Thanks!
It's alive again! I got fired up this morning after finishing the assembly. As it turns out, even though I had wires marked, several things got wired backwards. Left rear turn signal comes on when the switch is on right side, brake light was running light... easily corrected. Put a little fuel in it to check for leaks as I has changed the petcock to a standard Pingle on-off-reserve. Everything good there. No leaks on the new Mikuni carbs...good to go.
Hit the starter, and she back fires and pops. OK. I got the coils wired backwards too! Switched those around, she fires right up. Let it run for a few seconds, and flip the choke levers (there are two individual choke levers on these carbs) and it settles into a nice idle.
So, I do an easy ride around the block, not going any farther from the house than I'm willing to push. Do a visual check, then go around the bigger block. Without stopping, I made another lap, stretching her legs a little. Runs pretty dang good! Then, a block away from the house it acts like it's starving for fuel and dies. Damn. So, I pop off the fuel cap, put it back on, and it fires right back up. So, I'm suspecting the fuel cap isn't venting. Get back to the house, and I take the cap off, and put some duct tape over the open filler hole, leaving a little area for it to breathe. Do a couple laps around the big block, putting about three miles on it. Everything is OK.
So, I take the cap and remove all the guts. Aside from the locking mechanism, is has a series of check valves. I left the guts out and put it back on.
All things considered, it goes pretty good. The carbs seem to be jetted very close out of the box. It respond crisply to the throttle, and pulls smoothly through the gears. A little blubbery at part throttle in the 2-3000 rpm range. Probably a simple matter of dropping the needle one slot and see how it acts.
I'm thinkin' about putting a short fender on the back. It looks a little chopped off. Then I can move the license plate up and put a light on it.
I think I'm gonna build new footpeg mounts to move them back about 3 or 4 inches. I'm also gonna look into a choke cable arrangement to pull both chokes simultaneously. As it is, it's really only a minor inconvenience.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Even though the wheels are shiny black powdercoat, I'm still not in love with 'em.
But for the time being, I'm gonna ride it!