No Acceleration Above 45mph or 1/2 Throttle

So I opened up my breaker point cap and there was rust collected on the bottom


and this is what the timing advancer looked like


One of the spring levers operates with finger pressure, but the rusted one did not budge at all!

After spraying WD40 and letting it soak for 15 minutes or so and working it with an old toothbrush I am able to move the lever by prying it a bit with a screwdriver.

I am letting it sit with some WD40 and will go look at it again tomorrow. This just confuses the hell out of me, because I would think that there would be a more noticeable effect when one of the timing advancer levers doesn't move...

I blipped the throttle and could tell that one of the levers moved outward, but not the rusted one.

This is what it looks like now


If you see that top screw holding the timer plate is stripped...ya I did that trying to get the plate off so that I could unscrew the bolt and then remove the assembly in order to better get at the rusted lever. Those screws are really on there and will give them some wd40 before I attempt that again haha

When you get a chance buy some Kroil, it's about a zillion times better than WD40 for loosening rusted or otherwise corroded fasteners. You can find it on the internet. Ed

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationDon't know if you used an Impact driver to loosen those screws? But if not this is a link, there are cheaper ones, maybe still good. But this had a good picture, and you can embed Ebay stuff.
120375849924



And another trick is on those Phillips head screws is to first use a small punch right at the center, couple decent whacks and they come out.

+1 on the impact driver. I've removed some pretty stuck bolts and screws with mine. Think I got my set at Harbor Freight

Well that would certainly be causing more of the problem than the missing air sponge. Nice investigating.

If you can't get the screw out of the pickup, you can just undo the advancer bolt and the advancer will come out without having to remove the pickup, there is just enough room get them out by pulling it off the crank end and tipping it a bit. You'll figure it out I'm sure.

After you free up those arms, you'll probably want to lightly grease the inside of it, if it's that rusted I doubt there is much if any left in the middle.

I'm sorry to see you're having so much grief with it, but I truly think your going to love that bike once you get it running right. It's one of the most pristine examples I've seen in years.

Great tip on the Kroil and impact driver! I have a feeling I will need the Kroil for engine disassembly but that should be able to wait a couple months. I will pick up some grease and penetrating oil and will really clean up and lube the timing advancer today.

Capt America wrote:

Well that would certainly be causing more of the problem than the missing air sponge. Nice investigating.

If you can't get the screw out of the pickup, you can just undo the advancer bolt and the advancer will come out without having to remove the pickup, there is just enough room get them out by pulling it off the crank end and tipping it a bit. You'll figure it out I'm sure.

After you free up those arms, you'll probably want to lightly grease the inside of it, if it's that rusted I doubt there is much if any left in the middle.

I'm sorry to see you're having so much grief with it, but I truly think your going to love that bike once you get it running right. It's one of the most pristine examples I've seen in years.

I was surprised to find out how rusted that arm is. After about 30 minutes of light cleaning with wd40 and a toothbrush I was able to move the arm with the help of a screwdriver. I took her our for a quick spin and I can say that she rode like a different bike. As I shifted to second and opened the throttle, there was a slight lull from what I think was the rusted arm not wanting to open but then she just wound up to 8k rpm when the arm finally advanced the timing. However, when I came to a stop the idle was around 2 - 2.2k rpm from what I believe is the stuck arm keeping the timing advanced, thus the quicker engine pace. I was about to adjust my idle in traffic, as I am good at getting to it while on the saddle now but looking back that would have been BAD as the arm could have moved back down making the bike die every time I came to a stop. NOT good in 5pm traffic.

I am actually very happy with how this bike is turning out. If I had just followed the ORDER of inspection in the Clymers about maintenance and tune up I would have FIRST checked the air filter element, THEN check the timing advancer. In all probability I would NOT have had to take apart my carbs to clean them (and bend the needle LOL)

I think that I have learned a good lesson as well as learning my way around this bike, and motorcycles in general. I now feel extremely confident in buying my next bike as I will know to check the air filter, timing advancer, and a test drive BEFORE buying, so I can at least get a discount! (and make the PO admit it's not "ready to go")

Thanks for the guidance so far guys it will undoubtably save me effort now and in the future