AboutBill Silver Expertise Need help with vintage Hondas from the 1960s? I am an expert with 250-305cc bikes in particular and most all of the other pre-91 models, in general. I do NOT claim to have a great deal of experience on Gold Wings, Cruisers, ATC/ATVs and dirt bikes.
Experience I have owned/ridden/maintained Honda motorcycles for 35 years. I have written five books on Honda repairs and collecting. I was a service manager for two Honda shops back in the 1980s.
Organizations VJMC (Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club) of North America
Publications VJMC newsletter, as editor for two years and as contributing editor currently.
Question I hope you have time for this. I found this bike a while back and it had been sitting for a long time (35yrs). When I initially got it it would kick, not fire but turn over when kicked. I have not gotten into the motor at all as I did not think I would have to. I know, silly me. Problem is now it will not kick over at all. I do not know much about bikes but I can fix stuff. Is disassembling the motor/head the next step, and if so is there a diagram on line anywhere, not instructions so to speak but at least an expanded view. Is this even where to look next?
Any help would be greatly appreciated... I really like this old bike and would love to see her runnin' again.
Answer Cody, the CL90 was my first motorcycle a long time ago. I rode one 1500 miles in three days, in my foolish youth. They are pretty rugged, but do need maintenance and care... and a battery! If you are trying to start the bike w/o a battery you will do more harm than good. The ignition system requires a 6v battery to run the engine. With a good battery, the ignition points need to be cleaned and gapped to .014" and the point plate adjusted so that the points just OPEN at the F mark alignment on the flywheel/rotor - stator alignment.
When bikes sit for that long, often the pistons stick in the cylinder bores because of condensation buildup inside that rusts the rings to the cylinder walls and glues the rings to the piston grooves.
If it still turns over, you have to check the valve clearances at the top of compression stroke and verify that they are .002" loose.
You MUST have a clean fuel system, from gas cap vent to the carb float bowl. There are tiny holes in the jets that become plugged up with evaporated fuel solids and that prevents them from starting/running well. Everything must be clean and clear.
If you have access to a compression gauge, check to see if there is sufficient compression to fire the cylinder off, properly. If you keep kicking and kicking when there are unchecked/unrepaired issues with compression, spark and fuel metering, you will eventually break the kickstarter shaft, which will require an entire engine teardown to repair.
On-line microfiche illustrations can be found at www.cmsnl.com
