dac181's streetfighter build thread
 

Well most people have seen my bike in the new member section or the F3 section by now so I figured I'd go ahead and start this build thread. I'm gonna throw some nice photo's up and go ahead and warn you guys that this will be a winter long project. I plan stripping the frame and repainting it a silver metallic, customising the factory harness or just building one, and basically getting it where its streetable again. Now for sour eye candy.

The bike as it sets... looks like its sad and lonely.
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Yes that is a lawnmower battery... why? because I got it that way haha.
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I'm happy with this. A new one is over $200 and thats what I have in the bike.
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Don't know what's going on here, overheating? abuse? Anyone have some for cheap?
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Ok so I think about to say screw it and pull the wiring harness and go over it with a fine tooth comb to try and sort out what the hell is going on with it. I have no idea what is keeping it from firing. I omh'd out both coils and got a reading of 3.7 which from researching on here seems to be the norm. Gotta check the voltage out of the coils still. Do the F3's have a diode in the ignition that reduces voltage like some of the other honda bikes? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Not really sure about your questions, amigo. But I've seen a lot of bikes in worse shape turn into real gems. I look forward to progress. My advice would be to figure out the ignition problem before you hack up the harness, that way, you're the amount of problems you could possibly have. If you hack it up and still have problems, then you won't know where the problem or problems are.



Edit - Is that a car battery? Or are my eyes playing tricks on me?

No that's a lawnmower battery... It came with the bike. After I pay a few bills I'll be buying a proper battery but for getting it running I think it will do the trick. It works better than my quads battery so I'm keeping it atm.

I got the bike to run for a piece today. I went and bought a simple push button ignition switch to bypass the ignition solenoid, poured a little gas in the carbs, full choke, and hit the button... Brrrrmmmm Brrrrmmmm haha. :icon_band: I'll get some pictures of how its done. It's only temporary and basically didn't want to buy a solenoid till I was sure it was bad and now I know it is. I found something else out too... The fuel pump the previous owner had on it worked but leaks like crazy and also the petcock on the tank is leaky. Anyone have suggestions or a link to a how-to on converting to gravity feed?

Alright small update. Depending on how Saturday goes while working on the bike, I should be doing a full tear down next week to re-repaint the frame, check bearings, and etc. Also gonna paint the cam cover while the engine is out. Frame will be painted either silver metallic or a black metallic. I thought about polishing the frame just on the outward side but decided it would take too long. Everyone cross your finger, say a prayer, or whatever you do for luck that the bike will be up and running come Saturday so I can get the ball rolling and have this thing ready come spring.

DO WORK! (my version of good luck)

This is from my other post, I'm lazy and don't wanna re-type everything in a different way so I'm just gonna paste it to log it in my build thread:

Found out the factory pump wiring will work the pump I bought. Was pretty sure it would but not certain. Tested it today and it works great, now I just have to figure out where my soldering iron and solder is at... also gotta figure out if I want to use a 90 degree elbow on the pump with a small piece of fuel line between the pump, filter, and petcock or use the filter that came with the pump. Thinking I'm gonna go with the elbow and put a fuel pressure regulator in line to the carbs to keep the pump from flooding them on start up. Anyone know exactly how much pressure it is the float valve require to close/open?

EDIT: Found all my soldering stuff thought I'd throw a few pics up.

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Not very much pressure at all , the stock pump is a really low pressure pump - just enough to make sure at WOT that you're still keeping the floats at the right level in the carbs. I've seen people saying that it's around 2-3 psi, but I don't know for sure.

Thanks Conrice. This pump should be fine then it's advertised as only being 2.5-3 maybe 4 psi. I should be able to just run without a regulator. I'm gonna be trying to get it running tmrw and the rest of the week if necessary. I do have to get my Camaro running first but I'm practically done with just gotta reconnect some lines and get a new battery.

Right on man, I look forward to seeing you report that it's running!

Just a small update. I've been sick the past week with a head cold or something and the shop isn't fully enclosed, so I haven't done much. I did order a starter solenoid, battery box that is all there, and some foot pegs for the front. I expect all of it to be here in the next 2 weeks. I think the foot pegs will take the longest as I've already got tracking info for the other stuff. I also bought a proper battery for it today and put the lawnmower battery... back on the lawnmower! lol. :icon_werd:

Well, the bike is running. FINALLY! I can't wait to start getting everything torn apart, inspected, and getting the frame painted/possibly powdercoated. I'm just stoked about getting it to run.

I got the new(to me) starter solenoid today and installed it. At first it did the same thing as the old one, the clicking and all. So I was discouraged cause I didn't know what else it could be. Turns out it was the side stand safety switch, which someone before me had cut out of the wiring harness completely. I came to this conclusion by tracing wires on a wiring diagram a customer rep from Honda emailed me after a call to figure out fuel pressure and such. I still haven't got the tank back on as I'm currently fabbing some lines for the high speed air on the carbs as it was also missing. Pics will be up later tonight.

EDIT: Throwing up some pics of the "hose" I made. I used heater hose and a piece that was removed when I deleted the air solenoid. This cost me about $3 for 1 foot of hose which was way too much but it was the minimum purchase.

For the "low speed" I had this small piece of fuel line that came with the fuel pump I ordered for my Camaro laying around and just so happened its OD was the same as the ID of the hoses so I just stuffed it in there to connect the two together as you can see in the pic below.
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For the main air inlet to the carbs I cut a small section of heater hose, stuck it on the inlet, and then with a little pressure shoved it in between the carbs. I then took the small hose that was left from removing the air solenoid and coerced it into the heater hose.
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After getting the left over tubing in between the carbs and into the heater hose, I had to use a pair of channel locks to turn it as it was a VERY snug fit. Got it turned, trimmed off the excess and used another small section of heater hose to connect the inlet tube from the air box.
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Well I just wanted to post an update. Bike is gonna be on hold till after the holidays. Anything that I do to it will be small maintenance type stuff, oil/filter change, thermostat, cooling system flush, etc... Gotta make sure I have money for bills and Christmas gifts for the family haha.

I hear that.

Well I haven't been on here in over a month, BUT I finally have funds to start back on the bike!!! I've got about $400 to spend on it and hopefully I can get it back on the road for that. I'm not sure but if not I'll start saving again. Weather permitting tomorrow I'm gonna start removing the exhaust and wiring harness. Then next week I hope to trailer it to my dad's shop and take the engine out, remove the front end, and clean the frame up and get it ready for paint. Super excited about finally getting back started on it. Any tear down tips would be greatly appreciated.

Great news man! Take tons of pics!

As far as advice - since the motor is the biggest, heaviest part of the bike, I make that the base of the teardown. I tear everything off of the motor until all I'm left with is a motor on some jack stands.

Well I wanted to post up a video of it running before I start working on stripping the bike to the frame. All my money I had went to my truck for tires and repairs so I'm now back to a little here, a little there. I did get the tank mounted back, so that's a plus.

20140201_141953_zps48b9e139.mp4 Video by dcrave181 | Photobucket

Also I plan on changing the oil since I gotta pull the oil cooler to see if I need a new one or just need to replace the o rings.

Man, I don't know - something doesn't sound right in that vid. I can't tell what it is, because it seems to start right up and it responds to you giving it some throttle. Is it running on all 4 cylinders?

Just took a listen to video. Im not sure it's running quite right. I cant put my finger on it but maybe one of the cylindars isnt firing as it should.
Maybe its just the video or something. Or it could be my old, rock n' roll induced hars of hearing.:-)
Either way, its cool that you got it going.

Well I plan on pulling the oil cooler soon and changing all the fluids. I'll check the plugs one might have fouled since it's been sitting for the winter.

Could also be an exhaust leak, that can make it sound like a mis-fire.

I suggest doing the PAIR mod.

makes it easier to diagnose problems...

This is my general opinion as well. Have you examined the entire exhaust including the headers and also the header gaskets? Even the studs, see the state of those. Kind of sounds like a good bit of air is getting out. I hear this same sound often when peoplle go into the shop with holes in along the pipe somewhere.