New member form S.E. Kansas

[tommytailspin]

i'm new here. i couldn't see how to posting it as a reply so here goes. in 1972 i didn't have anything to ride on the street so i bought a run out, banged up badly 66 305 scrambler. i had had a cl72 earlier and raced motocross with a cl77 back in the day. anyway i worked for my dad in an automotive parts store and machine shop at the time. i don't think i have any before pics but i will be looking for them to post. i bored engine, installed race cams, ground valves and installed gear collets in transmission. trans was in good shape. i repainted frame and the tank and aircleaner covers with imron paint it was new then. i sent the pipes, engine side covers ,pionts cover to browns plating for show chrome. replaced oem fenders with aftermarket chrome ones. i wanted it to be slick. also turned brake drums, rivited new linnings on and arc ground them to new drum diameters. new wheel bearings front and rear and polished all remaining aluminum pieces, wheel hubs ect. anyway i got it running and rode it on street. final drive ratio was 2.666 to 1 with a 15 tooth countershaft and 40 tooth rear. would have been good for hare scrambles, motocross and hill climbing but i really wanted road gears. anyway it ran well so i was riding it with the short gears. i rode it on street for about a month. then i bought a bmw r60/5 so the scrambler went back on the shelf. later got into harley touring bikes. have two of em now. in 2000 i moved it from upstairs at the old store and shop bilding to my home shop where it sat till 2010. tank was rusted up, throttle valves had frozen in carb bores and pistons were frozen in cylinders. i got all that loose and tuned the carbs and got it running again. i was still unhappy with the short gearing and had a suzukie 800 boulavard i still have so it kinda sat in the corner till this summer. i've got two harley ultra limiteds, a 14 and a 17 which are my main riders. still ride the boulavard some too. so this summer i decided to get the ole scrambler running again after 51 years since original restoration. it cleaned up and still looked great. i had a really tough time with the carburetors. the throttle valves were not quite frozen in carb bores but they were very tight. either they had expanded over the years or the carb bores had shrunk. i didn't think i could get new ones or new carbs either so i was determined to get these back working ok. i sanded down the t valves by hand with fine wet or dry, 320, for hours and hours getting them to fit better. got them to where they would drop in and go to the stops freely. phew. i had them on and off a few times hitting the high spots again and then the engine would race on right cylinder. i need a float. a friend had sent me a box of small parts from his superhawk days and their were a couple of floats in it. one worked in the right side which was running bowl dry and racing lean cyl. i fought it on and off all summer many issues that needed addressing since i did the engine and air frame. it hurt my right foot to shift. fixed that with the clocking of actuator and torch tweeking shifter lever. stoplite switch and mounting. the clutch lever pull was horendous. i found out how to clock actuator in this forum and that was much much better. i had to torch tweek shifter lever to get it at best mechanical advantage. rear brake pedal also to i could get my foot on peg. a friend of mine back in '72 had turned speedometer back to zero for me and when i got it running it grenaded on the first ride and trashed the cable. i found a used speedo on ebay and bought it and a cable kit. the cable kit didn't have key drive for the drive on the front wheel. i fabbed one up. had old casing but didn't know how long cable need to be so i had some dry fitting to do. it worked great for the first couple of rides but went to bouncing badly shortly after. i ordered a new cable and casing. speedo still runs up smoothly turning it with a drill motor. so hopefully it's ok. i'm thinking i may have gotten cable cut too short for captured length. we'll see. i had ordered a 32 tooth rear sprocket and 16 tooth on countershaft to get final drive ratio at 2 to 1. same as superhawk. that worked out perfectlyl. i wanted it geared for street and road. when i got the new sprockets on the clutch started slipping i had put quaker state 10w40 high mileage oil in it this summer, susposedly no friction modifyers in it. as recommended on this forum i but a jug of shell rotella t4 15/50 and drained out the quaker state and put in the rotella. clutch slip dissappeared. after 51 years the bike is a pleasure rather than a chore to ride. engine is running crisp and i can run it down the road at 70 mph, i'm gussing, without overreving it and throttle left. much nicer around town also, not grabbing gears all the time cause it's geared too low. after 51 years it's 5x5 and feels comphy cept for one squawk the speedo. new cable and casing on way hope that'll do it. thanks for listening everyone. takes some typing to cover 51 years. it's nice to be a new member here. i'll post photos when if figgure out how to shrink em down for attchment on this forum.jpg

[Michael Stoic]

Welcome to the forum, Tommy!

It will take me a few readings to get through all the different bikes and their stories, but I like the richness and the mix!

The photos - sorry about any trouble - the forum software (and some add on features) are supposed to resize the photos automatically, and in most cases it does so without any additional work on your side. Try to save the large photo in a different format (like .jpg instead of .bmp or something else to something else), just to see if the forum software will do its own resizing. It may, or may not work. Give it a try...

--
Michael

PS I split your post off into its own "Topic"

[tommytailspin]

ok michael. i'm not too sure on photos but will try and get back to you. thank you ever so much for the reply. i took the scrambler for a long ride today. about 2 hrs. some miles at full throttle. clutch slipping is back when really loading it up. i will take em out and mic, clean and burnish steel plates. if they check out ok i'll put em back in with new barnett springs. i had the engine racing when returning to idle after prolonged full throttle run. anyone experience this before? i suppose maybe float levels running low or after using more fuel at full throttle? it stopped racing when i blipped throttle and ran fine. maybe bowl filling back up by then? just wondered if any of y'all have experienced this? again thanks for listening. i'm going to enjoy this site. i had no idea there were so many guys still loving the 305 type 1 ignition. i've still got some work to do but i'm getting closer. thanks again. i look forward to learning from y'all and sharing our joy from riding these incredable old machines.

[Michael Stoic]

Tommy,

I am sure someone will recognize the fuel symptoms you're describing. ...and sounds to me like you already have a bit of knowledge in this field! :)

The best way to go on technical and diagnostics stuff is to post in the closest technical section of the forum (fuel, ignition, etc.) with one or two issues per thread. Easier to follow and comment on.

[deuce_7]

... i had the engine racing when returning to idle after prolonged full throttle run. anyone experience this before? i suppose maybe float levels running low or after using more fuel at full throttle? it stopped racing when i blipped throttle and ran fine. maybe bowl filling back up by then? just wondered if any of y'all have experienced this?

What's likely happening is that the carburetor throttle slides are not dropping to the bottom of the bore when twist throttle is released and engine is hot.

Things to check:
- Avoid overtightening of carburetor mounting nuts. Can distort carb body, causing throttle slides to bind.
- Check routing of throttle cables.
- Lube throttle cables.
- Adjust cable free-play at throttle grip. Should be 1/8 in.
- Adjust throttle spring tension (screw and lock nut on bottom of twist throttle housing).

Might want to move this discussion to the "Carburation - Fuel" section of the Technical Forum.

[tommytailspin]

thank you duece-7. i think you nailed it. i had the carb mounting nuts pretty much too tight im pretty sure. the only time that happened was after running it wide open for probably 12 miles. the heat and tight mounting over torqued nuts was probably the cause. i'll post back to let y'all know. i have the clutch basket off right now. it was slipping again so i cleaned up plates and burnished them. it looks pretty ok and it is a five plate cush set up so the only thing i'm replacing is the springs. new barnetts are on the way. again thank you ever so much for the info. there is a wealth of knowledge on this site about the ole 305's. this one has been on the back burner since i restored it in 72. for sure, i'm loving and appreciating this site! are y'all using shell rotella t4? it's been sitting for almost all of 51 years and the oil gets really dirty very quick. so i'd like to use the rotella, it's much less expensive than mc specific oil.

[tommytailspin]

thanks michael, i get the message about posting questions in the apporopreate area. learning to navigate forum. you guys are good people. oh, i tried to post a photo, jpg, it wouldn't accept it. said it was too big.