79 replies to this topic

[dablik]

Lots of love in this build, 900 dowel is the same as the 850 but of course silly money, watching with interest, keep up the good work 

[leehenty]

If you send me dimensions of the said oil spacer I can whizz a couple off in the lathe. Yiu will have to put up with stainless though

[Catteeclan]

If you send me dimensions of the said oil spacer I can whizz a couple off in the lathe. Yiu will have to put up with stainless though

What if he don't want stainless

[leehenty]

Werrrl he can have aluminium or possibly brass

[Catteeclan]

Werrrl he can have aluminium or possibly brass

[PICARD]

Werrrl he can have aluminium or possibly brass

Talking of brass Lee.......

[leehenty]

Talking of brass Lee.......

Yes I need to visit your neck of the woods

[Blaqkfox]

Appreciate the support guys! I have already fabricated the spacer though! Wish I had a lathe, but I'm pretty skilled with a cut off wheel haha. Just made one out of a hollow dowl from the local hardware store. They only carried standard sizes. Wish they had metric. She's a tad loose in there, but only like 1mm off and she still sits well. I don't foresee it being an issue.

 

Unfortunately I've come down with a cold these last few days, but I have not let it stop me much. Before I felt too ill I managed to rob the main jet off the Ducati 900 from work. He wont be getting that bike running anytime soon so he said i could borrow it until the replacement shows up. So the carbs are now complete, on the bike and ready to go! The battery is also installed, the front brakes are working, the replacement relay is in, still have no idea what that relay is for though, and there is a spliced in wire to it that i think used to go to the battery positive... perhaps some sort of backyard fix to get power to the relay? I really need to find out what its for and how its supposed to work. I mean i know how a standard relay works, but this things like a 8 pin or whatever. Anyhow... Things are pretty much ready to go! Well, almost...

 

So my fuel tank has been sitting in USA customs for 9 days now and I'm starting to worry it wont show up in time. Fortunately we have postponed the trip by a week. Some of the guys complained it was going to take place on Easter weekend when they have family plans, so we're going the first week of April now instead of the last weekend of March. So maybe I will get lucky and the tank will show up in time, don't have much faith though.

 

 Now these last two days I have been too ill to want to work in the garage, so i got my 3D printer up and working again. Shoutout to whoever linked these items on Thangs.com. I'm printing a rear luggage rack so i can tote my camping gear easier. And also some bark busters. I printed the bark buster hardware fist before i had the printer dialed in perfectly, so im probably about to re-print them...

https://i.imgur.com/Uhx3Kjz.jpeg

 

but the luggage rack is currently printing...

 

https://i.imgur.com/OS2tPwy.jpeg

 

Here is the link for the luggage rack for all you 3VD'ers out there that want to join me:

 

https://www.printabl...om/model/416890

And the one for the Bark Busters, tho I'm not much a fan of this design, but it beats making it from scratch:

https://www.thingive...m/thing:4213740

I might make my own in fusion later for my nice bike. The uh... less than admirable, TDM came with one hand guard on it that i quite like, so i think ill measure it and print some up.

 

For now everything is being printed in PETG. I might print it in ABS for the nicer 850 i own, but I will have to move the 3D printer or set up some sort of hood to extract the toxic fumes that comes with printing ABS. But that's for later...

 

For now, i decided to try and run the bike today and see if the charging system is working since the carbs are all together. I just popped the Scheiß pod filters it came with back on the bike after wrapping them in some electrical tape to try and restrict them since i have the stock jets in the carbs. Ya know, old school fixes for improper jetting lol. No idea how well it actually worked though. The bike refused to start without starting fluid to get it going, but then it held an idle...sorta...and i revved it a few times and watched my multimeter. The results were questionable. I think the charging system is working, but only barely. I was seeing 12.6v key off. 12.1v key on. 12.6-12.7 running, and only 12.8 when revving the snot out of it. I think I will run the bias tests on the regulator/rectifier tomorrow to see if the diodes are doing their job, then see if my AC output from the stator is existent lol. 

Admittedly, my acetaminophen pumped brain wasn't working quite right. I kept wondering why the bike was running like a one legged horse. It was really stumbling about and shot a few flames out the exhaust. I chalked it up to maybe the pod filters or needing a valve adjustment perhaps. Wasn't until mid shower later that evening it dawned on me that i had left the balancing ports open on the intake. As well as the small one from the airbox. And i only ever put one new spark plug in it lmao.

 

So there's still a little work to do. It also smoked like crazy, looked to be just the exhaust burning off from years of neglect. But i also noticed an oil leak. i need to replace that large o-ring on the oil filter housing. The new filter didn't come with one and it looked like it would still seal and was soft so i decided to leave it. i shouldn't have. Owell, a minor inconvenience.

Lastly (sorry for the novels, i tend to rant on these forums) I am posting this from my computer this time, was hoping that would solve the photo issue, but its still limiting me to 10.05KB max file size so i guess y'all will have to put up with links to imgur from here on out. Im suprised i cant copy an embedded code, thats usually how these forums work, i mean it aint my first rodeo, i have pages long build threads on nicoclub for the old 240sx i built as a teenage, unofficial royal enfield for the electra X i built last year, and many others, and thats typically how this works. So idk whats up with this forums photo uploader, but i give up lol. Glad to be here though, and for the support. Big updates should be coming soon!

As always there are videos posted to my TIKTOK account @blaqkfox documenting the budget build, so go give me a shout out. You can also find the vintage bike shop i work for on tiktok @ Elitemotorcycles.

https://www.tiktok.com/@blaqkfox

https://www.tiktok.c...litemotorcycles

 

TTYL.

Edited by Blaqkfox, 10 March 2024 - 05:33 am.

[Blaqkfox]

I was feeling back to normal today so i got out in the shop and got to work. 

 

Put the new spark plug in, clamped off the vac leaks from the intake hoses. replaced the float needle from the leaking carb. Basically buttoned all the things up that i foolishly overlooked when i tried to run it the other day when i was lazy and sick.

 

And it ran really well! For awhile anyway. Little backfiring out the intake here and there. Its still kinda touch and go without the factory airbox. The carbs also still need to be balanced. But all things considered it ran pretty well! Unfortunately, I did discover the charging system wasn't working. Sometimes it would read 13v. Other times it would read low. Ultimately after i ran it up to temp to make sure the fan kicked on and all, the battery was down on juice so its defiantly not working. 

 

Ran a forward and reverse bias test on the R&R and it checked out. But my ohm readings on the stator were not so great. The manual says .01 ohms for the stator. I was reading .06-.08. so I'm pretty sure this stator is fried. 

 

I hear the R&R is also pretty crappy on these TDMs so i might upgrade that. Iirc people like to run one from like a cbr600rr or something completely different. I'll look into that. 

 

I'm going to be well over budget now for the trip. I lost count at like $1200 i had in it. Now I'm looking at probably $1400-1500 ill have in it. Whatever lol.

 

But everything else seems to check out! so thats great. She should be a solid runner after the charging system is sorted out.

 

The only other caveat, which may be something major or nothing at all, was that i noticed the bike would rev and hold at 4k rpms until i turned the idle screw down, but then itd do it again, it was like i was chasing my tail. I chalked it up to the pod filters and unbalanced carbs, but then the bike just died out of nowhere. And refused to start back up even with starter fluid. So i suspected a spark issue. When i pulled the left plug wire out it was smoking and wet. I could see a pool of fluid down the tube around the plug. Figured it must be a bad valve cover, but it wasn't. When i stuck a towel down there to mop it up it came back up watery, not oily. Coolant perhaps? how would coolant even get here? it cant. dont make sense. after i cleaned it up the bike started just fine. a bad connection from the water i assume. but then it died again. assuming coolant was somehow finding its way into the tube and assuming the worst i pulled the plug wire again to clean it, but this time it seemed perfectly dry. it still refused to start. i came back ten minutes later and it fired right up. Perhaps i have a faulty coil on my hands, they tend to fail when they get hot ya know, and i was trying to get the bike hot enough to make sure the fan would kick on, which on these TDMs is VERY hot. atleast judging by the gauge. But it got up to temp this time and the fan kicked on. so maybe not the coil?

 

Still dont know how water was getting into the spark plug tube. my shed is old and its rained hard here lately but nothing inside the shop is wet. and the rubber boot was on the plug wire. so it must have come from the engine somehow. its very odd, never seen that before. just going to cross my fingers on it honestly...

Edited by Blaqkfox, 10 March 2024 - 11:29 pm.

[Catteeclan]

It's fighting you but hopefully you're winning.

Water in the plug hole's a mystery. If you're had it up to temp so the fan's cut in you'd think it wasn't coolant if it's dry after.

[dapleb]

Water in yer plug ole is very very loikely a thermostat leak.

[Blaqkfox]

I used my phone as a makeshift borescope and it looked like the valve cover tube seal leaking, but then when I stuck a rag down there it was watery. Doesnt smell or look like coolant. It was clear. Like water. And its the left side, so not directly under the thermostat. The valve cover wasnt wet either. But ya know come to think, I did haul it home in a rain storm, and I did pressure wash it two weeks ago or whatever. I bet I just got some water in it. The rest of the bike air dried just fine so idk why it wouldnt have, but thats probably all it was.

As far as stators go do I need a 3VD specific one? I heard I can use a 4tx but I have to run the 4tx R/R with it because it outputs more. Just having trouble sourcing a 3VD one quickly.

Edited by Blaqkfox, 11 March 2024 - 05:34 pm.

[Blaqkfox]

Concerning noises.

The airbox arrived today, honestly its in better shape than the one on my nice 850. I might have to swap them. Unfortunately it didnt come with clamps though so im used the gaudy standard hose clamps that are too wide. But it works. I tried to rob some from my sv650 thats in pieces, and they looked like theyd work but they were still too loose when tightened up. I did however find the idle adjustment cable off the sv is much longer, so that went on the tdm. I wasnt sure where I was going to mount that short one Id bought. The bracket is still wrong on the sv one however, but I should be able to fix that easily.

With a new air filter and airbox installed, auxiliary fuel, and the vacuum balancing gauges hooked up I was ready to balance these carbs and see how the bike actually runs for the first real time.

At first it was very touch and go- the carbs were out of balance worse than I expected so it was a little difficult to get the bike to start. For some reason, It really likes choke unlike my other tdm. But thats when it started making some concerning noises

A loud internal clanking sound. Like a knock, but just a single one as the engine would stutter. I noticed the left cylinder would lose vacuum when this occurred. Nearly stalling the engine. While the other cylinder remained functional with normal stats. This would only happen when idling. And it would keep running, very well in fact! Just that occasional concerning noise and stumble here and there. Maybe like one ever 10-30 seconds. And was usually accompanied by a the huff of a backfire through the intake. It would rev up just fine and sounded healthy. And once the engine warmed up as I dialed in the carb balancing it never did it again for the 10 min or so I was running it.

So maybe the carbs being out of balance that badly was causing a misfire, but that knocking sounded pretty intense when it did happen.

I do not think its a tuning issue. It is running stock jetting with some 2 into 1 cheap aftermarket deal, and has a new stock paper air filter. but this might be one of the only bikes that seems to not need larger jets with basic mods, my other tdm has a k&N drop in filter and the Kerker exhaust with stock jetting and the plugs indicate its running perfectly. Granted iirc I am 3 turns out of the mixture screws, it might only be 1.5 out, I cant recall. But I want to say it was 2.5-3 out. So when I rebuilt the barn find carburetors set its mixture screw to 2 turns out. I need to do a plug chop on it and see how its acting though.

So all things considered, Id call it a successful day! If the bloody gas tank would show up I could actually test ride the thing! Maybe Ill putt around with the auxiliary tank swinging from the handlebars tomorrow

Edited by Blaqkfox, 15 March 2024 - 10:51 pm.

[dapleb]

Is the hairbox seated correctly? Them rubbers get really hard and even when clamped doon can unseat. Therr is a silly cone mod on ear. Will try and find a linky dink

Edit: http://www.carpe-tdm...l=&fromsearch=1

[Blaqkfox]

Yeah the airbox is seated. The rubbers on this airbox felt like they were brand new. In fact this air box still has all the foam on it and in perfect shape, which is more than I can say for the one on the nicer bike. And someone had even silicone’d them into the airbox already.

[Blaqkfox]

Today I installed my 3D printed luggage rack! I am testing it out on my other TDM, the nicer one.

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/i4pltyN

 

Fitment was pretty good, although it was quite tight. Arguably too tight. The smaller legs on each side should really be spaced out another couple of millimeter. It sorta clicked into place, and I can see gaps where the contour isn't exactly matched, either because of the angle its at from stretching over the rear wing, or just not a perfect contour is had to say. I think adding some Felt tape or something of the sort would take up the gap, and protect the paint. Thought I had some on hand, but i didn't so I just wrapped the rear wing thing in electrical tape to protect it until I can make it to the store. Also there was alot of creaking when tightening the clamps down. It is on there solid though.

 

Also when I assembled this it was difficult to find hardware, everything here is standard of course, but the holes were designed with metric measurements. I ended up with some 8/32nd thread-in threaded inserts that fit pretty well, but one did start to pull out. Should've ordered some M5 heat thread inserts, but I was excited!

 

Also ran the barn find bike once more to see if it would continue to make concerning noises on cold start. Thankfully it did not. I think it was just that carb being so out of balance it was causing the issue.

 

I have been knee deep in the wiring diagram section of my service manual and still cant quite understand what's happening with that relay I mentioned before. My relay knowledge ends with a standard 5 pin relay. This one is a 6 pin. And the manual labels it a "relay assembly" which makes it sound like its just multiple relays all housed in the same unit, but I don't think it works like that. I think it has to see signal from more than one switch in order to activate. It connects to the kick stand switch, the clutch switch, the brake switches, the neutral light and switch, the start switch, the kill switch, the starter relay, and two pins on the ignitor unit. So its literally tied into everything. 

 

I just want to know why the red and black wire from the relay that ties into the kill switch and ignitor unit was tapped into. It would seem someone tried to T into that wire to connect directly to the battery positive with a flat blade connector. I don't think they knew what they were doing to be honest. I know I don't haha. So idk maybe they were smarter than me. But the old relay was melted so probably not. 

[Blaqkfox]

Today was rough. This bikes gonna fight me every step of the way.

It started with getting the new mechanical fuel pump, petcock, and fuel lines installed. Always a process on the 850 trying to get the 1/4in hoses routed by the proper brackets and clamp them all so our stupid American sized hoses don’t leak. I always wonder why they designed the 3VD this way. The carb fuel hose has to make an S curve around the battery, the petcock hoses also have to make awkward curves and that reserve line can be a pain to install, and then everything has to cram together through that bracket opening next to the battery. And that long vac line back to the pump is an interesting one. But I got it done and even managed to cram some inline filters in there .

Then I wanted to deal with tapping the fz1 front brake master I’m running. I didn’t realized I’d bought a used unit and the mirror threads were stripped. Always fun when the tap and die comes out.

Then I moved onto the massive oil leak. This thing would puke oil when running. Turned out the large O ring on the oil filter housing wasn’t sealing. My replacement had showed up along with the proper spacer I was missing. I pulled the drain plug for the oil tank and just collected it in the bottles it came from. Glad this bike sits so high up, made that part easy. Replaced the o rings and spacer and topped it back up.

Was hoping to go for a spin around the yard at this point, but the carburetors had other plans. Despite my blowing out the old fuel hose I had laying around something must’ve gotten sucked into the line. Both carbs started leaking out the overflow drains like crazy. So I guess I’ll be diving back into those to see what the issue is. They didn’t leak before the pump and lines were installed. The floats are new as well as the float needles so idk what its deal is. Maybe the seats, they’re still the old plastic but they look just fine. One carb leaked after I rebuilt them and I swapped another needle in and it was happy after that, but now both are leaking .

I guess it could be worse. On a positive my 3D printed hand guards are done and ready to install, but they need glued together. I should’ve printed them stacked on eachother at the same time so they’d been one solid piece instead of two prints that now need glue, but whatever. Maybe I’ll melt them together with heat.

https://i.imgur.com/1m2D5kP.jpeg

[Catteeclan]

Carbs were the reason I traded my 3vd. Had them off so many times, would be fine for a couple of weeks then turn to crap again no matter how many filters I got on them. Having said that when it went it was the best it'd ever been.
Keep at it.

[Blaqkfox]

Yeah I’m glad down drafts aren’t common anymore. At least the bowls are easy to take off in that position lol. I had trouble finding a good quality kit. Got most the replacement parts correct but I’m still running the old needle seats, slide needle, emulsion tube, and main jets. Fortunately we have a couple of huge boxes of spare carburetor parts at work. Maybe I’ll try some different needles or play with float height or something. I was surprised the right one leaked after I rebuilt these. I mean I rebuild carbs for a living. I took it apart and didn’t see anything in the needle seat area. Swapped the new float needle out with an old one on a whim and it worked just fine after that for a few days of test runs. Then yesterday after the pump install they both leak like crazy. My other tdm hasn’t leaked once and I’ve put probably 2k miles on it since rebuilding those carbs a few months ago with the same kit. Strange. I’ll have to take a closer look. It must be a needle seat issue is all I can think. If it was a float height or cracked drain tube or drain screw issue they would’ve leaked before with the auxiliary gas tank.

[dablik]

Strange that they both leak though ? always found some miniscule dirt in the float needle causing mine anytime it happened, not fitted an electric pump have you ! if so the float heights will need adjusting, i presume you know all that anyway, just thinking out loud.