It’s a HOLDUP! What goes up, doesn’t always come down…

After 2 months of healing my broken thumb, due to crashing my lovely Hawk GT650 in March, I was  in the process of winding up the last of the repairs on the bike. The end of the centerstand was folded forwards and when we tried to straighten it out, the metal just folded over. A replacement centerstand was purchased from eBay, but looking at the procedure to replace it, the exhaust muffler needed to be removed to access the pivot bolts.

I have had a Harbor Freight bike lift for at least 6 years and despite its shortcomings, it has usually hoisted bikes up to working height and then let them back down again. This time, it all went wrong as the lift quit pressurizing the horizontal bottle jack used to move the mechanism. The 420 lb bike was sitting on the lift, secured by the safety bar, which can be inserted in 2 locations. The bar can only be released when the lift is pressurized sufficiently to take the weight off of the bar and linkage.

The lift has been acting poorly for awhile, but with enough extra pumps, it has worked to get the bike up to a good working height. It repeated the same pattern, but suddenly, after the repairs were completed to the bike, the lift quit lifting whatsoever. So, the bike was stuck a couple of feet in the air and even trying to use a floor jack on both ends, the bar wouldn’t release. All I could deduce was that the bottle jack needed to be rebuilt, but first it had to be extracted from the bike lift mechanism and bracing. This proved to be a very taxing process, which took more than an hour to maneuver around the bracing and tease out the big mounting bolt using 15/16” wrenches and sockets, then the release mechanism needed to be separated from the framework.

The release linkage is a convoluted set of levers and arms that connect to an articulated shaft, which bolts to the end of the release valve stem. To make it more complicated, they used a double-ended coil spring to keep some tension on the valve. The spring has 90-degree ends turned out from the coil portion, but they are about 180 degrees apart from each end. The ends go into the body of the jack, just outside of the stem and the other end goes into the articulated connector face. This supplies some return pressure on the release stem, so it buffers the release of pressure, preventing sudden drops in the lift mechanism.

Initially, I had to crawl on my stomach and reach in with my broken right thumb and my left hand to tease out the mounting bolt, then separate the release mechanism from both ends. Visibility is limited and not knowing exactly what was involved made separating the parts even more difficult. After an hour of figuring out what was needed to remove the jack and dragging the 15 lb. piece out of the framework, it was finally removed.

The next day I started to call around to see who could rebuild the jack and discovered that NO ONE does that kind of work anymore, at least in San Diego. Finally, someone suggested that I contact Harbor Freight to get some assistance. I went to the local store and was told to go to www.harborfreight.com/parts to find a replacement part. Sure enough, they had the jacks available for $65 plus tax, but with free shipping. The local warehouse is about 100 miles away, so they were able to deliver the jack in 3 days. Then the fun resumed, re-installing the part back into the lift mechanism.

It occurred to me that getting the bike off of the side stand and onto the newly installed centerstand would allow the removal of the back plate which was designed to facilitate rear wheel removal. With the bike strapped to the lift in 4 places, I was able to get a small floor jack under the engine and lift the bike up high enough to deploy the centerstand and let the bike sit squarely on the lift. This allowed the rear access plate to be removed and give a little bit of extra access to the jack installation process.

It’s not an easy task, to be sure. The jack comes with a special roller end to contact the pedal linkage and there is a big spring involved. At one point the pressure plunger popped out and started leaking hydraulic fluid on the ground. The plunger has no internal stopper so it has to be positioned out just enough to get the spring and retainer on the end and the retainer pin installed.

I had to jam 2×4 wood blocks underneath the jack body to get the angles correct to engage the linkage on both ends. The release valve mechanism needed to be rotated fully in one direction in order to insert the spring end into the face of the articulated joint, then secured with a 5mm bolt. After 1.5 hours of wrestling the jack and all of the linkages into place, the deed was done. The bike lift raised itself off the safety bar, which was withdrawn and then the bike was lowered gently back to the bottom stop.

It was a success in the end, but was extremely difficult for a 70-something, one handed senior citizen to accomplish alone. There are probably thousands of HF lifts out there, and at some point they will need the same repairs. BEWARE.. it ain’t easy!

Bill Silver

aka MrHonda

www.vintagehonda.com

The Dream Carb O-ring Dilemma

 When it comes to the CA72-77 Honda Dream carburetors, Honda has perpetuated an error in the size and part number of the flange in their parts books and online part listings.

I have what appeared to be a nearly new Dream carburetor on hand, but the flange o-ring needed replacing. Normally, this isn’t a big deal, however when you look up the part number for the o-ring, you get a 16173-259-004 (Keihin) part number, listed in the 1968 US parts book as a 31mm part. Looking up the part number online gives a 24x2.4 size instead.

Most of Honda’s o-rings of that type are 2.4mm thickness. When I ordered that part number from an eBay seller, which came with the original parts tag, it was woefully too small at 24x2.4. Nosing around the internet, I found 91307-958-003 31.7x2.4 o-ring that is pretty close to what is needed. That part is listed for an ATC185, but searching the part number comes up empty now. 91306-MA6-005,

91305-KRM-840, 91305-KYY-900 all come up now as 31.7x2.4 o-rings currently, when you search by the o-ring size. Also, in the search by size, 09280-32006 came up as a Suzuki part number.

Measuring the o-ring channel on the carburetor, gave a measurement closer to 32mm and perhaps 2.7 width. For $12.76 I found I could order 10 o-rings in a 32x2.4 size from China, but obviously there is a delay in getting them, rather than buying from eBay sellers or Honda dealers.

So, I have ordered a few versions and we’ll see which ones are the best fit, in the end. DO NOT order by what is listed in the parts books and online parts microfiche!

Bill Silver

aka MrHonda

www.vintagehonda.com

The “Fix” for the Honda CB200T headlight-starter switch

The problem: In 1975, DOT ruled that all street bikes must have Always ON headlights.

The function inside the switch was a hot 6/12volt wire from the ignition switch that toggled between the headlight ON function and the electric starter function.

Sadly, the first-generation starter switches were made with a plastic switch case, which failed, probably due to the heat created by the full-time voltage passing through the tiny contacts.

Normally, previous starter solenoids were fed voltage from the ignition switch circuit that used the grounding of the primary windings through the starter switch to complete the energizing of the solenoid. With the 1975-on edict, the solenoid had to ground the primary side of the windings first, then applied the voltage back through the starter button switch.

Early:

BAT-IGN SW-Starter solenoid primary windings and grounded at the starter button contact, grounded to the handlebars

Late: BAT-IN SW-Starter solenoid primary winding which was grounded at the solenoid mount and then voltage was sent through the harness to the central starter switch contact which completed the circuit with voltage fed to the starter switch contact.

The starter solenoid has a 4-wire connection. The large terminals connect the starter and the battery together when the magnetic solenoid plunger is activated by the completion of the primary wires to B+ and ground. The primary windings don’t care which ones are connected to power and ground. On the CB200T solenoid, the short green wire is grounded by a bolt near the solenoid mount.

On pre-1975 bikes, the yellow/red wire normally goes to the handlebar switch and the lead is grounded to the handlebars when the starter button is pushed inwards.

                                                                    

                                                                CB175K3 starter switch, modified 

On later models, the handlebar wire is energized through the voltage in the central starter switch contact when the button is pushed inwards. The solenoid primary is grounded through a green extension lead, which has an eyelet on the end. The green wire is then bolted to the chassis.

Currently, the worldwide supply of model-specific CB200T/CL200T starter switches is down to the extent that any that are listed on the internet have asking prices of $250-300+

                                                   OEM CB200T starter switch 35150-389-671

Solution:

I figured that a late CB175K3 handlebar switch would do the same functions, but without the KILL switch function. The CB175 switch needs to be modified by drilling the threads out where the cable adjuster would normally sit with a 5/16” drill bit. You have to be careful not to drill all the threads out, but leave about ¼ of the threads intact to function as a stop for the non-adjustable disk brake cable end.

To access the wiring harnesses I removed the handlebar clamps and rolled the handlebars backwards onto a thick towel placed on top of the fuel tank. This gives access to the wiring harness leads.

I used a thin piece of wire to wrap around the ends of the old switch as it was withdrawn from the handlebar tubing holes. The wire was then attached to the new switch harness and pulled back through the handlebar holes and out towards the hole at the back side of the headlight shell. The throttle cable as attached and the throttle wire connected to the throttle drum. The CB175 switch has the same locating pin inside the housing to index with the locating hole in the handlebar. The two halves are joined with the two screws to lock the switch in place.

The brake cable is installed next into the switch housing and the brake switch and lever installed. The handlebars are rolled back up to where the index punch marks are even with the split in the handlebar mounts and everything is tightened back down again.

With the switch harness ends tucked back into the headlight shell, the wiring connectors must be color matched to the harness leads. The stock left hand switch had the Hi-Lo functions which are no longer needed. The excess wire ends can be cut off or tucked into the wiring bundle. The Yellow/Red wire from the handlebar switch connects to the matching Yellow/Red wire connector from the main harness. Now the wire is going to ground inside the starter switch, instead of going to B+ voltage. The solenoid green primary wire is removed from the ground bolt and attached to the positive side of the battery.

The handlebar switch leads have to connect back to the harness with the yellow and yellow/white wires connected to the harness connectors. The black/white junction has a male pigtail end that connects to the black power junction. The white, blue and green ground leads from the switch connect to the headight bulb connections. The high beam has two blue wire connections to make the high beam function and to illuminate the high beam indicator light located in the top of the headlight shell. Be sure to connect the front brake light switch leads into the matching connectors inside the headlight shell.

It never hurts to keep a few spare fuses handy, in case some incorrect wiring connections are made. I lucked out and when the key was turned on I had a nice bright green neutral light and functioning front brake light switch. Turning the new handlebar light switch ON to Lo and Hi gave me lights in both positions. Tapping the starter button with the bike in neutral gave a quick click and then the starter engaged as normal.

So, the only cost was the OEM CB175 handlebar switch and an hour or two to install it and make all the wire connections match up. I saved at least $200-250 from avoiding the “proper” CB200T starter switch which had a current retail price of $205, although they are NLA from the usual vintage bike parts sources. If you are faced with a defective starter switch, this is one option that can work for you.

Bill Silver aka MrHonda.

www.vintagehonda.com