New Member from Northeast

Welcome from central Mass.  Since it's been sitting for so long without being run, it might be a good idea to squirt some marvel mystery oil or similar in the cylinders to get a little lubrication to the rings while you're cleaning.

Scotty

A wash and an oil change. My kind of restoration. Welcome from Boston.

Haven’t gotten it quite started yet.  Went through the carbs and they cleaned up very well.  Bike is all assembled, new battery, cranks nicely but no fire.  I can smell fuel, and have 140psi on a cold compression test. 

spark seemed inconsistent. One plug wouldn’t fire, but if I swapped plugs it would. I could get a fat spark using a screw driver in the boot but minute I hooked a spark plug up…nothing. 

tested the condenser and not getting the values I should. Paused to do some research.  

I did squirt some marvel oil in the cylinders and let soak a few days before all the cranking.  Should be well lubricated. 

im comfortable around a fuel-injected V8 with all the computers and such, but these old carbs and points are new territory and I’ve learned a lot these last few days.   I’ll get it running soon….

If you don't have a factory service manual, look into getting one and reading up on your carburetors (you can also access it on the forum). The members here are probably the best source of knowledge on your carburetors you will find anywhere!  Research previous posts on carburetor problems others have had, start fiddling with your own carbs, soon they will be like old friends.  I knew carburetors long before having to learn about fuel injection, they're relatively simple mechanical devices once you understand how they work.

Scotty

I do have the service manual, both hardcopy and the pdf.  It's been very helpful to me so far. 

I don't think this issue is carb related at this time.  I'm leaning ignition.  I'm just going through the various troubleshooting steps ive read on the forum and manual.  Right now, i think the condensers are bad based on the values i'm getting and how they behave

If you need new condensers, Z1Enterprises probably has them. There is a link to their website at the top of the page.

I'm jelly. lets see who gets their 305 started first. My money is on you.

Well I got it running.  It doesn’t run well, but it’s made it around the block. 


now to dial it in, clean it up more, get new tires and get it back on the road.

That's no fair, I haven't started yet.

Well, a little more elbow grease and it’s running beautifully.  Had to take the carbs out again and really clean them up well.  Found one of the small passengers on one side still clogged up.  Some guitar string and finally clear.  

got the bike all back together and it’s running very well.  Need to adjust the pilot screws, sync the carbs and get a new set of tires and pretty much ready to hit the road.  


oh.  It needs valve seals.  After 30 or so years I guess the originals are dried out because it burns oil for a few mins after it’s been sitting a while.  Compression is good, so I just assume the valve seals are toast so I’ll address that soon.