OK, the 65 only has 150 miles on it, but I was bored and the temperature got all the way up to 32 degrees. So I went out to the garage and checked the ignition timing and the valve adjustment.
Without going into the details of making a fixture to hold the dial gauge in place here's what I found.
Point gap was maybe .009 when it's supposed to be .013 to .014. Assuming the points plate was where it should be, the narrow gap would retard the spark. So I fixed the point gap and checked the actual timing. It was about .010 advanced. So backed that off to the correct position.
This all went pretty easy after I got the dial gauge holder thingy figured out. Made it out of an old spark plug base minus its innards.
The exhaust valve was adjusted well but the intake valve was tight. Backed it off a bit and checked it for easy turning like the manual says. Amazingly simple.
Started it up (still haven't got the kick starting thing down) and it settled down into a smooth 'choke off' idle pretty quickly.
I'm glad did these checks now. The timing being off a bit probably wouldn't have resulted in any long term problems if I would have let it go to 500 miles. But the valve being tight and getting run another 350 miles could have resulted in a burned valve or at least a poorly sealing valve that eventually would have been trouble.
So, what did I learn from todays adventures? I learned that it's a good idea to check these things when the bike is brand new rather than waiting for the 500 mile check. Fact is, you don't really know how things were adjusted at the dealers, or even if things were adjusted at the dealers before you bought the machine.
Probably just being paranoid, but it gave me something fun to do.
Topic: Early Valves and Ignition Check (Read 2058 times)