viola, no hesitation. Boy do I feel stupid. The dang throttle grip was slipping on the sleeve. I also swapped the throttle spring with the one from carb set 1. It was super tight and probably contributed to the throttle slippage. D'OH!!
- carbs 3 and 4 leak a tiny, tiny bit. I think it's the gasket. These are brand new gaskets, all NEW o-rings, new float needle and floats were already at 24mm, so I didn't change that a all. No holes in the floats, they are plastic and seem newer than 1977.. IMO... I dunno. Maybe I need to tighten the float bowl screws harder?
- cleaned plugs during point config, put them back on and checked them right after my last little ride and they seem pretty good - tannish looking.
- got an ultrasonic cleaner for the carbs. I'd say it works very well for surface dirt and I bet it loosened up a lot of dirt inside the carbs, so I'm pretty happy with it. It did not remove much grease though.
Todo:
- get valve shims for exhaust side of things.
- re-do compression. I got 95 psi on all of them, However, bike was super cold and I hadn't fixed the throttle grip yet. I didn't know it had to be warm until I searched it later.
- sort out slight leak in carbs
- maybe replace points
- scavenge clutch cable off parts bike
- already scavenged the nifty choke cable from the parts bike.

I also installed an inline gas filter. Not sure I like it though as there isn't much room btw carbs and air box and seems like a point of failure eventually.
One fork seal done, the other doesn't leak. Fresh oil in both. I was going to replace both of course but I couldn't un screw the bolt at the bottom of one of them, luckily that was the one that doesn't leak. I need to by a 6 mm allen with a socket attachment (special tool) and I'll take my $20 impact driver to it. I've already used it on about a dozen different bolts on the bike. Best tool I've bought so far! Made myself a seal driver out of 1.5 black plumbing pipe. Had to splice a 3/4" space to allow for compression on the tube (hose clamps) worked pretty good. Used a long pointed dowel to jam the nut as tight as possible, then tightened it up after all the springs were back in. Hasn't leaked yet - been over 2 weeks.

All in all, once I got the throttle and carb issues worked out I'm really loving the sound of this engine. Like a 100 times more smooth and zero vibration compared to my old XS 650.

Picture of home made seal driver.
I'll post some pics of the points later - too dark out now!

[ddaniels]

Welcome aboard and good luck on the work.

[Guss77]

Thanks! I’m having lots of fun so far!