Not much work done on the Dream. I've mounted the winkers on the handlebar, installed a handlebar mounted winker switch and fiddled with the horn.
The horn was in good condition, mechanically. Very little rust inside and a good cover. The horn back was badly broken at the "bell" of the horn though, so I bought a non-working donor without a cover, but with a good back. I tore them both down, made new paper gaskets, painted the donor back and mounted it on the original horn. I also replaced the wires to the original horn because they had been cut short.
In tearing down the donor, I found why it hadn't been working. I cleaned out the bug crap, de-rusted all the parts and put it back together. Works fine now. Good to have a spare, just in case.
I'll mount the finished horn when I reinstall the wiring harness. That still needs a connector, which will be easier to install with the harness out.
All-in-all, not much left to do - the wiring harness, a battery box, seat refurb and the winkers need to be finished. I just need to cut gaskets for the back lenses. I'll soon have to screw up the courage to crack the engine case and give attention to the transmission. I know nothing about gears or what to look for.
1964 CA77 Restoration
LOL! Seems that I've slacked off! And I suppose I have a bit, but I can't do too much in my workshop in the cold winter months. I did manage to make some gaskets for the rear flashers. I took a spare fender bracket, put some thin acrylic paint on the surface and pressed it onto the backing of some foamy gasket material. When it was dry, I just cut that pattern out carefully, repeated the procedure and had a few gaskets. They fit very well. I also took the stator out of storage and recovered the wires. The old covering was stiff and broken in many places. Unfortunately, the neutral switch wire was too far gone to reinstall, so I just made a new one. The color is not correct, but it will work just as well. I just have to re-solder the bullet connectors back onto the wires. I did the same for the Superhawk's stator as well.
I got another carb body for the dream, which i'll clean up shortly. This one has a working choke mechanism. Most of my time this spring has been with the Superhawk, which is not running as well as I'd like. I've just cleaned the carbs again and started to reset the timing. Note the paper on the floor in the photo - LM's tuning instructions, which I've clung to like a bible. I'm also presently putting together a auxiliary fuel bottle and stand so that I can run the SH without its gas tank. I know those carbs will need tweaking and draining the gas tank and removing it to get to them is a chore. My tank has the crossover. When the SH is done to my satisfaction, I'll start on the Dream's transmission, which I do not look forward to. I'm hoping the more knowledgable folks on this forum will help me through those dark woods.
Well, time to stop making excuses and get back on track with this engine or this will never get done. I've been dreading what I'll find when looking at the transmission because I know nothing about gears, but the procrastination has to stop.
Determined to make progress, last evening, I cracked the cases and took a look at what I have. Pics below of what I found. I see no obvious damage to the gear teeth - no missing teeth, no cracks, no rounding, no bits of metal. There is a lot of slop and the dog engagement is slender. I'm thinking I will need the offset cotters. I'll post photos of each gear engagement soon. There sometimes seems to be a jam in 3rd and/or 4th when the dogs don't engage, but rather butt against each other. I'm not sure what that's all about. The teeth inside the first gear on the counter shaft are badly damaged. I doubt it would have been possible for the previous owners to kick start the engine as I can only get engagement on a few spots. Also, the pawl spring is there, but does not really push the pawl forward. Looks as if I'll be ordering a new low gear, but I cannot find a NOS pawl yet.
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