Won't fire
 

hello,fellow benly owners.its been a while but got my 63 restored with a new paint job,it looks great.have not figured out how to put pics from my iPad to this forum but my daughter will help me this weekend.my issue with the bike is this.i put a different head on and put the cam out of my old head ,all fit fine.with the bike back together,it won't even fire,it does backfire the odd time.there is spark,good compression,and is getting gas.as I see it on the plugs when I take them out.when I installed the head I had the cam at the top and the crank at the bottom and in a straight line.my battery is new.i have not tried moving the points to advance or retard timing,that may be my next task to see if it fires.i have not tried squirting fuel in carb as I don't want to get fuel on freshly painted engine.any help would be appreciated.there is a show and shine in my town on Sunday and was hoping to show up on my benly.thanks Rob

It won't crank if you don't set the points per the maintenance manual. I do it static. Line up the timing marks on the rotor in the window. Then hook up a multimeter to the point. Adjust it so it just closes at that point and tighten it down. Then take a socket and roll the rotor bolt back and forth across the timing marks and verify it closes at the correct time. Sometimes you throw it off slightly tightening things down.

Won't fire
 

thanks Robert42 not real good with multi metre ,but will try anfd figure it out.thanks again.

I offer a little known fact. There is a "cam type" lobe the points ride on. Looking at the spark advance straight on you will see it.

This little lobe can be installed 180 degrees off...and still look correct. The clue here to your problem is backfire. When this lobe is 180 degrees off, the engine backfires because, believe it or not, even when your cam/crankshaft alignment is accurate, your timing is 180 degrees off.

If for some reason, after removing and re installing the points cam lobe, your issue continues, add about 1 ounce of motor oil to each cylinder and re install the spark plugs. Should the bike fire up, you have low compression.

For now, I bet on the points cam lobe being 180 degrees off.

Won't fire
 

hi robert42 just tried setting the timing so that timing light goes on at the f mark.it won't come on til after the firing point has gone by and there is not enough adjustment to move the points that far,do you suppose that's an indication tha cam is out a link. Thanks rob

Spokes
 

spokes your the best.i turned the lobe 180 ,touched the starter and away she went.you are so the best,I can't thank you enough.i have it all redone now and will put pic on this site when I figure out how.i took this thing apart twice thinkin I'd done something wrong.its all worth it to hear it running .im using the tank panels I got from you,hope all is well with sam. Rob:)

Hip, hip, hooray! That's the best feeling - hearing it run when you think all hope is lost and you're in for another troubleshooting session. Congrats to Rob for successfully tackling the rebuild and a major high-five to Chip for solving the ultimate problem!
p.s.: Looking forward to the pics.