NGWClub®, Inc.

I have been using NGK plugs for years. I typically buy them at NAPA. The plug in question is from a box of 10 that I purchased 2 - 3 years ago and it appears to comply with the "genuine" characteristics on the NGK web page. That said, I just noticed the box has cyrillic printing on it. I never noticed that before. It may be due to worldwide distribution of the product but then again it may indeed be a bootleg product.

A few years ago when the fake plugs hit the market, one way to tell if they were genuine was that the cyrillic printing appeared on the box. That says "made in Japan" in Russian and it indeed is supposed to be there. I'd say that you have the genuine (albeit a bad) NGK plug.

.......Paul

looking great. Keep it up!

I'm enjoying this uild, you are doing a bang up job. Any idea where this bike was used?

You mention not knowing what the second solenoid is for. I see a toothed ring gear on the front yoke of the rearend. Can't see it but is there a starter on there? If so the solenoid is probably for that. The starter on the ring gear would be for reverse. I'm just sort of guessing here though.

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sunnbobb wrote:I'm enjoying this uild, you are doing a bang up job. Any idea where this bike was used?

St. Louis Police Dept.

robin1731 wrote:You mention not knowing what the second solenoid is for. I see a toothed ring gear on the front yoke of the rearend. Can't see it but is there a starter on there? If so the solenoid is probably for that. The starter on the ring gear would be for reverse. I'm just sort of guessing here though. .

In tracing down the wiring, it appears to feed some of the police conversion stuff... switchable power feed to lights, siren, etc. The conversion wiring has proven to be well isolated from the basic CX500 wiring which has made it easy to track things down and get stuff working.

By the way, that 2nd solenoid had an internal short and smoked as soon as I connected the battery. A continuous-duty replacement solenoid is on order from an Ebay supplier. I had noticed about 56-ohms resistance between the +12V battery lead and ground with the ignition off before connecting the battery and that was a red flag. I expected an open circuit. After disconnecting the fried solenoid I had the expected open circuit with the ignition off.

Regarding the ring gear, it's probably part of a reverse mechanism that isn't present on this trike. I plan to try implementing an electric reverse but that will be at some time in the future. Right now I just want to get this machine back on the road.

Was the second solenoid used to power a starter motor for reverse perhaps?

I sure am enjoying your post, and the nice work and trouble shooting your doing. Thank You

sunnbobb wrote:Was the second solenoid used to power a starter motor for reverse perhaps?

Read a couple posts up from your original.

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I spent the last two evenings removing the coolant overflow reservoir. The plastic was severely deteriorated from engine heat - it's tightly sandwiched between the engine and the frame. Some of it crumbled when touched and the rest took a bit of convincing to remove. Turns out that the extra coolant reservoir that I found in the trike's rear box isn't correct and will not fit in the available space. I ordered a small "universal" coolant reservoir on Ebay and will mount it in a different location. There's lots of room on this thing so it should be fairly easy to do. Based on its dimensions, it might just fit in the donor bike's original battery location on the left side.

Next step is to install the carbs and try to get the engine to fire up... hopefully within the next couple of days.

This evening I installed the rebuilt carbs. The original intake manifolds (carb insulators) were in lousy shape. One was blistered from heat and the other was cracked all the way through the rubber. I obtained aftermarket replacements from David Silver Spares and they fit perfectly. I used a film of silicone dielectric grease to lube the rubber pieces a bit during assembly.

Tomorrow I will pick up some fuel tubing and a filter, hook up an auxiliary fuel tank and see if I can get this beast to fire up.

Fingers crossed!

IT'S ALIVE!!!

I connected an auxiliary fuel tank and the bike fired right up, even without the choke. Granted it hadn't been run in about 10 years (the plates expired in 2006) and it was cold and it stalled right away. A little choke and she fired up again and stayed running, warmed up nicely, idled smoothly at about 900 RPM once warmed up. The oil pressure light goes off right after startup.






While I was at it, I replaced the fried "2nd solenoid" (see an earlier post) and determined that the 7-volt regulator for the temperature gauge was shot. 12-volts going in, 0-volts coming out. Add that to my shopping list.

The charging system appears to work. It measures 14.7 VDC at idle and 14.9 VDC at ~3000 RPM.

Next steps are to flush the engine and cooling system and replace the thermostat... just because. I still need to check out the temperature sensor. Then it's on to the brakes, front wheel bearings, fork seals and tires. Then go for a ride in the park across the street to see how she goes.

Sounds good!

Have you checked/adjusted the cam chain tensioner yet?