HRC_V4

This issue is definitely in the ignition system, I put a spark tester on it as well as my chainsaw tach, the spark tester showed spark get inconsistent as the RPM picked up on the left cylinder as it ran on the right, the bike would not run on the left cylinder other than start and idle, but even then you could see some inconstancy in the spark, the chainsaw tach showed pretty much the same thing, wild fluctuations in RPM while the bike was missing but staying about the same rpm. I even cleaned the old cap and put it on and it acted just the same. I think parts store run for a condenser to see if that helps.

I found my old coil and measured it, only 1.5 ohm between positive and negative, so no good, found a new coil for an agricultural project that measured correct, so I installed it. I also put the spring and button from the old cap in the new cap and that got resistance down to 10 ohms and much more consistent. Put it all back together, fired right up like it always does and she ran great for about 10 minutes... Then back to pop and stumble, so I checked plug wires while hot, they dropped a touch to 4.2k ohms, still not bad, checked the coil to points, 0 resistance, no issue there, coil to distributor cap, about the same, so no issue there. Only thing I can think of now is the condenser/capacitor for the points, I may run to the parts store and pick one up for a 76 VW Bug and put the right connector on it and see if that helps, I am to the point of throwing parts at it...

Now I am really confused... The coil is 2.8 to 3 ohm across the + and - terminals, about 8.5k from either + or - to the cable out to the distributor. The resistance of each plug wire with cap is about 4.5k ohms, and they have 5k ohms printed on the caps. To me that is all close enough to what it should be that I think it is OK, although once in use and hot those may change and cause my issue. Now where I am struggling, on the distributor cap, both wires out to spark plugs are no resistance from out to in on the cap itself, but from the coil (center hole) to the spring loaded button I am getting resistance from 30 ohms to 50+ ohms, and it bounces around, even if I try to hold it in the same position. If I pull the spring and button and out and just check just the cap, there is no resistance, so all the resistance is in the spring and button. So I took my old cap and looked at it, old and dirty, but no resistance to the plug wires, but 1.2k ohms in the center hole to the spring and button. I pull the spring and button out and it is the same, so it seems resistance is in the cap itself, and it is very consistent when pushing the button in on the spring, or it is too low to be picked up based on the resistance in the cap. I will keep playing with it, I might swap spring and buttons and see what that does.

The coil is from MG Cycles, I am betting a 3 ohm, going to check it. I will pull the plug wires and caps and check them first, I am going to smoke a 8 lbs butt today, so I will have some time to work. The jumpy tach makes me think coil, also, when something runs well for about 10 minutes then starts to get flaky I normally think electrical, it heats up and fails. Several local parts places have coils that will work, so if I need to, I will go get one, might order a Bosch Blue for the future, or just not leave the d@mn key on so long while chasing gremlins...

I'm going to pull the seat and tank tomorrow, check coil, wires, plug ends, and plugs, got to be something in there, fuel would turn my plugs black.

It ran good for about 2-3 miles, then the same thing, had to run her about 4k-5k rpm to get home (I live on top of a hill), more than I wanted to run her during break in. Running better at higher rpm seems odd. I really think it is electrical, wonder if I fried my coil or condenser while I was working on my headlight switch. The only wire I have not replaced on the bike is the wire between the coil and points, not sure if this is a resistor wire or a normal wire, if normal, I can build it myself, if resistor, I might be able to get the wire and build it. The tach gets jumpy when it starts to miss, which again I think points to my ignition system. Need to get this solved soon, or she will not make it next week.

Single points system, I'll give her a test ride this morning and see if it is fixed.

Looking for a little help. I took the Ambassador out on Thursday and made it about a mile from the house and she started sputtering and spitting and lost most power, I quickly turned around and barely made it home. The main thing I worked on since the first ride and this one is the headlight switch, so I had the key on quite a bit. Anyway, I pulled the plugs and they both looked fine (slight brown tint), I pulled both float bowls and they were full, maybe a little trash, but looked at both filters and not much in them (the tank valves have filters too). I pulled jets and they were all clean. I rechecked points gap and timing, still ran bad. I pulled the points out and had a little black on the edge, wondering if I burned them slightly with the key on. Would that have that big of an impact? I cleaned the points/coil connections, sanded the points, re-gapped them, re-timed and started it and it sounds a lot better, I will take it for a ride in the morning, but a little nervous about it.

Are people showing up on Thursday? I will be on LC on Thursday, so I can run over in the afternoon.

My penance for being spineless...

I'm a couple hours north of Tellico Planes, just some rain and light wind, more rain coming but I think it will be ok, supposed to blow through by tomorrow evening. The nice part is the cooler weather, high 70's Thursday and Friday, time to do some test rides.

Alfa damaged the reputation of the Busso V6 with a bad head gasket, great design, individual aluminum caps on each cylinder liner to seal compression, then cheap material for oil and coolant sealing, better material and it might have been a different story. What they did get right was maintenance, you can pull the cam shaft out without disturbing the timing belt to adjust the intake valves (bucket over shim), exhaust side was short pushrods with a rocker arm with screw and nut adjusters. The car (GTV6) was too expensive to build and the rumor is that lead to the sale to Fiat. Now for Italian vs German engineering, Alfa has 4 seals on the front of the engine, crank, 2x cam, distributor drive, the crank seal is one size, the other three are the same. Wife's 944, 4 seals, crank is one size, the other three are all different by 1mm, either ID or OD, drives me crazy.

I'm torn on the V100, it is clear to see that it is a clean sheet of paper approach, only keeping the engine layout the same. Engine layout would be more ST1100/1300 than VFR, although the style is slightly more VFR1200. I think the engine layout has always made perfect sense in the air-cooled world, not sure it makes as much sense in the liquid cooled world, but would it be a Guzzi if any other layout was used? I see the Quota style in it that someone mentioned, but the tires make it seem more a Sport or Sport Touring bike. Hard saddle bags might balance the style of the bike out front to rear because it seems bigger/heavier at the front.

GM just recalled every Bolt ever made because of fire risk, so there must be something to electric vehicle fires. I have always heard the US power grid is archaic and inefficient and adding to the strain seems a bad idea. I like vehicles/bikes with character, I am starting to drive the older cars in my fleet more and more, I like to call them analog cars, they have throttle cables, clutches, no abs, no driver aids at all. As far as the demise of the ohv engine, I have two letters for you, LS. Not a Chevy fan, but respect what they have done. Air cooled ohv may be a different story.

I'll try to bring him next year even though his name is Don, he is in to odd bikes too, he had a CB-1 and an NSR250SP, but now TDM and a couple of VFRs. Going back and forth between the Quota and TDM was strange, very different takes on early adventure bikes.

I'm really enjoying the Quota, much easier on my knee than some of my other bikes. My buddy and I did a 1,000 mile trip this Spring, went up to PA, WV and Maryland, we called it the odd ball tour, he was on his Yamaha TDM 850. The joke was my Guzzi advertised its "dual valve" with the decal on the tail, and he had the genesis engine. We are planning another fall trip.

Room reserved, bringing both bikes, and a few extra bits for not having my spine anymore....

I will have to adjust my trip that weekend to work on my Ultimate Italian Automotive sin, but I might be able to do that. My Mother in Law is only about 50 miles from there, so maybe I can can swing by and say high. I can bring the Quota and Ambassador and ride each one. Fuel line are fixed, the new X was leaking from the metal section, so old X and new hoses, did a better job of fitting them this time. I am re-epoxying the light switch, seems that was my issue, but the horn worked but no lights, was able to pull the power wire out and only had epoxy on the very end, I think this will fix it.

The panels on this tank were too far gone, I talked to the painter about maybe painting the panels in gold, but ultimately we decided no panels and no stripes. And now having it all together, the lack of panels really show off the shape of the tank, and I really love the shape. I do have the spare black tank, so I could have it chromed and painted, but without out all the pin stripes, it might look a little out of place. I am thinking about a ride on the Parkway this fall, I think 45mph and no stop signs might be perfect setting for the bike and me. Docc, would that be worth a drive/ride half way across TN?

Thanks, I took her out for a break in ride yesterday, only rode about 8 miles, got a couple of little coughing a 3k rpm, so I turned around and headed back in a lower gear and she was fine. Drained the oil oil and dropped the pan and had a few little flakes of metal, but nothing that concerned me too much, checked the valves, one intake was a little tight, the other was a little loose, both exhaust were fine. Both plugs had a nice color to them. New oil and I will take a longer ride and see how she does. Got the generator working, but the headlight is still flaky, last time it was the switch, worked fine for the ride, but decided not to work again today. I also need to address the fuel line cross over, bought a new one and it leaked at the x, put new clear hose on the old x connection, but having issues with the clamps at the carbs, they keep leaking, I may cut the hoses off the new x and rebuild it with new rubber hose and crimp clamps and just use normal screw clamps on the carb ends. The bike is definitely old school, the sounds, the feel and the riding position. I really enjoyed it, brakes are weak, but I will keep playing with them, the ride is good, the handling is good, engine is smooth and the shifting is agricultural, but solid. For fun rides down back roads and riding for the pure joy of riding, I think this is going to be the perfect bike for me. I am still keeping my eyes out for an old California II, I think it will fill the gap between the Ambassador and the Quota.

I did use an LED headlight which could be part of my problem, but wanted a smaller load on the electric system.

She is about 99% done, runs very good, just a few electrical issues to sort out, generator may or may not working and the headlight is giving me fits, but other than that she is road ready. I pulled a little bit of the 60's/70's out of the style, pin stripes and chrome knee area of the tank, a little more understated.

And the right tank, have a backup tank on there now. And the V11 replacement, I finally got back into riding some last year, Love the Quota, just had to play with the timing some to get it running well below 4k rpm.

OK, be honest, who gave up on me and this Bike? Not done yet, made a lot a progress a few years ago, but got distracted. I will be back on it in a month or two as soon as I get my workshop cleaned out and organized so I can get her in it and finish it. All new paint, powder coated the frame, forks, swing-arm, etc. Rebuilt the engine (new piston and liners, rebuilt heads) did some transmission work, new wiring, a few custom touches here and there. A few issues I need to work out, rear wheel is dragging on something, I put new bearings in and shimmed them, I think I just need to shim the wheel, have the shims, just need to play with it. Bevel gear box is leaking at the input, I think I might have forgotten the o-ring, have new o-rings to put in if that is the case. I had some transfer on the inside of the left fork, I need to pull it apart and see if I can get rid of the transfer material, right now the fork is locked up, have a spare set of forks, but would need to powder coat the lower if I do replace it. Hoping to to be riding her this spring.