CM 185T - The Learning Curve

It's been a while on this little guy. Now that the 550 has been running (aside from a recent discovery), we are going to put a little bit of time in to this thing.

Got a new harness as I didn't want to continue to trace the mess of wires currently on the bike down. Going to try and start it soon and see if it'll kick over at all.

C28C574D-347E-4070-972A-AEF2E46AC92B-5432-000002B7D672417D.jpg


This one ties in nicely so far. Hoping not to have to fuss with it too much.
 
I only had a few hours to spare yesterday so instead of tearing in to the problem with my CB550, I decided to plug up the loom on this little guy. I switch out the old plugs with the new ones I had purchased and that wifey had already put on the old loom. Took about 30 minutes to get all new connectors on there. Then I started to plug everything in. For the most part, everything went off with out a hitch. The only major question I have is about a blue and white wire that the diagram says connects to the starter button.

Here is the diagram and the code is "L/W"

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I have a Black and Red/Yellow attached to a two pole starter button. The L/W is said to tie in to the high beam switch on the left side control switch. Any guess as to what this is?

After all that, we tried to fire it up. Sure enough, it cranked!!! No fire though. I traced it down and it seems like the coil is shot. I'm going to test it again today and then see what my options for a new spark set up would be.

Here's the attempt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be7SG3eqBDk
 
Anyone have experience with these 6V systems? I was working with a multimeter this weekend briefly and couldnt get power to the coil wires (b/w and blue) I could get power to black, y/r and the red wires but not to the coils.

Trying to test the coil and don't know if I'm missing something here...
 
Hi

With a 6v system, you need to make sure all electrical connections are clean including all earths sanded over to make sure that you don't lose any amps with resistance. Because you have so little to work with in the first place. Converting to 12v would make this bike more reliable.

Regards
 
I've been considering that. I am getting the thing to crank over though, so I know there is power in there somewhere.

I have to read up on converting to a 12V system. I have a CB100 that would probable need the same treatment.
 
Purchased a new coil that came in yesterday. I put it on the bike and tried to get spark with a limited amount of work time. I was unsuccessful but I need to play with it more.

The engine is not cranking over like it was before, though. I have to check the wiring again but I seem to be getting power to all the right places. When I push the starter button, I get 6 volts at both black and y/r. Could the starter itself be bad? How would you test it with only one wire coming out of it...?
 
Spent a few minutes testing today. Heres where im at:

- Testing the wires coming out of the ign switch, red is hot and blk is hot with the switch on. That is working properly.

- On the starter solenoid, with positive on the multimeter on the positive of the battery, I have 5.7v coming from the starter wire side of the solenoid as well as 5.7v at where the wire meets the starter. I get no voltage drop when I push the starter button and the black lead is touching the positive terminal on the solenoid (this is what I think the problem is)

- With the ign switch on, y/r wire gets 5.7v when the start switch is pushed in.

- The resistance between the two wires on the solenoid is ~1.1/1.2.

- Lastly, with a lead attached to the positive side of the solenoid, when I touch the other side of that lead to the starter wire, I get a minimal spark but the starter motor doesn't jump.

I think either the solenoid is bad (but can't find readings I need to verify this) or the starter motor needs to be rebuilt. Other than that, the only thing i can think of is the neutral switch. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Take a jumper cable from the pos battery terminal to the starter motor, bypassing the solenoid. If it turns over, then it's likely the solenoid.
 
shamus said:
Take a jumper cable from the pos battery terminal to the starter motor, bypassing the solenoid. If it turns over, then it's likely the solenoid.
Click to expand...

+ 1 you can do this with a set of booster cables to check it out.
 
Hooked up the positive lead from the battery to the starter and got it to jump twice then it stopped... I thought it might have been a dead battery (even though it read 5.7v last night) so I tapped it to the battery on my CB550 and got nothing. The battery from the 550 is good b/c it started that bike immediately afterwards.

I can def say that the starter is bum, ya? Can the solenoid still be an issue?
 
Mmmm A 6 v battery not under load should read >6V should it not? 5.7v seems weak. Do you have a 6v charger? Hook that to the battery then do the test again with it on the battery to to boost it some and see before you are sure it's the starter. I don't know also if a 6v starter will turn with 12V? Someone else may be able to answer that.
 
From what I'm reading, you can jump a 6 w/ a 12v. I think the starter is kaput.
 
I got a starter on the way. Hopefully it's here today or tomorrow and I can see if the thing will start. Really, as long as it puts a bit, I'm good with that to move on to working on the body.
 
Got some time in last night after the starter came in. The bike still didn't kick over but I kinda didnt expect it to. I think the start solenoid is eff'd. I got power but didnt get anything to kick over... maybe the battery is dead, like you said, Mari. I got a 6v tender that I will hook up to it. At this point, I'm thinking of getting it off the stand and trying to kick it over and seeing if it will start that way...

It felt good to get dirty like this again. I pulled the exhaust off in order to remove the starter... MAN those things are HUGE!!!!
 
I know the corssover on the 400 was like 25 lbs of cast crap. I replaced it with 2 foot sections of exhaust pipe, made a huge difference in weight. Try the new starter with a battery straight to the terminal or use a screw driver to short the solinoid and see if it turns after you have charged the battery. If is still won't turn over you may have an internal issue. does the motor turn by the kick start or in gear with the wheel?
 
Worked on this beast for a while today. As it stands, I have it turning over with the starter motor and I am getting power to each side of the coils but I'm not getting spark coming from the coil. I have power to the points but the gap is not sparking either. I'm at a loss as to where to look for this issue. Anyone have and insight?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
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