New CL100 Owner

[iatethepeach]

My girlfriend and I have been together five.

So.. did my mom put you guys up to pressuring me on here?

 

[iatethepeach]

I found this when I was adjusting my chain this afternoon. Anyone lose a pop rivet?

 

[iatethepeach]

See, this is why I need that beer rack (and panniers). My gf asked me to go to the farmer's market today and I maxed out my climbing pack. Celery had to go in my jacket.

 

[grcamna5]

I bought a CCA rack from a swap meet at Barbers a couple years ago and had a welder modify it to fit my bike.He welded it up extra heavy and made it '4-point frame mounted' so it would hold w/ lot's of weight on it.I rode w/ it fully loaded w/ 50 lbs. on it from state to state and it held up fine.I think you should find a good used rack and modify it to fit. Do you know a good welder ?

 

[iatethepeach]

I bought a CCA rack from a swap meet at Barbers a couple years ago and had a welder modify it to fit my bike.He welded it up extra heavy and made it '4-point frame mounted' so it would hold w/ lot's of weight on it.I rode w/ it fully loaded w/ 50 lbs. on it from state to state and it held up fine.I think you should find a good used rack and modify it to fit.

Your rack sounds pretty nice. Do you have any photos?

I might go the custom/modified route, too, we'll see. I probably won't get to do a lot more riding between now and spring, so I'll wait to see if anything turns up on eBay first. There are also a couple guys I've been meaning to call who might have one, or know somebody that does.

Do you know a good welder ?

Not me, but I'm willing to give it a shot!

EDIT: Thanks for posting photos. That's a unique gusset plate! If I made my own rack I'd use the same mounting points as yours and the Triple-A, though I might skip the Triple-A's fender brace, and for panniers I'd try to tie it in somewhere around the swingarm pivot, too.

 

[Don R]

Nice CL, I picked one up recently, the PO toasted most of the electrical system. It does run until the battery goes away.

 

[grcamna5]

Don,
That even has the orig. exhaust,Nice 8)

 

[grcamna5]

Your rack sounds pretty nice. Do you have any photos?

I might go the custom/modified route, too, we'll see. I probably won't get to do a lot more riding between now and spring, so I'll wait to see if anything turns up on eBay first. There are also a couple guys I've been meaning to call who might have one, or know somebody that does.

Not me, but I'm willing to give it a shot!

EDIT: Thanks for posting photos. That's a unique gusset plate! If I made my own rack I'd use the same mounting points as yours and the Triple-A, though I might skip the Triple-A's fender brace, and for panniers I'd try to tie it in somewhere around the swingarm pivot, too.

I enjoy the memory of the welder in Gunnison,CO. who installed those gusset plates on either side.
The rack had lot's more strength w/ weight on it after that;I was staying in a local hostel for 2 nights and I asked one of the girls there to give those new plates a little personality and she used the 2 holes the welder put in there for bungee hooks as 'eyes' ;D I was really enjoying the journey so it's how I felt.

 

[iatethepeach]

Nice CL, I picked one up recently, the PO toasted most of the electrical system. It does run until the battery goes away.

Thanks. Apart from the suspension and a minor oil leak, my CL is really coming together. It's been unseasonably warm here and my truck is still out of commission, so I've been riding it a lot this week. I hope you end up having as much fun with yours!

I was staying in a local hostel for 2 nights and I asked one of the girls there to give those new plates a little personality

Ah.. Girls and staying at hostels.

 

[iatethepeach]

 

[DohcBikes]

Very nice.

 

[Don R]

Nice job, thanks for posting the build thread.

 

[iatethepeach]

Sure, Don. I guess it's technically more of a I-cleaned-my-tank-a-few-times thread than a build thread, but I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Here's something new: should I be concerned or is my dipstick just happy to see me?

I did take it out when it was hot yesterday. Maybe I bumped it on the way back in? Trek, no prom jokes.

 

[grcamna5]

Could your engine be running a bit hot? That dipstick shouldn't be getting hot enough for it to warp like that; how often do you change your oil ? When the engine runs that hot it'll cook the oil quick;do you change the oil regularly ? My engine runs hot because the 145cc big bore kit has too much compression and I'll be adjusting that soon. Do you run a D9EA cold plug for high speed running ?
The D8EA stock heat range plug may be too hot for the way you're running it. How does the plug look ?

 

[iatethepeach]

Yeah. I put in fresh oil right away when I saw the stick. That was the first time since I pulled the bike out of the shed in August, or almost 1000 miles. I have been checking the oil a couple times a day this week, though, to keep an eye on the small leak that's happening. I didn't notice anything unusual on the ride before the warp occurred, like loss of power, nor was I stuck in traffic or anything like that.

I'll try to find time to post a photo of the plug tomorrow. Maybe it's running a bit lean? The pipe is getting a little golden at the cylinder and sometimes there's slight popping under deceleration. Should I fiddle with the carb before I switch plugs? In general, I'd say it's running very well. My only complaint is that idle speed at operating temperature seems a couple hundred RPM higher than when cold, so sometimes with the clutch in I gotta blip the throttle a bit until it warms up.

EDIT: I forgot I changed the oil when I put in the new clutch, ha ha. Hard to avoid that. So it hasn't been that long.

 

[grcamna5]

You change the oil regularly,good
W/ your bike I would think that the carb. needle should maybe be a clip notch 'higher'(raise it up one clip position)to richen the mixture up enough to compensate for this Ethanol fuel(you use premium?,I like to run good quality,fresh premium to keep'em cool)and just check the sparkplug color regularly to see if it's the desired light tan color rather than chalky white.The bike will run better w/ a D9EA plug if you usually run it up to 50mph or more steadily.I would always check the timing( & make sure the mechanical advance unit is working smoothly)to be sure it fires on the 'F' mark and not advanced.
I always put my hand on the left crankcase cover(round 'Honda' cover over the alternator)just to see how hot it's running while I'm riding,kind of a 'heat check' when I stop at a light.

 

[iatethepeach]

Yes, as it so happens I've been running the bike on 93 octane (10% ethanol). Since it takes less than a couple gallons to fill up between rides, I always feel like, "what the hell, let's splurge a little."

Thanks a lot for the tips! I found some time to work on the bike today. The good news is I'm pretty sure I didn't mess anything up worse than it already is. That's a win in my book. So here's the latest shot of the plug for starters:

This is a shot of the same plug on Monday:

The timing may have been advanced just a hair- the "F" mark lined up within the notch on the crankcase but a little to the right. I don't know if it'll make a difference, but I adjusted the breaker base plate so it's now dead-center in the notch when the ignition fires.

I also raised the carb needle a notch. Maybe I should have waited to see if the timing adjustment had any affect, first, but I had my tools out and felt like living dangerously.

Finally, I changed the oil one more time, since I rode about four hours yesterday. I haven't been able to find 10W-30 bike oil at the auto parts stores around here so I've been using 10W-40. Do you think that could be part of my problem? Amazon is sending me a gallon of Honda 10W-30 this week.

When I was out buying more motor oil I picked up a D9EA. Do you think I should install it?

Unfortunately, I didn't get to ride the bike after working on it, but it starts right up and seems to run normally. I'll take it for a spin tomorrow.

I always put my hand on the left crankcase cover(round 'Honda' cover over the alternator)just to see how hot it's running while I'm riding,kind of a 'heat check' when I stop at a light.

Thanks, that's a great idea. I'll make it part of my routine.

 

[grcamna5]

That's good work. I think the color of the plug looks better in the first pic.
I guess you can see the color of a new D8EA w/ the needle raised now before changing over to the D9EA for high speed riding later.

I use Shell Rotella 15/40 oil and it works good.I've also enjoyed Lucas Full Synthetic(I got a qt. at a local auto parts store)but I think 10-40 is better than the 20/50 I bought.
I think you could use 10/40 as your good weight oil rather than 10-30 which is more of a cold weather running oil.

 

[iatethepeach]

Great call. I'll save the D9 for my next high-speed ride and install a fresh D8 for running around town this week.

Something else that's giving me trouble is adjusting the cam chain. Is there a trick to it? As I turn the adjuster in (clockwise), I eventually feel increased drag, but I have little confidence I'm getting it right. I may ask a local pro to give me a quick lesson.

 

[iatethepeach]

Another photo from this week.

These make it look like I'm avoiding more pavement than I really am, but the cow-trailing is the best part of the ride.