The continuing problems of my CB360

edukaycheon

edukaycheon

Been Around the Block
So after my previous thread here about how my motor was spitting out bits of metal in the oil, we ended up pulling and opening the motor. Cam chain tensioners were old and weren't doing their job, so the chain was slapping against the top cover. Oil starvation in the top end meant the rockers were grooved and a lot of the metal was burnt. Decided to buy a new motor, got a relatively clean motor for $150 and threw it in the bike. Changed the starter motor over because the new motor's starter motor was pulling too much power and draining the battery, and after a bunch of other work, she runs again without leaks.

Now to the new problems:

Took her home from the shop today, she didn't start up as well as with the old motor but I'm waiting to see how this plays out after I ride the bike for a while, get the battery charged up and all the dust cleared out, so to speak. However, I noticed that the revs would slowly drop when I was stopped at a light in first with the clutch in. I felt like the bike would die and I was worried of what would happen if it did, so I kept a little throttle on it so the revs didn't fade away. Made it home doing this the entire time, and as I pulled into my lot I cruised forward in first, and as I suspected the bike died. I'm wondering if this could be an idle adjustment I need to do tomorrow when the bike is warm, or if it could be something else. I filled up with gas on the way, and she did start up again after filling up, but same issue with throttle, had to play with the clutch a lot more at stops. Anyone have similar problems or any ideas?
 
How close to stock is bike?
Does shop have any experience of old Honda's?
 
Pretty much stock, only thing changed that might affect the running is exhausts, motor/carbs/airboxes are all stock. Wiring is some of the strangest stuff I've ever seen though, the way the PO ran it makes no sense but somehow it all works. Not sure how old the battery is but FWIW probably going to replace that soon.

The guy I take it to doesn't really work with older bikes in particular (I think my bike was the oldest in the shop before I brought it home), but I haven't found any shops close by that specialize in older bikes at all.
 
Really? What would a 3000 mile service entail? While the bike was in the shop we essentially rebuilt it, motor swap, chain/sprocket, rebuilt forks, cleaned out carbs, replaced some seals and gaskets, etc.
 
3,000 mile engine service is in manual.
Basically, make sure valves are set correctly, timing is spot on then sync carbs.
I'm guessing you already have fresh oil and correctly adjusted clutch?
 
Okay I was playing with it today, oil is fresh and levels look fine, clutch works, not too much play, springs back okay, replaced spark plugs as well. I tried to use the electric start but the starter barely turned over, I used the kickstart and it started up nicely, but I still needed to give it the occasional rev to keep it on. I turned the choke ON and the bike died, which confused me. Also warmed the bike up a bit and adjusted the idle screw, it sounded better/stronger when idling but still died after a while. There were little droplets of gas coming from the carbs, so I'm thinking the carbs definitely need a sync. There was a bit of white smoke coming from the exhaust but not sure yet whether I should chalk that up to normal starting up or something else.
 
Bike will cut out with full choke, even if it's only slightly warm
How old are air filters?
They will be restrictive if originals
Sounds like float levels may be off as well, I've seen 'stock' with 16mm instead of 19mm
 
Can you explain the choke part a little more? I'd always start the bike with the choke fully on and turn it off when the bike had been idling for a while. Not sure about filters, they look pretty clean when I opened them up. Could it be the float levels being off and needing a sync? The bike seems to need more to start up if I remember right, before all these problems came up I would rarely have to use the choke and barely needed to work the throttle when starting her up with the electric start.
 
The choke is a real choke, it blocks airflow
There are spring loaded flaps which can open but they don't let much air in
It's pretty easy to flood motor on full choke, thats why there is a 10 degree open position
'working the throttle' will almost always flood motor
Mikuni has an enrichener which a lot of people call a choke, (it isn't)
 
Okay I'm reading through this thread: http://www.dotheton.com/forum/index.php?topic=25521.0 and I'll probably check the same stuff tomorrow. Pull carbs, check pressure, sync, etc, look for any visible problems, look through fuel lines, all that. I still think my battery is the culprit though, the PO says it was less than a year old before he sold it to me but judging by the way the bike looked inside when I opened it I don't trust him very much.
 
Hm...it has been about a month and a half since I first took my bike into the shop...possibly confirms my suspicions
 
Well got out the trickle charger and my parking space doesn't have an outlet, so I wheeled the bike into my front yard ;D It's kind of nice being so close to it.

Anyways, charger took 4 hours and a half to green light, which was just before I was going to unplug it and give up. Seemed to take longer than it should have. Took off the airboxes and cleaned them up a bit, didn't look so bad as to be the problem (following the Clymer manual steps). Opened the seat up, started poking through the wires, and noticed that the casing on the positive wire had melted, leaving some exposed wire. Scary. (The wire had melted when the old starter motor was on the bike, found out it was drawing too much power, so we swapped it with the starter from the first motor.) Taped those up just to be safe, and after a basic poking around didn't see anything that looked completely wrong, which worries me because now it gets harder. Doesn't help that the PO did some weird wiring that doesn't correspond with the original wiring diagram half the time.

Cleaned up some of the cables, unkinked the connections, but can't think of what else I should take on (it's night time here, I'm using a desk lamp outside, and it's supposed to rain in 6 hours :-\ Thinking about taking it to a friend's tomorrow and working on carbs, which I was supposed to do today but some stuff came up
 
This is what my wiring looks like under the seat. I need more pictures I guess. I know, it's horrible

HK94U.jpg
 
edukaycheon said:
There were little droplets of gas coming from the carbs, so I'm thinking the carbs definitely need a sync. There was a bit of white smoke coming from the exhaust but not sure yet whether I should chalk that up to normal starting up or something else.
Click to expand...
Fugly! Looks about the same as mine...lol
However it doesnt matter what the wiring may look like. As long as its correct and the connectors are in good shape. "connectors, not twisted and taped" You need to replace the burnt parts, clean all the connections and protect them w dielectric grease.
This is a good quality starter rebuild kit from the same seller I got mine. buy it and take it to any automotive electrical shop you trust that regularly rebuilds starters. Tell them to rebuild it.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/STARTER-REPAIR-KIT-Honda-CB175-CB200-CB200T-CB360T-CJ360T-CL175-CL200-/110965412255?_trksid=p2047675.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222001%26algo%3DSIC.CURRENT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D11%26meid%3D4682317396540494456%26pid%3D100011%26prg%3D1005%26rk%3D2%26sd%3D221066167410%26
smoke or vapor? I am assuming water vapor from condensation in the pipes.
If you got gas dripping from carbs you got stuck floats / needles, float setting or bad gaskets...combo
PS, send carbs to PJ for proper cleaning and sync and any mods you may require. I dont know, but, I bet if you ask real nice. send him your starter and rebuild kit...he might do that at the same time as carbs!!! Also, PJ is pretty affordable compared to what you will pay a local idiot to screw em up.
If it idles fine in neutral and wants to die in gear w clutch lever pulled in. To me, that points towards a clutch needing minor adjustment.
I bet it just needs a thorough going over, Fresh battery, fresh starter, points, plugs, carbs cleaned properly, orings / gaskets / diaphragms, insulators / gaskets, etc.... basically a good ole fashioned 40 year tune up.
 
Here is a "to do" list I made and posted on my cb360 blog a while back...scroll down till ya find it.
http://www.hondabrat.com/search?updated-max=2012-06-13T04:09:00-07:00&max-results=7
 
Okay I went to start the bike this afternoon and see if there was any change...electric starter wouldn't turn over the motor, and this was after I had fully charged the battery. One kick and it got going though, sounded better and actually held an idle. Decided to take it around the block (or several blocks) and felt decent, but I think the clutch definitely needs adjustment, started affecting the idles after a while when I was at a light with the clutch pulled in. Also a fun thing happened, the bolt holding my seat fell out so I guess that's as good an excuse as any to get a new seat made 8)

As for the carbs, they're probably adding to the problem too, I didn't get a chance to sync them but I'll probably rebuild and sync them next time I'm free, depending on how that works I may just send them to CrazyPJ.

There are so many things that could be better with this bike...but I still love it. I just wish I could ride it without worrying if it will die on me at the next light...
 
> Okay I went to start the bike this afternoon and see if there was any change...electric starter wouldn't turn over the motor, and this was after I had fully charged the battery.

Step one: take your battery to Autozone or somesuch for a load test. Your battery may be toast.

Step two (assuming that step one doesn't fix it, which I expect it will): get your bike manual out and start going through the electrical system. You can troubleshoot each part with a basic multimeter; it's time-consuming, but you can clean each connection as you get to it and then you'll know what checks out and what doesn't.

If it should turn out that your regulator and/or rectifier need to be replaced, bookmark this link for a modern unit that costs less than anything you'll find at a motorcycle store:

http://www.hondatwins.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=14530

Best luck!
 
I took it to Autozone today and they said they can't do a load test on it since it's a small battery, but the best they could do is to trickle charge it and see if it holds a charge. I did the same at home and it read fully charged but then it was drained in the morning, maybe there's something else in the electrical that's draining the battery? Which doesn't make sense though because I've never had this problem and the wiring has been the same since
 
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