1974 CB360 - first bike/build

Holy shit! That Lincoln setup is all you will ever need. Congrats again on that, man!

Keep up the good work, the scoot is looking fantastic.
 
That's badass. I haven't been to Handbuilt in a couple years. Are you out of Texas? I'm in Houston.
 
Not in Texas - but only about a 10 hour drive from Austin, been out there a couple of times for SXSW (for work), but never by their shop.
 
huck_finn said:
Got a new battery from Sparck Moto - the thought was to get one small enough to mount just about anywhere in any orientation. I still wasn't 100% sure on the direction I wanted to head with the bike (still not).

Click to expand...

I've only scanned over all the posts here so maybe I missed it, but have you upgraded the voltage regulator? Modern batteries need modern (MOSFET) voltage regulators.

I know EarthX uses some sort of battery protection circuit to protect from over charging, but I also know what an EarthX smells like when it self destructs due to over voltage being fed into it. Once the battery begins to fail, there is nothing you can do to stop it, you just have to stand there, watch the light show, and hope nothing actually starts burning. Stand upwind.

To be fair I have been told (by EarthX) that they have upgraded the over voltage protection since I had my little issue, so I kinda doubt your bike puts out enough voltage to hurt it even unregulated, but better safe than sorry. You do NOT want that thing losing all it's smoke, and trust me, they hold a LOT of smoke. And it smells horrible. The "holy shit I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be inhaling this" sort of horrible smell. Im also guessing the LEDs would appreciate a more modern approach to voltage regulation but I'm no LED expert.

My '91 Ducati 851 now runs a modern voltage regulator and a voltage meter along with it's (replacement) EarthX battery.

earthx02.jpg


So to recap:

If you want to run a modern lithium battery, you should also run a modern regulator. And a voltage meter.

Also just to be clear, I don't blame EarthX for this, Post-meltdown testing showed the voltage regulator was shot. I also lost a circuit in the ECU, plus the headlight and a fuel pump relay failed soon after. Maybe a coincidence, maybe not.
 
Suzuki R/R are always a suspect component. Even the 2008~2010 are crap and can cause fires with 100% stock set up. (I was teaching 'FAST' at MMI from 2006) plus I worked in Suzuki dealers in 1980's. Some are OK ('Intruder' where they had to be mounted close to left silencer) but they have always used the cheapest components available. It's kinda like the LUCAS of the Japanese bike industry. Lucas could actually make really good parts, just not at the prices demanded by manufacturers.
 
I upgraded the reg/rec (got one from Sparck) pretty soon after I started working on it. I also added one of Rick's Electrics stators about a year ago. I ended using their reg/rec combo once I made the swap since it came with the stator.

But as of tonight - my EarthX is dead. After talking with EarthX it sounds like it has a dead cell (won't charge above 11.5ish). Not sure what happened to it - EarthX said that the battery was compatible with Rick's charging system.

Now I am trying to figure out what to do for a new battery without shelling out a lot of cash, since I have get my truck re-painted pretty soon.
 
They're very cheap, but, powersonic actually has decent batteries. The company I work for purchase from them for something like $3 per battery lol. I have seen some on amazon for $39 or something that would support our bikes. Weird that your EarthX isn't holding up though.
 
An old saying... When I die, I hope my wife doesn't sell the bikes for what I told her I spent on them.
 
Odontologist said:
An old saying... When I die, I hope my wife doesn't sell the bikes for what I told her I spent on them.
Click to expand...

No kidding - she asked me the other night how much I have spent on the bike. I told her to guess...which she was way off, and then I lied through my teeth.
 
I ended up ordering a <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007V5H2BM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1">12v 7 Ah from Motobatt</a>. It is a sealed AGM - the dimensions are obviously pretty different from my EarthX, so I am going to have figure out if I can make my current electronics/battery box work with some modifications.


If not, I will probably end up making this one out of steel - making modifications to my current design. The nice thing about Fusion 360 is that I can take my design and essentially flatten it out, and then have the pattern cut using the laser bed at work. And then I get to learn how to stick weld.
 
Maybe I missed it earlier in the thread, but are you planning on using your electric start or just kicking the bike over? Curious as to your math for 7ah for the battery.
 
Its been so long, I think I have a 7ah AGM in my 360 and NEVER kick it, only use the electric start.

That battery has lasted 6+ years, still going strong and it was an amazon cheapy.

Oops mine is a 8ah. and yeah bought in 2012.

11494-250119184447-48652393.png


11494-250119184447-4863127.png
 
7Ahr will crank bike over but it doesn't have much if any reserves if it doesn't start after a few seconds. You need around 40~45CCA to keep motor turning and about 60CCA to get it 'spinning' initially. The voltage drop can prevent coils firing if it drops below ~10V As long as bike is set up properly and you don't crank for 30sec or more it shouldn't be a problem
 
Reviving my build thread. Bike was running really well...until it wasn't. I knew that I wasn't going to be riding during the winter...so I decided to do an engine rebuild, and overbore for the GS850 pistons.

It took me a couple of weeks to find a shop that would do the engine work for me, and make sure everything else was within spec. Luckily, the only thing that I ended up replacing due to wear was the kickstart ratchet plate guide. It had some very small stress cracks that were causing it to not pull & hold the ratchet when kicking it over. Took a while to find one on ebay that was NOS.

I cleaned everything up, replaced all the seals, had my cam and rocker arm pads re-ground. Put in new valves & springs (guides were still great), got a copper gasket from Copper Gaskets Unlimited, and new timing chain. I also put a new pair of shocks on it...nothing fancy, just some coils that aren't full of rust. But the eyes are more narrow than the frame mount...so I have to find/build some spacers to keep them steady.

The pistons I found on ebay were in good shape, but I did have to polish the pistons for the pins. The shop that over-bored it didn't want to do it, but when I picked it up from them they had come around to it.

And then I stripped one of the bolts holding down the cam chain tensioner. I am out of cash at the moment, so I can't get a time-sert kit. Irk mentioned in another thread that I might be able to go a little deeper and still be okay. So I am going to give it a go tonight and see what happens. Then...I can put the engine back on the frame.

I have a lot of other things I need to to for it (new spokes front and back, move my rear turn signals, build a license plate mounting point for under the seat, etc. etc. etc.)...but it is already June, and my rebuild started back in Jan. So I am going to just ride it like it is until next winter.
 
I got everything buttoned up a couple of nights ago...was too nervous to try and kick it over late in the evening. If something went wrong, I knew I would be so mad that I wouldn't sleep.

Went straight to the house after work on Monday...filled it up with oil (doing my best to squirt some into the cam reservoirs), kept the key out, and kicked it over about 15 times to hopefully get some oil moving around a little bit in the engine.

I turned the key, choked my carbs, held my breath, and kicked. It fired up! But there was a noise. Not ticking from the rocker arms, it sounded like it was in the cylinder jugs. It only ran for a few seconds before I turned it off.

I am going to break the engine back down (still in the frame) tonight. Hoping that I don't find anything that I can't fix/replace on my own without having to take it back to the machinist.
 
Yep - 850 pistons. I found a set of four on ebay (used) and dropped them off with my cylinders when I had them bored to 69. My machinist used the best two from the set. I put new Suzuki rings on them...but like a moron, I didn't measure the gaps.

What should the piston ring gap be?

I just finished breaking the engine down - not splitting the cases. I didn't see any evidence of damage on the cam or rocker arms - the reservoirs were full of oil. I am going to upload some photos later tonight of the cylinders and pistons.

The one thing that did seem off was that when I went to take out the cam chain tensioner, it didn't spring up like it normally does. It just sat there without any tension on the mounting plate.
 
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