Frustration!
Dang it....
The tool that I needed for that little Honda CT-70 arrived on Monday, and I finally got the rotor off the thing to peek around inside. With the right tool, it took less than 30 seconds to take the rotor off! I replaced the breaker-points, but the condenser is soldered into place! That is, the canister is bolted, but the wires (three of them!) are soldered onto the tab connectors! Aurgh! While I had all the wires separated though, I ohmed them out to make sure that nothing was shorting out anywhere, since I've had machines in the past where it was just a faulty kill-switch grounding out the spark that caused the issue. In this case though, all of the wiring checked out. Except...
The ignition coil.
I should be seeing about 2 - 3 Ohms on the primary, and about 10 - 11 Ohms on the secondary. I've got infinite resistance on the primary, and aout 80k Ohms on the secondary. There's no doubt that this coil is fried. Now the question is, can I even get a coil for this nearly 40-year-old bike, and if I can, how much will it cost? I called the Honda parts dept, but they were too busy to answer the phone so I had to leave a message, and hope that they'll call me back sooner rather than later. Of course, once I get price and availability, I have to call the customer and see if they want to proceed. The points and condenser weren't too expensive, and an understandable part of a proper tune-up. A coil though? That could get pricey. Plus the fact that to get at the coil you have to remove all of the body panels, which also required removing the seat and gas-tank. We're looking at a couple hours' labour, in addition to the work that's already been done. These bikes are worth a pretty penny, so I think it would be worth fixing, but the owner might have a different opinion. :/
Furthermore, I accidentally set my hot soldering gun down on my kneeling mat, and burned a big hole through the cover and into the styrofoam core. :P
The Chamber of Commerce "Fall Kickoff" dinner-meeting was last night, and it went well. Some new businesses are in town, and things are looking good. The main course was fried chicken, provided by The Snack Shack, one of the members. This stuff is waaayyy better than KFC. Not as good as KFC used to be, but much better than it is now. The Colonel would not be happy, methinks...
On the topic of food - Tonight is the Elks meeting, and once again I'm cooking. Tonight's menu is on an Oktoberfest theme, and I'll be serving Bratwurst and Bavarian sausages, Saurkraut, fried onions, and perogies with sour-cream and chives. Oh, and fresh Kaiser buns from the Co-op bakery!
The tool that I needed for that little Honda CT-70 arrived on Monday, and I finally got the rotor off the thing to peek around inside. With the right tool, it took less than 30 seconds to take the rotor off! I replaced the breaker-points, but the condenser is soldered into place! That is, the canister is bolted, but the wires (three of them!) are soldered onto the tab connectors! Aurgh! While I had all the wires separated though, I ohmed them out to make sure that nothing was shorting out anywhere, since I've had machines in the past where it was just a faulty kill-switch grounding out the spark that caused the issue. In this case though, all of the wiring checked out. Except...
The ignition coil.
I should be seeing about 2 - 3 Ohms on the primary, and about 10 - 11 Ohms on the secondary. I've got infinite resistance on the primary, and aout 80k Ohms on the secondary. There's no doubt that this coil is fried. Now the question is, can I even get a coil for this nearly 40-year-old bike, and if I can, how much will it cost? I called the Honda parts dept, but they were too busy to answer the phone so I had to leave a message, and hope that they'll call me back sooner rather than later. Of course, once I get price and availability, I have to call the customer and see if they want to proceed. The points and condenser weren't too expensive, and an understandable part of a proper tune-up. A coil though? That could get pricey. Plus the fact that to get at the coil you have to remove all of the body panels, which also required removing the seat and gas-tank. We're looking at a couple hours' labour, in addition to the work that's already been done. These bikes are worth a pretty penny, so I think it would be worth fixing, but the owner might have a different opinion. :/
Furthermore, I accidentally set my hot soldering gun down on my kneeling mat, and burned a big hole through the cover and into the styrofoam core. :P
The Chamber of Commerce "Fall Kickoff" dinner-meeting was last night, and it went well. Some new businesses are in town, and things are looking good. The main course was fried chicken, provided by The Snack Shack, one of the members. This stuff is waaayyy better than KFC. Not as good as KFC used to be, but much better than it is now. The Colonel would not be happy, methinks...
On the topic of food - Tonight is the Elks meeting, and once again I'm cooking. Tonight's menu is on an Oktoberfest theme, and I'll be serving Bratwurst and Bavarian sausages, Saurkraut, fried onions, and perogies with sour-cream and chives. Oh, and fresh Kaiser buns from the Co-op bakery!