Some Work From 2022

Here is a small sample of some of the types of work we did in 2022 besides the typical maintenance :)

This starter motor worked (miraculously) but made a terrible sound - look at all the rust upon disassembly. We cleaned and polished everything, lubricated the bearings and it worked silently after that. A surprisingly common problem - in our experience, most starter motors don't fail from damage, but from a buildup of dust or corrosion that impedes the current flow.

Here we have a bad TCI unit from a Yamaha Virago. It is very difficult to diagnose that these have failed, so typically we test everything else and then once those variables are eliminated we try swapping the TCI. The symptoms are typically no spark or a very weak spark. This one was quite obvious though once we cut it open, with the melted resistors and capacitors.

This is a bad charging rotor from a BMW airhead. They are also similar to the 70s and 80s Honda rotors on the CB550, CB750, etc. Typically they fail in a way that lowers the internal resistance, which makes the electromagnet weaker and hence lower charging voltage. For most of them you want a resistance reading of 5-7 ohms, but it does vary so check your manual.

Here is a small front fork brace we made for a custom tracker project. We have all the equipment to do fabrication projects like this. In the past year we've made fenders, battery boxes, seat pans and rear hoops for several custom bikes.

Honda FL250 Odyssey Lighting Coil Mod For Charging Battery

The Odyssey that we worked on had the Goki Electric Starting kit added, probably many years previously. Electric starters need a battery, and the FL250 had nothing setup to charge the battery needed for powering the electric starter...so we had to figure out how to add that.

 

The Odyssey 250 is actually an AC system, including an AC ignition coil and AC lighting. Since the original did not have a battery, there was no need to convert any of that energy to DC. Unfortunately, this also led the engineers to save some wire and use the frame as the 2nd leg of the AC circuit. But....that single-wire AC made it quite tricky to make a charging system for the battery setup. 

Scouring internet forums and consulting various Honda wiring diagrams, we decided that the best solution for good charging of the battery is to use the lighting coil as the charging circuit, but the coil needs to be modified so it has 2 wires instead of only the existing single wire AC.  That way, the power from the lighting coil can be run through a voltage rectifier and converted into DC for the battery.

This shows where the original lighting coil winding was attached to the magneto plate. Remove this screw and cut off the copper wire from the terminal beneath.

This is the copper wire that is the end of the lighting coil winding, ready to be soldered to a wire and run out of the engine case. Remember to use heat shrink or another insulator to prevent the wire from touching anything else in the case.

Here you can see the wire soldered and wrapped with heatshrink so that it is no longer in continuity with any metal from the engine. This way it can be run, with the other existing lighting coil wire, into a 4-wire DC voltage rectifier (2 AC wires in, a power and ground DC out). We used one from a Honda CB350 and got a charging voltage of 13.7-13.8v, enough to recharge the battery after using the electric start.

Here you see the modified coil on the magneto plate, about to be bolted back into the engine. The lighting coil is the copper colored coil, the other large coil is for the igntion and the small coil is the pickup for the electronic ignition. 

One other thing to keep in mind: we kept the original AC taillight, so that the taillight is on when the Odyssey is running and turns off with the engine (since there is no keyswitch), To do this, simply make a 3-way connection in the wiring from the lighting coil and have one branch go to the light and the other to the rectifier. Hope this helps, good luck!

Honda FL250 Odyssey Variator Rebuild

 

Here are some photos of our recent rebuild of this 1982 Honda FL250 Odyssesy variator pulley, an early version of the style used on many modern scooters and even cars these days. Photos of this process seem pretty scarce out there so hopefully this helps!

The old variator assembly after removing the outer bell housing - notice the roller arms are flopping because the springs for these two rollers were broken - only 1 functional roller was left! Also, you do need an especially long puller to remove the variator from the driveshaft - the one we used was about 6" long

Each variator roller is held in by an M6 bolt with an M10 head, which is also held by a locking tab. We were able to use a large flathead screwdriver inserted through the center of the roller to bend it back and access the locking tab and bolt to remove them.

New rollers installed! We assembled each one completely with both springs, then levered each spring forward onto the roller arm. We used a spring puller to pull the end up, then a flathead behind the spring to hold it while using another flathead to slide it over onto the roller where it holds in place. Notice how the new rollers are holding firmly agains the central spindle now. When the engine is turning, centrifugal force has to overcome the springs on the rollers and thus spread the cones farther apart, so the drive belt falls lower - this is how it changes the gear ratio as you accelerate :)

Everything back together! And with the bell housing cleaned off you can actually see the manufacturers stamp on the retaining band. These were originally made in the USA by Salisbury for Honda.

We're Back! Unveiling Our New Shop in Millvale

 After a long and winding road, and a year working with Nice Bikes in Bloomfield, we're thrilled to announce that we're opening an expanded shop at a former cabinetry and glass block warehouse in Millvale.  For the next few months we will be open by appointment only as we continue to build out the shop and prepare for riding season, so please get in touch if you have a vintage ride that needs work and we can put you on the schedule.

Here is the address for our new shop:  531 Evergreen Avenue, Pittsburgh PA 15209

You can reach us by phone at 412.294.8666 or email slagheapcycles@gmail.com 

See what's going on in the shop through our Instagram @slagheapcycles

Closed For 2019 Season

Dear Friends and Customers,

Slagheap Cycles will be closed for the 2019 season. I'll be spending most of the year in California learning some new skills. After that, it is unlikely that we'll re-open for general service and maintenance, but will most likely go in a new direction with the shop. I'm sorry that we won't be able to help you with your bikes this year, and am grateful to all of you for your loyal use of our shop. Thank you for a good six years.

Sincerely,

Geoffrey

Slagheap Cycles
slagheapcycles@gmail.com

Rare Bike For Sale

Here we have a 1967 Honda CL77 305 Scrambler, the high performance and rarest version of the venerable Honda Dream. This version is twin carb and kickstart only, but it is still a 12 volt electric system, so you get decent lighting and better battery choices.

We've completely rebuilt the motor, and everything on the bike has been disassembled, refurbished or replaced, and reassembled. The bike came in with 13333 original miles and has *7* miles on a freshly rebuilt motor.

Here's a list of all the work that has been performed:

* engine sandblasted and painted
* top end bored .50 oversize w/new pistons, rings, etc.
* valves lapped and new valve stem seals
* all new oil seals and gaskets
* new clutch plates and springs
* transmission and kickstart mechanisms rebuilt, lubed and adjusted
* new fork seals and fork oil
* carburetors rebuilt
* new enduro-style tires
* new ignition switch w/2 keys
* new modern voltage regulator/rectifier
* new lithium-ion battery
* new seat cover
* most body parts sandblasted, aluminum polished w/vapor blasting or painted
* aftermarket turn signals with relay and switch and period-correct lens colors

Bike is not in showroom condition, but looks very good and was built to be ridden. Rides great, sounds great, and starts first kick. Also has a clean Pennsylvania title, a real rarity for bikes this old!

$4500

Please get in touch if interested, thanks!

Gone to Croatan...(actually Croatia)

Friends, the shop is going to be closed for a few weeks while Geoffrey tries to discover his sea legs sailing in Croatia. We will re-open on SEPTEMBER 6TH. We will not be checking our voicemail, and only sporadically checking email while the shop is closed, sorry about that. But we will be back at full swing in September. In the meantime, here's a few of the fun projects we've worked on this summer.

Shop full of bikes mid-season

All the nice new parts installed on a CB350:
Pamco ignition, Ricks' stator, VM30 carbs

Checking out the finished product:
"Is it faster?" "Yep"

Honda Aero 125 ready for its maiden voyage
1-year-only 2-stroke ripper

1965 Honda C200 - The mini Dream,
Oldest bike we've worked on so far

Bike For Sale - 1981 Suzuki GS450 EX

I know, I know, you're thinking a GS450...I've seen a million of them, one of the most ubiquitous of the UJMs of the 80s. But have you seen *this* GS450. The EX variant is pretty dang cool (in this writer's humble opinion) - nice rear seat cowl, and a tank design that is basically a throwback the the earlier cafe racer style...*knee protectors not included.

We did a lot of work to this bike after it languished in a basement. Valves have been adjusted with new shims, carburetors cleaned, and a year-old battery that has been kept well-tended. The only thing it really needs is a new front tire (tread is low). Buy it for what we're asking and we'll install the tire for free - just get a tire to us!

24k miles, clean PA title, $1250

CB450, CB500 Twin - Mikuni Carburetor Conversion

If you've ever had issues with your CB450/500 stock Keihin carburetors, you might want to consider this conversion. We've found the Keihin carbs from these bikes to be amongst the most difficult to get tuned correctly, especially on the CB500T with its additional circuits for the air cutoff valve, for which the rubber parts are extremely difficult to find.

Our frustrations with this led to a little experiment in which we replaced the stock carburetors with a set of Mikuni VM32 carburetors, as shown below:

You have probably heard of the Mikuni VM32 carburetor - it's a classic model used on a wide variety of small engines, and really popular for racing. It's extremely tuneable with a huge variety of adjustable needles, jets, etc, all of which are widely available.

Mikuni made many different variations on this carburetor for different applications. You may not have noticed, but there is something special about the ones we used. These were originally meant for 2-stroke snowmobiles and have small oil injection ports near the intake flange of each carburetor. We were able to convert these to be vacuum lines that can be used to synchronize the carburetors, which is very useful on any bike that doesn't have separate vacuum ports on the motor or intake manifold itself (think CB350, although you probably want to use a VM30 for the smaller motor).

The carburetor intake boots do need to be replaced to accomodate the Mikuni, but we were able to create a setup for the air boots that allowed us to use the original airbox. You will definitely want to experiment with the jet and needle sizes to get the correct fuel mixture at all throttle positions for your bike.

The only other real issue is that the choke levers, idle and mixture adjustment screws are usually "left-sided," so the right carburetor will be difficult to adjust. Right-sided carburetors exist, but are hard to find. However, there are different choke setups that can be installed, so once the initial carburetor setup is done, you can use the choke without much issue.

Also, we can do all this work for you if you're interested, just get in touch!

New Sign and a New Bike

We finally got a sign after 5 years in business, courtesy of Britt Lawson, who freehand drew the letters and then cut 3/16" plywood out with a scrollsaw. So now you can find us easier when cruising down Forbes Avenue. Thanks Britt!

In front of our new sign is our newest bike, a 1967 Suzuki K15P, also known as the "Hillbilly" - a street/trail that was their rival to the hugely popular Honda CT90. The big difference is that this one is 80cc and a two-stroke, and has two different sprockets in the back, the idea being that you could have one chain on the small sprocket for street riding, and then swap it out for a longer chain on the rear sprocket for trail riding. It's a super fun little ripper, with supposedly a top speed of 55. And of course, it's for sale. So get in touch if it strikes your fancy.

Hawking our wares on the world's biggest (and baddest) online marketplace

Ben, who setup our Instagram, has also been taking photos for our new ebay store, which you can find here: http://stores.ebay.com/slagheapcycles

Honestly, Ebay are a pretty awful company - but they're the only game in town when it comes to selling used parts online, and they know it. So, it looks like they'll be taking at least a 10% cut of anything we sell on their site...then Paypal gets their cut, but at least we can feel good that we're helping to keep the Post Office in business.

The good news is that starting our ebay store has also forced us to organize the chaos that was our inventory of used parts. Now we actually kinda know what we have in all these boxes! So, if you see something you like, get in touch through phone or email for better prices! Cut out the middleman!


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Look at the pretty pictures

Check it out, we now have an Instagram account for your viewing enjoyment! You can look at all the pretty pictures here: https://www.instagram.com/slagheapcycles/

#spaceleysprocket #jetsons anyone? #vsco #vscocam

A photo posted by SlagheapCycles (@slagheapcycles) on Nov 28, 2016 at 7:57am PST

Big thanks to Ben Filio for getting this all together!


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Time to go ULTRA

We've acquired some new equipment in the shop - an industrial ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning carburetors and other small parts. Ultrasonic cleaners use high frequency sound waves to generate microscopic bubbles in a water bath solution (it's called cavitation), and these scour the grime and dirt off, leaving clean metal behind. They are great for unclogging all the tiny holes and passageways in motorcycle carburetors.
The tricky part is finding an ultrasonic cleaner that is both tuned to the correct frequency (most are for jewelry, so their frequency is too high for industrial cleaning) and put out enough amperage to be effective (most are too weak). We were lucky to find one that meets both these requirements. Here are some of our early results:

AFTER      -    BEFORE

BEFORE

AFTER

In addition to our normal carburetor cleaning services, we will be offering the option of running your carburetor (or any other parts) through our ultrasonic cleaner. It's a good option if you want to do most of the work yourself, but also want to make sure that everything is actually clean, and all passageways are clear. We will run each carb through the cleaner, and any small parts you want to remove beforehand (such as jets, emulsion tubes, mixture screws) can be run in a separate basket. We will then blow everything out with compressed air afterwards to ensure it is clean and clear. Get in touch for pricing, thanks!

Pre-Summer Vacation

Attention Friends! With summer rapidly approaching, we are going to sneak in a little vacation before the height of riding season, so that we can be ready for you once it finally stops raining in Pittsburgh! The shop will be closed from Monday, May 23rd until Thursday, June 2nd. We will be back wrenching on Friday, June 3rd. Feel free to email us in the meantime to schedule an appointment for our return. Thanks!

Our new garage, where all the magic happens!

New Location, Open For Business

After a winter of epic moving, we are all setup in our new location. And we've already managed to fill every available space with motorcycles! The shop is at 2123 Forbes Avenue, in the Uptown neighborhood of Pittsburgh. We're easy to reach from Oakland, Southside, and Downtown Pittsburgh, and blocks away from the Boulevard of the Allies. We are also easy to reach by bus (especially nice for dropping off and picking up your bike) - all the 61 and 71 buses go within a block of our shop. So, we hope to see you as the weather gets warmer!

The entrance at 2123 Forbes Avenue - here is where you drop off and pickup your bike

Inside our new work area - already overflowing with projects!

Big News - We're Moving!

Well, after months and months of wrangling with bureaucracy, the day has finally come - we're moving our shop into the City of Pittsburgh. Our new location has a small self-contained garage that is all our own, as well as a large lot for storage.

Moving will be quite an undertaking, given the 3 years of used parts and motorcycles and parts of motorcycles that we have accumulated. Therefore the shop will be CLOSED during this process, as we get the new space ready for work.

WE WILL RE-OPEN IN OUR NEW LOCATION ON MARCH 1st, 2016
2123 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219

In the meantime, we are always available by email and often by phone. Don't hesitate to contact us for a spring appointment.

Our Favorite Two Strokes of 2015

Vintage two-stroke motorcycles are generally smokey, noisy, and terribly unreliable. A pain to work on but oh-so-fun to ride...unless you need to stop, that is. Front and rear drum brakes as standard equipment don't make for the most confident of braking. But, with very low weight and the increased horsepower of the two-stroke engine, they feel deceptively fast, and the acceleration can be a lot of fun. Here are our favorites that came in the shop this past year:

1970 Yamaha CS3 (the predecessor to the legendary RD series) - 198cc, kick and electric start, and supposedly a top speed of 80mph.

1967 Yamaha YR1 - one of the prettiest bikes we've ever had in the shop, this was a genuine cafe racer, and was designed to do the ton right out of the factory.

1973 Suzuki GT185 - definitely the smoothest-sounding vintage two-stroke we've had, very light and fast. A race between this and the CS3 would be interesting. And did you spot the Yamaha AT3 right behind it?

CB650 SOHC Starter Clutch Removal and Installation

One of the dreaded (and unfortunately common) problems on the SOHC CB650 is failure of the starter clutch. This engine is most commonly seen in the CB650 Custom, but was also used in the 1982 CB650 Nighthawk. The symptoms start out intermittently, with the starter taking a second or two of spinning once you push the starter button before it actually engages with the motor, and will get worse over time until it doesn't engage at all - you'll hear a loud whirring as the starter spins very fast because there is no resistance, and the motor doesn't get turned, so your bike doesn't run.

According to the shop manual, repairing the starter clutch that is the source of this problem requires splitting the cases - a massive job. However, it can be done by removing quite a bit less, and keeping the engine in the frame. There are some good tutorials about this at other sites, but here are a few pictures as well to aid you in your efforts.

Basic steps:
1. Drain the oil
2. Remove clutch cover
3. Remove oil pan
4. Remove clutch basket

Here is what you should be looking at with everything necessary removed from underneath the clutch cover. Notice the primary shaft has had all the gears removed, and the bearing retainer unbolted and removed (the retainer is held in by the 10mm bolts)

Above is the primary shaft in process of removal. This may feel like it is impossible to remove at first, but lots of patient wiggling and it will eventually break free and start to slide out.

 

This is the primary shaft removed from the case. Free at last!

 

 Looking through the hole left from where the primary shaft and bearing were seated, you should be able to see the starter gear linked to the starter clutch, and the chain going up and towards the rear to link the starter itself to the primary shaft. Look for the torx-head bolts behind the holes in the starter gear. Those holes, once properly aligned, will allow you to just barely fit a torx socket onto the bolt, one at a time. Engage the transmission into top gear and turn the rear wheel to slowly move the engine and get each bolt to the "5 o'clock" position when looking through the primary gear hole.

 We found the best way to remove each bolt was using a torx socket with a 1/4" drive socket wrench, going in from the oil pan to loosen each bolt when it was in the "5 o'clock" position relative to the right engine cover. As mentioned earlier, engage the transmission and turn the rear wheel to get the starter gear holes to line up correctly to give you access to each bolt.

It can be very difficult to actually get the starter clutch to slip out past the starter gear...lots of prying with soft tools will aid your cause (wooden wedges are great). Once you have it out, spend the money to replace ALL the disposable parts - springs, caps and rollers. Consider getting a good used starter clutch housing as well if yours looks beat up. It can be surprising how little damage can cause the clutch to cease functioning.

Finally, it can be difficult to get the torx bolts into the holes once you have the starter clutch and starter gear mated and reinstalled. Again, wood blocks are your friend. Pull the starter clutch and gear apart just enough to slip the torx bolt in, but not too much so that the rollers or springs fall out. And remember, once you have the starter clutch and primary shaft back together, you can test by pushing the starter button for just a second to make sure it engages...so that you don't waste your time putting the whole bike back together and then realize you didn't do it right. Good luck!

Pop Quiz

Here are some examples of difficult to notice damage to parts that can cause big problems. Look at the photos and see if you can spot the problems with each component. Answers are below. Good luck!

EXHIBIT A

 

EXHIBIT B

EXHIBIT C

EXHIBIT D

A. See the crack on this ignition coil? That's bad...if you are still getting a spark, the coil will imminently fail. This is especially a problem on bikes with the coils mounted very close to a hot engine.


B. See the crack on the overflow tube? That caused a fuel leak that can easily be confused with a bad float valve. Sometimes they can be soldered to seal the leak, otherwise you need to replace the float bowl.

C. Did you spot all the damaged teeth in these transmission gears? There are 5 that are especially bad, and a bonus sixth tooth that is marginal. The bike sounded terrible when running and couldn't shift properly.

D. This starter clutch has been working too hard...the springs are about to break through the outside, which is what has caused the hole that accesses them from the outside to become enlarged. This represents enough damage to keep the starter from engaging the motor at al.