This is something of a cautionary tale about 40+ year old wiring and electrical components:
I finally got my '79 running yesterday but it wasn't without a struggle. In my old age I have decided that I like my bikes to be mostly stock with the exception of maybe a seat or handlebar change. That way I can look at the repair manual and (hopefully) figure out what the issue is. I have built many a chopper in my time and can make wiring harnesses with little difficulty, but there is something to be said about being able to look at a stock wiring diagram when troubleshooting electrical issues. This is especially true when you work on a bike that was rewired by someone else.
My first baffling problem was I couldn't get the turn signals to work. I traced the initial issue to the safety relay assembly, power went in, but nothing came out. Replaced that with a used one that worked, but still no joy. Occasionally the right side would light up, but not the left. The wiring on the entire bike was unmolested except for the missing fuse block which I replaced with a new/used replacement unit. I repeatedly went through the rats nest of wires in the headlight shell, but it everything was conducting electricity properly except from the turn switch to the lights. While checking the turn signal switch I noticed that I had intermittent power and took the switch apart.
Surprise! all three of the wires that go to the fiberboard component that switches power between the left and right signals had come off their terminals. These guys are soldered on and I was expecting a broken wire not a bad solder joint. I disassembled the switch, resoldered the wires and shazam, the signals now work properly. What it looks like is bad QC at the factory as a properly soldered connection is permanent unless subjected to large amounts of heat and there was no indications that caused them to come undone.
Yesterday was the big day, after three weeks of waiting for parts and then doing a thorough valve, point and static timing pre start routine, the bike wouldn't start. I went back through the various things that make an engine run and the spark seemed a bit weak. Checking showed low voltage at the coils After much checking of wires with a OHM meter and a fair amount of head scratching, on a whim I checked the kill switch on the handlebar pod and low and behold, there was battery voltage at the brown, power in wire, but only 10.2 volts coming out at the R/W wire. When I went to take it out to clean the terminals it self destructed. I tied the wires together until I get a new switch and tucked them away in the pod.
I won't get into how the cheap new petcocks (that were on the bike when I got it) leaked liked a couple of sieves and took much massaging to get one to stop pouring gas out. On the other I had to make a block off packing gasket as the original one had been installed poorly at whichever factory in China made it and was damaged.
Once it fired off it was music to my ears. the motor is quiet mechanically and there was zero smoke out of either side. The trumpet muffles sound awesome, if a bit loud inside the house and while it still needs to have the timing set with a light and the carbs properly synced, it settled down to a nice ide @1000 rpm after it warmed up.
Poor picture before start up. I will take some beauty shots when I have a decent backdrop.
Where I started from on May 1st after sitting for 12 years. I gave it a much needed pressure washing just before I took this pic with my phone:
I finally got my '79 running yesterday but it wasn't without a struggle. In my old age I have decided that I like my bikes to be mostly stock with the exception of maybe a seat or handlebar change. That way I can look at the repair manual and (hopefully) figure out what the issue is. I have built many a chopper in my time and can make wiring harnesses with little difficulty, but there is something to be said about being able to look at a stock wiring diagram when troubleshooting electrical issues. This is especially true when you work on a bike that was rewired by someone else.
My first baffling problem was I couldn't get the turn signals to work. I traced the initial issue to the safety relay assembly, power went in, but nothing came out. Replaced that with a used one that worked, but still no joy. Occasionally the right side would light up, but not the left. The wiring on the entire bike was unmolested except for the missing fuse block which I replaced with a new/used replacement unit. I repeatedly went through the rats nest of wires in the headlight shell, but it everything was conducting electricity properly except from the turn switch to the lights. While checking the turn signal switch I noticed that I had intermittent power and took the switch apart.
Surprise! all three of the wires that go to the fiberboard component that switches power between the left and right signals had come off their terminals. These guys are soldered on and I was expecting a broken wire not a bad solder joint. I disassembled the switch, resoldered the wires and shazam, the signals now work properly. What it looks like is bad QC at the factory as a properly soldered connection is permanent unless subjected to large amounts of heat and there was no indications that caused them to come undone.
Yesterday was the big day, after three weeks of waiting for parts and then doing a thorough valve, point and static timing pre start routine, the bike wouldn't start. I went back through the various things that make an engine run and the spark seemed a bit weak. Checking showed low voltage at the coils After much checking of wires with a OHM meter and a fair amount of head scratching, on a whim I checked the kill switch on the handlebar pod and low and behold, there was battery voltage at the brown, power in wire, but only 10.2 volts coming out at the R/W wire. When I went to take it out to clean the terminals it self destructed. I tied the wires together until I get a new switch and tucked them away in the pod.
I won't get into how the cheap new petcocks (that were on the bike when I got it) leaked liked a couple of sieves and took much massaging to get one to stop pouring gas out. On the other I had to make a block off packing gasket as the original one had been installed poorly at whichever factory in China made it and was damaged.
Once it fired off it was music to my ears. the motor is quiet mechanically and there was zero smoke out of either side. The trumpet muffles sound awesome, if a bit loud inside the house and while it still needs to have the timing set with a light and the carbs properly synced, it settled down to a nice ide @1000 rpm after it warmed up.
Poor picture before start up. I will take some beauty shots when I have a decent backdrop.
Where I started from on May 1st after sitting for 12 years. I gave it a much needed pressure washing just before I took this pic with my phone:
