Alright, I got the new throttle control in last night and promptly installed, so I should be good to start it now to go through torquing the head. Before I do, I noticed that the oil is almost gone, which lead me to the realization that I don't know how much oil it actually takes. There's no dipstick so I'm kinda at a loss. Any ideas? The plan is to kick it over this evening, if all goes well!

Sounds like your oil migrated down into the engine sump.

You need to pull the big plug at the bottom of the crankcase, drain it into a tin turkey pan, then pour it SLOWLY back into the oil tank, reserving the last few tablespoons if there's any debris in there.

I fill my oil tank till I can JUST moisten the tip of my index finger if I shove it in the filler neck all the way.

grandpaul wrote:Sounds like your oil migrated down into the engine sump.

You need to pull the big plug at the bottom of the crankcase, drain it into a tin turkey pan, then pour it SLOWLY back into the oil tank, reserving the last few tablespoons if there's any debris in there.

I fill my oil tank till I can JUST moisten the tip of my index finger if I shove it in the filler neck all the way.

That'd be my guess. The gas was drained before the trip out here, but I don't remember if the oil was or not. Better safe than sorry! Thanks, grandpaul!

So, there I was, full grin from ear to ear. Throttle replaced, oil drained and refilled, head gasket replaced, and gas in the tank. I was ready man. I pushed down on the kick lever to pull it around, leaned left, turned the gas on, and jumped.

No joy!!! What!?!?!

The what was due to the hugely uncomfortable slip. There was no "humph" like I would have expected if it was turning over. Nope, it completely slipped. Clutch issues from sitting? I have no idea at the moment.

Just as I was going to try her again I heard it. Yet another sickening sound. Not a drip, but a pour. Somewhere between putting gas in the tank, and my ill fated kick, the tank began leaking. So the slip was obviously a good thing. I can't imagine what I would have done had it started and then caught on fire.

Knowing what I do about the guy who did the previous work, I'm not surprised, but I'm still not happy. Oh well, life goes on and this too shall pass. I'm gonna start a targeted thread on the clutch issue, but I thought I'd update this for anyone who might have been curious as to how it went.

Jimmy_P wrote:So, there I was, full grin from ear to ear. Throttle replaced, oil drained and refilled, head gasket replaced, and gas in the tank. I was ready man. I pushed down on the kick lever to pull it around, leaned left, turned the gas on, and jumped.

No joy!!! What!?!?!

The what was due to the hugely uncomfortable slip. There was no "humph" like I would have expected if it was turning over. Nope, it completely slipped. Clutch issues from sitting? I have no idea at the moment.

Just as I was going to try her again I heard it. Yet another sickening sound. Not a drip, but a pour. Somewhere between putting gas in the tank, and my ill fated kick, the tank began leaking. So the slip was obviously a good thing. I can't imagine what I would have done had it started and then caught on fire.

Knowing what I do about the guy who did the previous work, I'm not surprised, but I'm still not happy. Oh well, life goes on and this too shall pass. I'm gonna start a targeted thread on the clutch issue, but I thought I'd update this for anyone who might have been curious as to how it went.

Stupid question but are you pulling in the clutch lever when you kick? I don't recall your Norton (or old bike expirence). Some people do this when they are too use to those new fangled bkes.

Nope. My hand was off the clutch. It caught every once in a while, but the vast majority of the time it was slipping. I've been asking around and checking over the bike, and I've got a suspicion that it's going to need a new clutch. Not the end of the world, but not what I expected either. I'll be messing with that while I try to find someone who I can trust to work through the seams on the tank. I did some more digging and it looks like they used JB weld to seal the seams instead of welding it. I don't know if they took it apart or what, but that appears to be the problem. I'll try to grab some pics this evening.

Jimmy_P wrote:Nope. My hand was off the clutch. It caught every once in a while, but the vast majority of the time it was slipping. I've been asking around and checking over the bike, and I've got a suspicion that it's going to need a new clutch. Not the end of the world, but not what I expected either. I'll be messing with that while I try to find someone who I can trust to work through the seams on the tank. I did some more digging and it looks like they used JB weld to seal the seams instead of welding it. I don't know if they took it apart or what, but that appears to be the problem. I'll try to grab some pics this evening.

The two places I can think of are a mis-adjusted clutch (the clutches rarely wear out) or a broken kickstart pawl (very common). Neither are disastrous.

swooshdave wrote:The two places I can think of are a mis-adjusted clutch (the clutches rarely wear out) or a broken kickstart pawl (very common). Neither are disastrous.

That's what I hear. It'll be interesting to see what I get into. Thanks again!

Do you have a belt drive. If slightly too loose, it will junp teeth on the crank hub. If so, just a slight adj. will bring it to functionality.