New (to me) 91 in need of serious help

Roger,

There is a big difference between someone that can ride, and a mechanic.
Just like some people can play the guitar very well, but are lousy guitar teachers.

I am sure the folks at the garage know that until a diagnosis is made, the amount of time for the repair is unknown.

 

Johnny B. Good

 

It is funny that you mention Johnny B Good because i am studying and practicing that song this week!

Many people that teach that song on the internet fail to mention some very important info about that song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEq62iQo0eU

 

There's a film out where Chuck is telling Keith Richard he ain't playing his music right.. Keith is very patient.

Once in awhile Chuck would cut loose on guitar and was a monster.

I was always better at ringing bells than guitar..

 

If your itching to get the bike done, look into aengine out of a wrecked one....might get you up and running. Then take your time with the rebuild...

 

It's about time somebody pointed out that aluminum is not a conductor.

 

Yep. Those rubber engine mounts are crappy conductors too. I'm really glad those pads where I get gas are concrete too. Asphalt wouldn't be good at all. Dirt might be good. The worst would be Teflon.

IMO what we can perhaps say is that the guy with the funny voice is up and running and others are not, technical skills aside.


There's always shit at horse tracks.. Some is the real thing and some is BS from the tout sheet.

 

Aluminum will conduct electricity like most metals but it is not very good.
There was a time when they wired houses with aluminum wires but many houses burned down when the wires got hot from trying to conduct through corrosion or the wire broke off from being bent at the back of the box and work hardened.
They had to rewire many houses. Cost millions.

By the way - never buy a distributor cap made with aluminum contacts.
They get that white aluminum chloride powder (corrosion) inside and will not work very well. Aluminum cap contacts and copper plug wires next to each other=high corrosion potential),Always buy and insist on copper contacts.

Some day all the houses will reclaim copper wire from houses and sell it.

If you see that white powder on your aluminum engine, spray it with WD40.
And you will see it (corrosion) on alternator cases on cars too.
Aluminum case ,copper windings bad combo. Better to have a steel case and copper windings like it used to be.

If you have a ground going to your motorcycle engine put the copper fitting on a steel bolt and a plastic washer between the aluminum engine and the copper fitting.

You should have a ground going from battery ground to engine, and a ground from battery ground to motorcycle frame for safety.

 

Found this on the all knowing internet,

Copper-Versus-Aluminum Conductors

On another note, my first house was wired with aluminum wire and I tell ya, you ain't see anybody so happy to sell a house as I was when she finally closed.

And just to keep the ball rolling on this thread, I believe that when we pick through the wisdom offered so far, and if I may be so bold as to offer a summary, you need to determine if the engine cranking issue is due to internal engine friction from corroded engine internals or inadequate cranking torque caused by a shitty starter or other electrical issues.

Pull the plugs and inspect the cylinder walls. If the walls are visibly corroded, full stop and start planning the overhaul or engine replacement. It sounds like this engine was exposed to some elements which have caused severe corrosion as evidenced by the seized carbs. If the cylinders look ok, squirt some oil in there and turn it over a bunch of times by hand. It should turn over easy with the plugs out. If it is still tough to turn over by hand you have something else causing trouble inside. Pull the cam covers and the clutch cover to see if you can find to problem without a full tear down. I wouldn't be surprised if the clutch was dragging a whole bunch. After this you will need to open her right up.

Anyway, keep digging and let us know what you see.

Hang in there!

 

Gentlemen, we have signs of life. Removed plugs, added Mystery Oil, rocked in 5th, cranked it manually - still seemed a little hard. Thought, "Meh, why not" and pressed the starter button. I'm now covered in mystery oil and couldn't care less. Will report back once things are assembled again.

EDIT: decided that there was no need to rush and that it would be best to let the oil sit for a few days anyway. Still stoked!

 

The Rogers mystery!!! SOLVED!!! LOL...LOL...
Aren't you glad you stuck with it?

The #2 post on this thread by adamjenkins, Mystery oil first because it sat for 5 YEARS!!

 

Okay, well now I'm sad. Screwed the spark plugs back in and the bike returned to its traditional acts-like-it-has-a-dead-battery really-hard-to-crank-over form. So, now what? Am I stuck doing the engine rebuild now?

 

Tink, I'm at a loss. Unless the magical eBay starter is bad (not out of the question)...

Here's the deal, I just tried activating the starter from an external battery with jumper cables. The battery in my running Ford Ranger was connected to jump leads (both terminals) and the negative terminal clamped to the bikes frame just aft of the fuel tank where there is a little vent (bare aluminium here). I momentarily touched the positive lead directly to the starter's post (I had previously removed the starter wire from the motor) and all I got was some sparking. No cranking action occurred. What are the possibilities based on this information? Another bad starter?