[diesel450]

Okay,

So I got my 200 running. top end was honed and reassembled with nearly new pistons and new rings. Motor fired and ran great all through the jetting and tuning process with no problems. finally got her out for the shakedown ride and things started fine. still needs a little carb tweaking but the motor ran great for about 10 miles then after accelerating from a light the motor stalled. there was a lot of smoke coming from the breather tube. exhaust not smoking at all. I was right down the street from a buddy's shop so I stopped there we started it again no issue. tweaked the carbs a bit and off I went. I went about another 5 miles and it was again running great, then all of a sudden it just quit. the bike didn't lock but the motor just stopped running at about 30 mph. No electrical issue apparent. when I tried to restart it the kicker felt like it was stuck in molasses, no weird noises nothing crunchy or metallic. just felt like a big bucket of goop with nuts and bolts in it. I pushed it back to the shop. (thank god its a 200.) when I got back about 10 minutes later and tried kicking it it was locked. I could shift through the gears but the top was stuck. I put it in gear and rolled it back forth a few times and it came free. I let it sit and then kicked it and it started like nothing was ever wrong. What gives? I had the bores and pistons measured and it all was supposed to be good, does this sound like bad pistons/rings or simple overheating or what? forgive my inexperience please. could use a hand here.

 

[Gunny]

how is your cam chain tension?

 

[66Sprint]

Check to make sure there's no fuel in the oil......This thins it and can give the "soft" mushy kick-through AND the smoking/stalling problems...

 

[diesel450]

Yeah, I'll check the oil for sure. another guy suggested checking cam chain etc. he said it sounded less like piston seizure and more like something else "got tight" possibly cam bearings or rocker arm. Makes sense that you'd want to readjust the cam chain once the engine was fully warmed up. he also said that the mushy/chunky kicker might be a slipping clutch which seems to make sense. Said that over tightening clutch when rebuilding was a pretty common mistake. so I'll make a bunch of adjustments and see what happens. I was at first worried about seized pistons but after sleeping on it and taking this info in it doesn't make the most sense, I guess.

he mentioned pulling the tappet covers and starting the motor to check to be sure that oil is getting up top. If I have a problem there what is the solution?

 

[diesel450]

Okay, I dug into the bike today, oil good, plugs looked fine, nice even tan color to them. I adjusted the cam chain, there may have been a slight problem there as the lock nut was stuck a bit so it may have been mal-adjusted. I did PJ's QD oil test and now have a dirty shop floor. :roll: Though it didn't spit oil out the intake side just the exhaust side. rocker arms looked well oiled though. Bike started right up and ran fine. after one stall while it was still cold I did notice that sticky kicker a couple times. I backed the clutch adjustment off a couple turns and haven't noticed it since. I did not road test it yet but will get to that tomorrow.

 

[diesel450]

Turns out the cam shaft on the points end wasn't getting lubed and melted down. in process of fixing that.

 

[HerrDeacon]

Turns out the cam shaft on the points end wasn't getting lubed and melted down. in process of fixing that.

Ouch, that sucks. Best of luck getting it straightened away.

 

[tbpmusic]

Turns out the cam shaft on the points end wasn't getting lubed and melted down. in process of fixing that.

You have to watch the gasket on the (rider's) right side cam cover. The oil for the left side goes through a small hole in the right cover, then all the way through the cam to the left side.
If that hole gets obstructed, either by an ill-fitting gasket or maybe gasket sealer, this is what usually happens.
Been there, done that - same thing happened on my CB200, due to a right cam cover gasket that had the little hole slightly misaligned.
The CB200 engines are simple enough to work on, but they're a GIANT PIB to get in and out of the frame, worse than a 175 for some reason.
It helps to remove the oil drain bolt and the electric starter when you're wrestling them in or out of the frame..........

 

[diesel450]

Yeah, I've had this motor in and out a few times now. I've got it down to a 20 minute science.

I saw your posts on another 200 thread here where the guy had the same problem. I will be very careful with the gasket this time.

 

[takereasy]

How does your camshaft look post-meltdown? Here's a photo of my messed up one on the left, and the replacement I used on the right. When the aluminum cam bearing melted it plugged the oil hole on the camshaft and also somehow (?!?) dug another groove in the camshaft. Also, the cam faces look discolored/burnt. A couple rocker arms were the same way so I replaced those, too.

The right camshaft isn't ideal either, but it's the best I could find.

Good luck!! Your 200 is a real looker, just reread the build thread. Hope you get it back on the road soon!

(and thanks again to Bill for warning me about the right side gasket issue!)

 

[diesel450]

I've got a couple of blurry cell pics of the damage

here's what I saw when I first pulled the points housing off

It was worse than I thought. Fucking gremlins...

I'm actually almost glad all this happened as I have learned a lot about these motors that would have gone unnoticed otherwise. Amazing that those little holes and centrifugal force are enough to lube that surface. somebody should put out a needle bearing conversion kit.