Right then, I’ve had another tinker today and here’s where things stand right now.
I’m not going to start it with no exhaust headers fitted so that’s on hold until I’ve got some but there are plenty of other little things to mess with and some of them have been a definite two steps forward kind of thing but I’m now happy that I’ve got the following things about as near to working properly as my limited talents can take me;
I thought I’d have to wait for a new battery but the old one has got enough life in it for testing purposes so that was a bit of a bonus. Because I’ve been messing about with the lights I keep topping the charge up and I’ll leave it permanently on an Optimate until it’s running but it’ll serve a purpose for now.
The rear brake light switch had been a pain in the arse because it kept sticking on so I’ve taken it off, bunged a small washer under the plunger then bent the brackets so it sits centrally under the pressure plate on the brake pedal and it now works perfectly.
I’ve checked and tweaked the valve clearances so I’m now happy they’re right and I’ve put some sealant on the gaskets for the covers and screwed them down.
I’ve managed to get the headlight rim on but if I’m honest with myself it’s not right so I’m going to buy a new shell and rim rather than leave it looking crap.
I wasn’t convinced I’d fitted the Pazon ignition system because when I previously tried to start it I had a miserable failure which couldn’t only be blamed on the carbs so I removed all the self amalgamating tape I’d used to keep the damp out and sure enough one of the connections had pulled apart so after tracing the wires back so make sure I’d not made any mistakes I put a new connector where the dodgy one previously resided and that should now be ok.
While I’d got my head around messing with the ignition I checked the static setting and adjusted that a bit, kicked the bike over a load of times then checked again and it seems ok.
Annoying little issues left to resolve are the headlight doesn’t dip though that may be that it doesn’t go onto main beam, I don’t know but it doesn’t change when I try all the switches. Time to mess about with the multimeter again but it’s not the bulb because I’ve got two new ones and the problem is still there.
I’ve got a new horn to fit but there’s no way it’s going under the battery tray where the Haynes book says they were originally fitted so it’s going to go just in front of the right hand side cover where I’ve seen others fitted in photos. I’ll need to extend the wiring because there’s only a short piece sticking out of the new harness that wouldn’t reach anywhere unless I shoved the horn under the tank and jumped on it until I was down.
I need a a new speedo because when I bought the bike it had a brand new kph speedo so I found someone who said he could convert it to mph and put it in the post. Apparently it didn’t arrive so someone else signed for a kph speedo they didn’t want
The problem I’m now facing is that I can’t find a new mph speedo without changing to an electronic one which may well be better but it’s not really what I want.
Over the last two years I’ve managed to convert the bike to having a wet sump. I need to drain that and top up the tank where the oil is supposed to live but that’s a common issue which can be resolved by fitting a valve if you’re sure you’ll remember to turn it back to allow oil to flow from the tank when you start it.