1970 Honda CL350 issues

Maisonvi

Maisonvi

Grass-Roots Vendor
Platinum Member
Thanks to @DaUberSchwebel I now know there is a motorcycle section. Figured I can post in here and see if I can get some advice.

I have a 1970 CL350 I bought a couple years back. Bike has ran well since I bought it, but towards the end of last season I had issues with spark on one cylinder. Sometimes it would be ok, other times, I would lose 50% of my power. If I moved the plug wire sometimes it would work again, but not always. New plugs had no effect.

Now Im pretty good with my car, but carbureted bikes that are older than I am Im not at my strongest. Any one have any idea what could be going on here? I will admit I havent had much time to really work on it, but I dont even know where to start on a points and condensers system. Anyone worked on these before?

Here is a pic of the bike:
 
Unfortunately on these bikes the coils are part of the spark plug wire. Its very rare for a coil to go bad, but it is common for the wiring to rot and the condenser to go bad. However both cylinders share the same condenser. Is it the same cylinder misfiring? Do you have a set of feeler gauges, a test light and or a timing light?

I would first visually inspect the plug wires. You can also remove the gas tank, turn off the garage lights and start the bike up. There will be enough fuel in to bowls to run for a couple minutes. You may be able to see arcing if the wires have some sort of defect. You can move the wires around with some sort of non-conductive tool also.
[doublepost=1468518674][/doublepost]Also check all the connections in the ignition system. Those butt type connectors on old Hondas get funky. Sometimes lightly steel wooling a connection and putting some dielectric grease on them can work wonders. Once you check all that I can teach you how to time it and gap the points. If you have had it for a couple years and it has never been done, I'm sure they are off. I did mine every three months.
 
Last edited:
DaUberSchwebel said:
Unfortunately on these bikes the coils are part of the spark plug wire. Its very rare for a coil to go bad, but it is common for the wiring to rot and the condenser to go bad. However both cylinders share the same condenser. Is it the same cylinder misfiring? Do you have a set of feeler gauges, a test light and or a timing light?

I would first visually inspect the plug wires. You can also remove the gas tank, turn off the garage lights and start the bike up. There will be enough fuel in to bowls to run for a couple minutes. You may be able to see arcing if the wires have some sort of defect. You can move the wires around with some sort of non-conductive tool also.
[doublepost=1468518674][/doublepost]Also check all the connections in the ignition system. Those butt type connectors on old Hondas get funky. Sometimes lightly steel wooling a connection and putting some dielectric grease on them can work wonders. Once you check all that I can teach you how to time it and gap the points. If you have had it for a couple years and it has never been done, I'm sure they are off. I did mine every three months.
Click to expand...

Cool man I will try all this. Yeah its always the same cylinder (right side) and no I have never set anything in the 2 years or so I have owned it.
 
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