After some searching, I finally located an engine for my CL175. I found it at a salvage yard and it had been sitting out for at least over a year from what I gather from the guy that runs the place. What I wanted to know was how should I go about doing a quick inspection of the engine (ie.. making sure it's not locked up) or anything previous buyers would advise. Electrical is mostly there, but I can see that things have been disconnected (harness going to the handlebar controls), so I don't think getting it to run is a possibility at this point.
Quick inspection of a "new" used engine
- Thread starter Krappy
- Start date
raptormeat
Been Around the Block
make sure all 4 exhaust studs are there!! then kick it over! if it doesnt kick throw some oil/seafoam in it and come back in a couple days and try again.
carnivorous chicken
Over 1,000 Posts
Compression test is easy. What do the plugs look like? Oil fouled? How are the gaskets and seals? Leaking everywhere? Broken cooling fins? Stripped bolts? Are the carb and exhaust ports covered or has dust been blowing in there for ages? Are you looking to tear down and rebuil or bolt on and go?
carnivorous chicken said:
I'm looking for something that is definitely salvageable. I'm prepared financially and time-wise to do a rebuild, but this being the my first, I'd like it not to be a total bomb to start off with. The guy is asking $350 (down from 4) for the whole bike and I convinced him to throw in a CB175 tank. There's a lot of rust on the frame, rims, chain, stand, fork, but the motor casing looks decent, the carbs look alright from the outside and the scrambler pipes look super clean w/ VERY minimal surface rust.
It's missing the kick starter lever, but I wanted to see if we could rig up another one and then attempt to run through the gears. Also, my plan was to see if he could run a compression test prior to me hauling it home. Definitely feel like this is a gamble, but wanted to see if there were any tricks that could spot a total clunker.
carnivorous chicken
Over 1,000 Posts
Compression is gonna be important for both the bolt in and go or the rebuild. Bad compression means valve job or rings and possible rebore. It also means it'll run like shit or not at all. Everybody always says you can borrow the tool from a auto parts store, which I guess is true, or you can just shell out $30 and get your own.
$350 isn't bad -- but you'll notice folks have got 175s for even cheaper (I just got one for $140, with 4k og. miles, spark, and great compression. Rebuilt the carbs, new plugs, new oil, and the thing fired up first kick). That being said, good pipes and a nice tank are close to the price of admission. You'll find out what shape the carbs are in when you open 'em up. Dunno why you need a kickstarter to run through the gears, though. And does it have a title? That'll add to the cost, but can be easier in some states than others.
As far as the gamble, I try to weigh what I could part stuff out for if it's a clunker vs. what it costs. If they're close, it's not much of a gamble. Either option requires some work.
$350 isn't bad -- but you'll notice folks have got 175s for even cheaper (I just got one for $140, with 4k og. miles, spark, and great compression. Rebuilt the carbs, new plugs, new oil, and the thing fired up first kick). That being said, good pipes and a nice tank are close to the price of admission. You'll find out what shape the carbs are in when you open 'em up. Dunno why you need a kickstarter to run through the gears, though. And does it have a title? That'll add to the cost, but can be easier in some states than others.
As far as the gamble, I try to weigh what I could part stuff out for if it's a clunker vs. what it costs. If they're close, it's not much of a gamble. Either option requires some work.