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New Dual Sport Project - 1974 XL350 K0
- Thread starter bmcdonau
- Start date
The end is in sight!
Rings on the piston, the piston installed and the cylinder on the block. I couldn't find an angled face on the pistons no matter which way I looked at it. I don't think the rings I have are like the originals.
The clutch cable bracket cleaned up really nice.
The head installed.
All the bolts torqued to specs.
I pushed the cam chain tensioner bar all the way down and secured it with the bolt through the left case. Then I installed the cam chain tensioner--with the tensioner bar all the way down there was no tension on the chain. Then I stuck the cam through the chain and the loose cam sprocket. With all the parts in place I lined up the T mark on the flywheel with the mark on the case, then aligned the cam sprocket marks with the top of the cylinder head and finally placed the cam chain on the sprocket. After that juggling act, I attached the cam sprocket to the ca with the two bolts. Everything looks aligned--the cam lobes are facing down and the marks on the sprocket are horozontial and aligned with the top of the head. I was a little concerned that the cam chain tensioner might have come loose from the tensioner bar because there was no tension on it, but when I released the bolt on the side of the engine, the tensioner took up all the slack in the chain so I guess its working right.
The flywheel is aligned with the case so I should be good to go at this point, but I need to get some reassurance from the XL experts before I continue with the cylinder head cover and ponts installation. I should be ready to go in a couple of days.
BTW, I used these 6 mm hex head bolts instead of the orignal crappy philips screws or hex screws for the side cases. They are used on my '83 CB1100F and I liked the way they looked. They CB1100F only used one size that are on the XL350, but the part number 96001-06032-02 is similar for all sizes. the 032 part means its a 32mm long screw. I just entered 96001-06XXX-02 for the length I needed and they all came up in Honda's system. It will work for any piece of hardware Honda makes because they all use the same system for nuts, bolts, and washers.
Rings on the piston, the piston installed and the cylinder on the block. I couldn't find an angled face on the pistons no matter which way I looked at it. I don't think the rings I have are like the originals.
The clutch cable bracket cleaned up really nice.
The head installed.
All the bolts torqued to specs.
I pushed the cam chain tensioner bar all the way down and secured it with the bolt through the left case. Then I installed the cam chain tensioner--with the tensioner bar all the way down there was no tension on the chain. Then I stuck the cam through the chain and the loose cam sprocket. With all the parts in place I lined up the T mark on the flywheel with the mark on the case, then aligned the cam sprocket marks with the top of the cylinder head and finally placed the cam chain on the sprocket. After that juggling act, I attached the cam sprocket to the ca with the two bolts. Everything looks aligned--the cam lobes are facing down and the marks on the sprocket are horozontial and aligned with the top of the head. I was a little concerned that the cam chain tensioner might have come loose from the tensioner bar because there was no tension on it, but when I released the bolt on the side of the engine, the tensioner took up all the slack in the chain so I guess its working right.
The flywheel is aligned with the case so I should be good to go at this point, but I need to get some reassurance from the XL experts before I continue with the cylinder head cover and ponts installation. I should be ready to go in a couple of days.
BTW, I used these 6 mm hex head bolts instead of the orignal crappy philips screws or hex screws for the side cases. They are used on my '83 CB1100F and I liked the way they looked. They CB1100F only used one size that are on the XL350, but the part number 96001-06032-02 is similar for all sizes. the 032 part means its a 32mm long screw. I just entered 96001-06XXX-02 for the length I needed and they all came up in Honda's system. It will work for any piece of hardware Honda makes because they all use the same system for nuts, bolts, and washers.
Scorch
0
Excellent!
I got a lot done today.
I adjusted the valves. Twice. After doing it the first time I realized I'd used the spec for mm instead of inches. Its pretty easy to do it with the engine on the bench, but I still had to bend the end of the feeler gauge to 90 degrees. I don't think I'd like to do it on the bike very often.
All buttoned up and ready to install the mechanical advnce, the points plate and the points.
First I cleaned all the parts with WD-40.
I had new points cover, hardware and points.
Adjusted and ready to go. I had to call Pat from the XL forum to interpert the manual for me because I wasn't sure what a points slipper was. Its the part that rubs on the end of the camshaft. It was pretty easy to do once I realized there were marks on the points plate and the cylinder head to line it up and marks on the points and end of the camshaft to set the gap.
The plastic coating had come off this cable guide. I used heat shrink and it looks pretty good.
I used cardboard to keep from scratching the frame when I installed the engine. I just picked it up and set it into the frame while Katherine installed the lower front and rear motor mount bolts. Then it was just a matter of installing all the hadware.
All finished. The carb was a **** to mount. I finally settled on attaching the throttle and choke cables before installing it. I also had to remove the air box to get everything to line up.
Once I got everything hooked up the throttle wouldn't return to shut by itself. Then I remembered I put a NOS throttle and kill switch on the bike and didn't lube the inside. Once I did that it worked fine.
Then I noticed it was leaking oil--and I hadn't even put oil in it yet! Upon investigation I found that I hadn't put the oil drain plug back in. The original was so bunged up I ordered a new one and never installed it.
I'll need to repaint and reinstall the exhaust system this week and hopefully I can see if it'll run next weekend.
I still need to relace the wheels. I'm going to fabricate or buy a stand in the next week. While I have the rims apart, I'll repaint the hub. Once the rims are relaced I'll install the new tires and I'll be mostly done. I have NOS speedometer with .1 miles on it and as soon as I find a tach I'll install them.
I'm really looking forward to getting it on the road. It's been a long time since I've riden a dirt bike.
I adjusted the valves. Twice. After doing it the first time I realized I'd used the spec for mm instead of inches. Its pretty easy to do it with the engine on the bench, but I still had to bend the end of the feeler gauge to 90 degrees. I don't think I'd like to do it on the bike very often.
All buttoned up and ready to install the mechanical advnce, the points plate and the points.
First I cleaned all the parts with WD-40.
I had new points cover, hardware and points.
Adjusted and ready to go. I had to call Pat from the XL forum to interpert the manual for me because I wasn't sure what a points slipper was. Its the part that rubs on the end of the camshaft. It was pretty easy to do once I realized there were marks on the points plate and the cylinder head to line it up and marks on the points and end of the camshaft to set the gap.
The plastic coating had come off this cable guide. I used heat shrink and it looks pretty good.
I used cardboard to keep from scratching the frame when I installed the engine. I just picked it up and set it into the frame while Katherine installed the lower front and rear motor mount bolts. Then it was just a matter of installing all the hadware.
All finished. The carb was a **** to mount. I finally settled on attaching the throttle and choke cables before installing it. I also had to remove the air box to get everything to line up.
Once I got everything hooked up the throttle wouldn't return to shut by itself. Then I remembered I put a NOS throttle and kill switch on the bike and didn't lube the inside. Once I did that it worked fine.
Then I noticed it was leaking oil--and I hadn't even put oil in it yet! Upon investigation I found that I hadn't put the oil drain plug back in. The original was so bunged up I ordered a new one and never installed it.
I'll need to repaint and reinstall the exhaust system this week and hopefully I can see if it'll run next weekend.
I still need to relace the wheels. I'm going to fabricate or buy a stand in the next week. While I have the rims apart, I'll repaint the hub. Once the rims are relaced I'll install the new tires and I'll be mostly done. I have NOS speedometer with .1 miles on it and as soon as I find a tach I'll install them.
I'm really looking forward to getting it on the road. It's been a long time since I've riden a dirt bike.
I can hardly wait to see it in front of a FM sign. Way to go.
Duke
0
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- First Name
- Duke
Ditto! I am very impressed with the build so for.
Here's to it starting within 3 kicks or less... 
R
Red Brown
Guest
Your attention to detail is very, very good. I can't wait to see the finished product.
RB
RB
M
Mike in Clear Lake
Guest
Really looking nice, and you are almost done
I got it put together on Friday and filled it with oil and gas and after 15 kicks it didn't even try to start. I waited until dark and sure enough no spark.
I went out this morning expecting a long and tedious process of identifying the problem.
First I took off the gas tank to get access to the electrics. The lights only work when the engine is running so I couldn't use them to see how much of the bike had juice. The neutral light was on so I was sure the main ground was good and I at least had some power.
It wasn't hard to find one problem, I neglected to connect the points to the wiring loom. Look closely at the white wire coming out of the points. Its supposed to connect somewhere! DOH!
The points connect to this connector. I didn't try to clean them because it didn't look like I could make much difference.
But, with a Q-tip and some simple green it came pretty clean.
I put the tank back on and kicked through a couple times to make sure I was on a compression stroke, then gave it a good hard one and it fired right up! I didn't ride it past the end of the driveway, but it pulls hard and no smoke of any kind! I need to make sure I'm getting oil through to the head (which involves loosening a bolt on the head and watching for oil), double check the valves now that its running, and recheck the points one last time.
I'm going to clean them all the connectors and coat them with diaelectric grease to make sure I have a good coneection.
I got these last week for the '83 CB1100F. The old shocks had little damping left and Honda doesn't make the originals any more and I couldn't find any reasonable aftermarket models that were worth anything so I ended up buying these. I can't wait to get them on the bike and give it a run up and down a twisty, bumpy road.
I went out this morning expecting a long and tedious process of identifying the problem.
First I took off the gas tank to get access to the electrics. The lights only work when the engine is running so I couldn't use them to see how much of the bike had juice. The neutral light was on so I was sure the main ground was good and I at least had some power.
It wasn't hard to find one problem, I neglected to connect the points to the wiring loom. Look closely at the white wire coming out of the points. Its supposed to connect somewhere! DOH!
The points connect to this connector. I didn't try to clean them because it didn't look like I could make much difference.
But, with a Q-tip and some simple green it came pretty clean.
I put the tank back on and kicked through a couple times to make sure I was on a compression stroke, then gave it a good hard one and it fired right up! I didn't ride it past the end of the driveway, but it pulls hard and no smoke of any kind! I need to make sure I'm getting oil through to the head (which involves loosening a bolt on the head and watching for oil), double check the valves now that its running, and recheck the points one last time.
I'm going to clean them all the connectors and coat them with diaelectric grease to make sure I have a good coneection.
I got these last week for the '83 CB1100F. The old shocks had little damping left and Honda doesn't make the originals any more and I couldn't find any reasonable aftermarket models that were worth anything so I ended up buying these. I can't wait to get them on the bike and give it a run up and down a twisty, bumpy road.
CT90RR
0
Love the Ohlins shocks!I've been following this thread since the beginning. The bike looked pretty good before...but it looks great now.
Your attention to detail and the quality of your work is inspiring,
Thanks for sharing it with us.
You've really turned this bike inside out and what an outstanding job!! Congrats!!!
This is going to be my final post in this thread--I'll document the wheel relacing in a new thread when I finally get that underway. I appreciate your interest and encouragement as I progressed through the project and hope you enjoyed it as much as I have. I finally have a Honda SL100 in my posession and will be starting that project later this year.
Today started out okay. I rechecked the valves and points gap, then set the timing (it was off a little) and adjusted the carb again and it ran even better. I had a couple small oil leaks that I was able to stop and everything was good except I had no brake lights.
I started by checking both switches and they both had about 6 volts (6 volt system) on the input and sent that voltage to the correct wires on the output when activated. The brake light was very dim and I couldn't figure out what else could be wrong. It looked like something was loading down the circuit when you stepped on the brake. After a hour of checking and head scratching I finally took the bulb out and sure enough it was a 12 volt bulb. I had a spare 6 volt bulb and stuck it and and presto it worked! They sent a 12 volt bulb in a light designed for a six volt bike. Go figure.
With the brake light finally working I decided to shorten the leads to the light. They were about a foot long so I cut them off and reterminated the ends with new bullet connectors but when I was connecting the light back up, one broke off the back of the light socket. No problem. I took the socket off and pried out the contact and was able to get the crimp connector open so I could stick another wire in it when it popped out of my hand and shot across the garage floor. I couldn't find it so I decided to take the socket out of the original light.
I got the socket out and installed it in the new housing and put it back on the bike. Everything connected back up and no brake lights again. What the!!?? I messed around with the connections, measured the voltage and it should have been working. Finally I took the bulb out and one of the contacts was broken off the back of the bulb! I took the spare out of the new light and put it in the old light and now I had no tail light, brake light or turn signals, but the headlight worked!! After taking a few meausrements I figured out the main fuse was blown. I took it out and it was, but I had to go to the auto parts store to get one of the old style fuses. Finally, after three hours of messing around I had brake lights.
The bike has a three coils in the stater. One run the bike, one the headlight and a third charges the battey and runs the tail light and turn signals. The last one is the only one that has a fuse in it. Its all very confusing if you are used to modern electics.
Some shots of the test ride. I put about five miles on it around the neighborhood. I have a plate and insurance for it, but I don't think the tires will pass inspection since they are cracked and dry. I don't want to put the new tires on it until I have the rims relaced though.
Thanks for watching!
Today started out okay. I rechecked the valves and points gap, then set the timing (it was off a little) and adjusted the carb again and it ran even better. I had a couple small oil leaks that I was able to stop and everything was good except I had no brake lights.
I started by checking both switches and they both had about 6 volts (6 volt system) on the input and sent that voltage to the correct wires on the output when activated. The brake light was very dim and I couldn't figure out what else could be wrong. It looked like something was loading down the circuit when you stepped on the brake. After a hour of checking and head scratching I finally took the bulb out and sure enough it was a 12 volt bulb. I had a spare 6 volt bulb and stuck it and and presto it worked! They sent a 12 volt bulb in a light designed for a six volt bike. Go figure.
With the brake light finally working I decided to shorten the leads to the light. They were about a foot long so I cut them off and reterminated the ends with new bullet connectors but when I was connecting the light back up, one broke off the back of the light socket. No problem. I took the socket off and pried out the contact and was able to get the crimp connector open so I could stick another wire in it when it popped out of my hand and shot across the garage floor. I couldn't find it so I decided to take the socket out of the original light.
I got the socket out and installed it in the new housing and put it back on the bike. Everything connected back up and no brake lights again. What the!!?? I messed around with the connections, measured the voltage and it should have been working. Finally I took the bulb out and one of the contacts was broken off the back of the bulb! I took the spare out of the new light and put it in the old light and now I had no tail light, brake light or turn signals, but the headlight worked!! After taking a few meausrements I figured out the main fuse was blown. I took it out and it was, but I had to go to the auto parts store to get one of the old style fuses. Finally, after three hours of messing around I had brake lights.
The bike has a three coils in the stater. One run the bike, one the headlight and a third charges the battey and runs the tail light and turn signals. The last one is the only one that has a fuse in it. Its all very confusing if you are used to modern electics.
Some shots of the test ride. I put about five miles on it around the neighborhood. I have a plate and insurance for it, but I don't think the tires will pass inspection since they are cracked and dry. I don't want to put the new tires on it until I have the rims relaced though.
Thanks for watching!
Duke
0
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- Duke
I envy you sir!! Looking forward to the SL!!
pkiser
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Thanks for allowing us to sit in on this rebuild. Maybe you could bring the bike to a RTE sometime and we could buy you lunch. 
Thanks again, look forward to the SL100.
Maybe you could bring the bike to a RTE sometime and we could buy you lunch. Thanks again, look forward to the SL100.
sooo.....how was the maiden voyage - you only said that you did it, now how it was. 
sooo.....how was the maiden voyage - you only said that you did it, now how it was.
It was great. I haven't ridden a bike smaller than 1000 cc's in the last ten years so it was different. Its geared pretty low. I think it'd top out about 60-65 so it accelerates pretty sharply, but you run out of rpms really fast. The brakes are kinda scary if you're used to modern disc brakes. I'm still finding loose hardware and will only ride it around the neighborhood until I'm sure its going to be reliable. I have an extra set of rims and I'm thinking of putting a more road biased tire on them and getting a smaller rear sprocket so I can cruse at 60 mph on the street.
Thanks for allowing us to sit in on this rebuild.
If we have one near San Antonio I'll bring it. With the current gearing I think it'll cruise about 50 mph so I don't want to take a long road trip on it!
- Joined
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- Tom
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- Smith
In the late 70's I had the same bike 1974 XL350. I went up two teeth on the counter shaft sprocket and it was more comfortable at 60-65 on the road. and would still do OK with minimal clutch abuse in the woods. It also pulled my sidecar for most of its life. Great little bike, Thanks for sharing you rebuild.