Motorcycle training course completed!

Passed the written and practical tests, learned a lot about controlling the bike, now I need to get out there and practice. I would recommend a course to anybody thinking of starting out to get the fundamentals of riding. Out of a class of twelve, eight passed. Instructors were very helpful, thanks Steve & Dean.

Now I've got to go to the DMV to sort out all the paper work.

Turn signals working

Got the replacement bulbs for the turn signals in walmart today, worked like a charm. That's all the electrics working. Have the riders training this weekend, that will kick off the paperwork section of the project.

Niall

Electrical work

Got the brake light switch installed and and wired up, works great.

Also managed to figure out the turn signal problem. It is the bulbs, all the bulbs work but there is some mismatch on the current being drawn. I swapped the bulbs from the right hand side to the left hand side an vice versa and the problem followed the bulbs. Just need to pick up some new bulbs, glad it wasn't the relay.

Weather's getting good.

I got a few items marked off the to do list. I'm booked up for the motorcycle training course at the end of Feb. Once that is done I can get my license, title & register the bike. Will also have to get it inspected. Got my insurance sorted out $10/month, not bad. Ordered a helmet, jacket and gloves (need all these for the course), should arrive tomorrow.
Still waiting on the front brake light switch, I figured out where I need to wire it in, should be straight forward.

 Had another go at trying to figure out the turn signal issue, right side works fine, left side is slow to start blinking and then the gap between blinks is a little to long. Fixed a dodgy ground connection in the rear left, but that was not it, all the other ground connection seem good, pulled the switch on the handle bars apart, cleaned the contacts and tested, not that either. This leaves the relay, which the way its wired up doesn't make much sense as the right side works fine. Would like to eliminate the relay as the problem but I don't have a working one to compare with. the only other issue is the power connections but as all the lights light up it shouldn't be that. Back to the relay.

73F/23C on Friday, would be great to take a spin, must have patients.

 This is the petcock and new fuel lines.

My first Sunday ride

Ok, just a few more laps in front of the house. Now that the bike is running, I'm going to take the advice of the online course I'm reading, run her for a couple of hundred miles before ripping anything apart, some problems will just go away and other will appear, fix it then. Before I run any miles I've got to get myself sorted.

To Do: Get title & registration sorted and get my license sorted (which includes a training course which makes getting the license easier). Also, sort out some insurance.


In the meantime some cleaning a polishing is on the cards. I took some pics and will post them.

Is she a runner??

After my reenactment of the gulf oil spill, I decided to take the petcock (fuel switch, see i am learning) off the tank as it had been leaking. I took it apart and the reserve line was blocked, got that clear and figured out what all the different ports are for. whatever way the fuel lines where connected up before wasn't going to work, so off to the shop to buy my first parts, fuel line. I brought some with me for comparison and the guy kept bringing me scraps to see which was closest to what I was looking for, I expected them to have a reel of the stuff but all he had was a scrap, bought it anyway, $2 and it just worked out. Will have to find a better shop.
Spent the night cleaning the petcock and realigning its seals and routing the new fuel line, including the right to left connector under the frame.
Next day added some fuel, not a a lot, to check that everything was sealed up, still a tiny leak from the petcock, might be missing a seal.
Added more gas (by the way picked up a fire extinguisher, socket set and spanners from costco), everything still looking good. Moment of truth, was she worth the $$$, electric start, pused the button, starter turned over no engine, kill switch was set to off, try again with it on, a few splutteres, a couple of small back fires and a little twist of the trottle engine is alive, then cuts out. Push button again she fires up and idles sweetly. success.
Took her out for a few circles in front of the house, clutch works, brakes work and a few more little back fires - i'm thinking it just needs a good run. My son Ronan (3 years old) said "Daddy your a genius".

Turn signals

With the tank off, i got a good look at the wiring and tried to figure out the turn signal problem. Al the wiring looks good, relay seems to be fine, rear left had the ground wire inside the glass kind of botched together, quickly tried to sort this out, signal ran a little better, I'm thinking it's still not grounded properly.

first disaster!!

Got excited with the electrics working, so I decided to throw some gas in her and see if she would turn over.

Drip  Drip  Drip

Not all the fuel lines were hooked up..... I quickly figured how remove the tank but not before a decent amount of gas had poured all over  my garage floor.


I also removed the crazy sissy bar. Looks a lot better now.

Here she is. 1971 HONDA CB350. It's in pretty good condition cosmetically. I have bought a new battery, charged it up and dropped it in. Most of the electrics seem to operate, left side indicators are running a little bit strange (sometimes they stay on and some times they blink really slow). Headlight works, horn works( my 5month old daughter laughs at the sound of it) and the brake light works for the foot brake.