Joined
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15 Posts
Hello, all.
Firstly, I would like to thank everybody on this forum. I have turned to this site many times during my restoration and the information found on here has been invaluable!
Now. After years spent drooling over craiglist ads for these older Hondas, last April I finally mustered up the cash and the gumption to go ahead and buy one of my own. I stumbled upon a 1976 CB200T for sale locally (northern NJ), and brought it to my neighbor's garage, where I had hoped to keep it hidden from my mother. Knowing full well that the bike would need work, I was looking forward to the challenge - but never could have anticipated the amount of frustration and time spent restoring the old beaut.
Over the next few months, it seemed as if i was going one step forwards and two steps back, doing the following:
- new starting motor
- new breaker points
- POR15'd the tank,
- repaired the sticky throttle
- new fuel lines/filters
- tappet adjustments (several times due to trial and error)
- timing (several times)
- cleaning and adjusting the carbs (many, many times)
- new gasket set in carbs
- repairing the intake from the airbox
- replacing the tube in the rear tire (twice, after puncturing it in haste)
- repairing the side covers
- repairing oil leaks that i had caused
- several new sets of spark plugs
After all of this work , the bike would still only start and idle intermittently and it seemed i had pushed the bike about the same distance i had ridden it, so i grabbed my multimeter and took to the schematic in the back of the owners manual to look for electrical shorts/breakage.
Lo! the stop switch on the right handlebar was showing weak continuity! a breakthrough! i took the switch apart and cleaned the contacts, put it back together and, VROOM! the bike started right up and idled beautifully! Excited, i grabbed my helmet and drove the bike 20 miles, (more than doubling the mileage i had put on it since purchasing it).
Towards the end of the ride, i started to notice that the horn would not work, the lights were dimming, the blinkers would stick, and after turning off the engine in my backyard, the electric starter was just about dead as a doornail.
Okay - now I had a charging problem on my hands. The next day, I took the owners manual to work and poured over the charging system. Since the horn and the blinkers had shown signs of trouble, and the stop switch had been all sorts of dirty/gummed up, i decided to start dissecting the charging system by cleaning all of the contacts on the left handlebar. So, i took it all apart and removed a lot of filth from the hi-beam switch and the horn button, and while the housing was still dangling - turned the key. (oops) At first, it seemed everything had been solved and my troubles were over, the lights were on nice and bright, the horn was loud, and the blinkers were blinking - when all of the sudden i saw some smoke, heard a sizzle, and smelled the horrible smell of burnt plastic. and then just like that, my heart sank as the bike went dark. Radio silence.
it soon after occured to me that - because the switch housing was not re-attached to the handlebar, the hi-beam switch was not grounded, resulting in some heart-breaking melting of the switch AND the spring that sits inbetween the contact and the locking-ball.
i plan to try and fix the switch by stealing a spring from a ball point pen tomorrow when there is daylight. otherwise, i'm afraid i might have to wait until a new one can come in the mail. hopefully, after that, my troubles will be over. although as my girlfriend has said, "i've heard that many times before."
despite all of the frustration and trouble - i can't wait to start my next project.
Firstly, I would like to thank everybody on this forum. I have turned to this site many times during my restoration and the information found on here has been invaluable!
Now. After years spent drooling over craiglist ads for these older Hondas, last April I finally mustered up the cash and the gumption to go ahead and buy one of my own. I stumbled upon a 1976 CB200T for sale locally (northern NJ), and brought it to my neighbor's garage, where I had hoped to keep it hidden from my mother. Knowing full well that the bike would need work, I was looking forward to the challenge - but never could have anticipated the amount of frustration and time spent restoring the old beaut.
Over the next few months, it seemed as if i was going one step forwards and two steps back, doing the following:
- new starting motor
- new breaker points
- POR15'd the tank,
- repaired the sticky throttle
- new fuel lines/filters
- tappet adjustments (several times due to trial and error)
- timing (several times)
- cleaning and adjusting the carbs (many, many times)
- new gasket set in carbs
- repairing the intake from the airbox
- replacing the tube in the rear tire (twice, after puncturing it in haste)
- repairing the side covers
- repairing oil leaks that i had caused
- several new sets of spark plugs
After all of this work , the bike would still only start and idle intermittently and it seemed i had pushed the bike about the same distance i had ridden it, so i grabbed my multimeter and took to the schematic in the back of the owners manual to look for electrical shorts/breakage.
Lo! the stop switch on the right handlebar was showing weak continuity! a breakthrough! i took the switch apart and cleaned the contacts, put it back together and, VROOM! the bike started right up and idled beautifully! Excited, i grabbed my helmet and drove the bike 20 miles, (more than doubling the mileage i had put on it since purchasing it). Towards the end of the ride, i started to notice that the horn would not work, the lights were dimming, the blinkers would stick, and after turning off the engine in my backyard, the electric starter was just about dead as a doornail.
Okay - now I had a charging problem on my hands. The next day, I took the owners manual to work and poured over the charging system. Since the horn and the blinkers had shown signs of trouble, and the stop switch had been all sorts of dirty/gummed up, i decided to start dissecting the charging system by cleaning all of the contacts on the left handlebar. So, i took it all apart and removed a lot of filth from the hi-beam switch and the horn button, and while the housing was still dangling - turned the key. (oops) At first, it seemed everything had been solved and my troubles were over, the lights were on nice and bright, the horn was loud, and the blinkers were blinking - when all of the sudden i saw some smoke, heard a sizzle, and smelled the horrible smell of burnt plastic. and then just like that, my heart sank as the bike went dark. Radio silence.
it soon after occured to me that - because the switch housing was not re-attached to the handlebar, the hi-beam switch was not grounded, resulting in some heart-breaking melting of the switch AND the spring that sits inbetween the contact and the locking-ball.
i plan to try and fix the switch by stealing a spring from a ball point pen tomorrow when there is daylight. otherwise, i'm afraid i might have to wait until a new one can come in the mail. hopefully, after that, my troubles will be over. although as my girlfriend has said, "i've heard that many times before."
despite all of the frustration and trouble - i can't wait to start my next project.
