CA95 Battery Help - Page 2

RobG · #16 06-12-2009, 05:22 AM

One note I will give you having worked with this small battery for some time now... Find a reliable trickle charger that you can use to keep that battery fresh. The bike is surprisingly reliant on the battery to complete the circuit. I can't start mine, even with the kick starter, unless the battery has just a bit of charge. This usually means throwing the bike on my 1amp 6v charger for about 5 mins. It starts right up with the headlight off. Then after about 10 minutes of riding it can usually sustain the headlight. I don't know for how long, but I only need it to pass inspection anyway

I know that there are circumstances in which you can bypass the battery, but if you are taking it to stock, it is best to just have some charge in the battery so you can eliminate that as a possible issue.

Smithers · #17 06-12-2009, 08:08 AM

Yeap the battery needs a charge if the bike is to start up. DO NOT keep trying to start the bike with a dead battery!! You can damage the rectifier they say. And it's just a waste of time. The battery will suck any power generated by kicking it - keeping the plugs from firing. I LOVE those Battery Tenders and I wish I had one of those when I was a kid! All I had was a medium sized charger and you can't even leave a battery on one of those without damaging it. If you put it on a big charger it will melt down - I did that once.

Those Battery Tenders are so cheap now and they work perfectly and prolong the batterys life as well. They make the regular size chargers and they make a smaller charger that is like a laptop power supply which charges slower but if you use it for a trickle charger/ conditioner you don't need anything bigger than that. If you buy the bigger one it works better for charging dead batteries faster but that's all.

I have a 6v and 12v Battery Tender and the 12V works good for car batteries as well. The only pain in the butt is storing these things and all their cables. I just find a box or a small canvas bag to throw them into. Just make sure and keep track of the accessories as they are easily lost. Keep them in the box or bag you use for storage or you'll never see them again.

Hotdoggin' · #18 06-15-2009, 07:00 AM

Ok, so i got it all hooked up on Saturday. I put gas in the tank for the first time and tried to crank it up... no luck with kick start and when i pushed the electronic start button, it just made a clicking sound.
So Sunday i attempted it again and the kick-start worked. it started up after a few kicks but felt and sounded like it was full throttle, which was pretty intense. I assumed it was the slide adjustment screw on the carb so i slowly screwed it out and it ended up dying when i started to adjust it; then i tried again and it wouldn't start.
I went back and forth with this for a few hours and if i let it sit for a few minutes, it would start. I could not seem to find the position of that screw where the bike would not rev so high and sound like it was going to explode.
if i screwed that screw out, it would idle weak and die.... I did do small adjustments too..
So i guess one question would be, i realize the fuel air mix screw is 1 1/2 turns from all the way in but what about the slide adjustment screw, choke, and anything else that would make it rev that high?

Smithers · #19 06-15-2009, 10:06 AM

Sounds like your throttle slide is not closing all the way. If that thing is closed then there is no way for the engine to get enough air for it to run that many RPM. Check to make sure the slide is operating like it should. Just take off the carb and have a look.

The 6V battery barely has enough oomph to start the damn thing when they are charged! It's funny how slow they rotate the engine. But mine seem to fire right up regardless. The batteries don't last too long without being on a trickle charger either. They are pain in the butt!

Hotdoggin' · #20 06-15-2009, 03:15 PM

Ok i did that today and it seems ok... i mean, it slid up when i pulled the throttle and when i let go, it pops back like it should...the grip and the slide...
But yeah, It seriously was reving SOOOO high when it started and i'd just turn the Slide screw out to counter it and then it would slow down and die.. it was like and either or...

Is it possible that the slide is sticking but the throttle grip still pops back when the carb is attached? Also is there a starting point for that throttle slide screw like there is for the air/fuel screw?

Also, i wasn't sure what to do with the choke. From my experience with chokes, you use them to start only and shut them off once it's started... when i did this to this bike, the bike would stop running as soon as i flipped the choke up (off).

and one thing to note, I believe this is the original carb so it's the one meant for the bike.

Smithers · #21 06-16-2009, 06:05 AM

Morning, well the only spring in the whole throttle and carb assembly is the main spring that pushes the slide back down. This is responsible for shutting the slide down and pulling the throttle back to the closed position. It's pretty damn weak IMO. Plus as the bikes get older the cables start resisting it much more so that might be a big problem for you right now.

Cables are relatively cheap and the throttle cable should be replaced if it's the original one. Unless your bike was stored in a vacuum tube like my black one was. But the blue one I surely had to replace the cable. You could always try and lube it as well...
I'm sure at this point you just want it to work as fast as possible.

So yeah, if the slide is sticking the throttle will not pop back to the closed position. The general starting point for the idle screw is like one screw out. They all are different when they are adjusted so you just have to have at it and make it work. It should not rev the engine like you are experiencing though.

If the carb is dirty or there is some grease in the slide or the carb where the slide goes into then it will stick. I've seen crappy fuel make slides stick and sometimes in 2 strokes the crappy fuel and too much oil will make the carb really act up in the way that you are describing. You just have to take it off and really inspect the cable and the carb itself again. I wish I could do it for you and get it going. I'm sure it's something dumb... but easily overlooked is what I mean.

At least it fired! But you want to be careful of revving it when it's cold. It takes half a minute to get the oil to circulate. When the oil isn't moving through the system it's causing some wear on the engine just as it fires up. And to have it fire up into a few thousand RPM rev is NOT good! haha poor engine. It won't kill it but it's bad practice to rev any cold engine as soon as it fires. When you get it operating properly you'll notice that you will hear some valve noise and a little rattling maybe as you fire up your cold 150. That's the sound from the parts hitting each other without any oil in the engine. The sound will then go away within moments. This is where those expensive oils come in handy in cars. But in the bike they will cause leaking from older seals from what I have experienced. The normal oil of today works just fine. Plus the parts don't have a large amount of pressure on them to cause so much harm. In a higher compression engine or in a car that is used every single day the increased wear will add up. Oh well that's a different subject.

And the choke, they can be a little tricky. They are only needed when cold on these little Hondas. You should never have to use it when it's warm or been running for a couple minutes. As you shut the choke off rev the engine a little bit as you do so. If the bike just wants to die when you let off the throttle then the idle needs to be adjusted. If you really can't keep the bike running as you shut the choke off then you have problems.

Smithers · #22 06-16-2009, 06:19 AM

The carb cleaning is important to how the bike runs. This is not a surprise but it's why I go into great detail on the subject here for everyone.

Carb Cleaning Fun #1

Carb Cleaning Fun #2
** Updating thread right now to include the carb dip cleaning / bath **

Hotdoggin' · #23 06-16-2009, 07:52 AM

Yeah, i felt pretty bad for the little guy too when it started up at full throttle... It was my first time to crank up a motorcycle in my entire life (not including my 77 Batavas moped) and it was almost traumatizing... haha

Because i live in a very small apartment and lack the tools and space for a proper workshop, i took my Carb to a local guy that rebuilds and fixes vintage motorcycles here in Austin a few weeks ago. Limey is the name of the shop and the guy seems not only extremely knowledgeable but also quite the perfectionist. He had cleaned it and got the slide to stop sticking as is was when i bought the bike about 1 month ago. And again, this is before i attempted anything...

As for the Throttle cable, the guy i bought the bike from about 1 month ago said it was bran new.

Excuse my ignorance here but let me get one thing straight. When you say the "idle Screw should be about around one full turn", you're talking about throttle slide screw or the fuel/air screw? Just want to make sure. The diagram in the manual i have is Terrible! And the design of the carb in the pics is totally different looking than mine so i was really confused with which screws went to what until i called a friend that has 3 of these bikes... he's just learning too so he can only be of so much help.. You seem to be the Master if you will...

At this point, i'm just going to take the carb off again this weekend and just toy around with it to see why this guy is wanting to take off so fast...

Hotdoggin' · #24 06-21-2009, 07:39 PM

Is it possible to over charge one of these batteries with a 6V trickle charger?
i've had mine on for about 8 hours and not sure if that is bad or not...

3beancrispy · #25 07-03-2009, 10:50 AM

air leaks around the intake could also cause over-revving, over-tightening the bolts or nuts that hold the carb on can also cause the carb slide to bind.
i recently ressurrected a ca95 from a 20 year sit and can sympathize with how unnerving the over-revving can be.
i would think that damage to the insulator could also cause this.

i started mine with 7.2v ni-cad battery from a RC car. dont think it had enough to turn over the starter (half the recommended ah as the original) but shone the lights and fired it up nicely.

trying to scrounge up some 5mm bolts for the petcock (fun)

matt in PA

RobG · #26 07-11-2009, 03:21 AM

I had an over-revving issue with mine as well that actually came from the liberal use of choke on startup. The biggest piece of advice I can give (since this ran my in circles for months) is to clean the main-jet on the carb early in the process. There are two jets which feed fuel to the carb. A main jet and a power jet. The power jet is tucked way up in the top of the carb and doesn't seem to get dirty on these old bikes when they sit. The main jet, however, gets pretty cruddy.

So... If the bike runs beautifully at screaming high rpm, but struggles and dies under normal rpm, it could be getting fuel from the powerjet but not from the main.

For me it was, it ran with the choke on, but not off. the bike wasn't getting enough fuel normally. But, choke on pulled too much fuel from the power jet so it revved out of control. I eventually got it tamed, but it would require one choke setting to start out from idle, and one choke setting to get going at speed.

Getting these two jets to agree on fuel required extensive cleaning and eventually raising the main needle 2 notches (though I also had a carb from a different bike so the mixture was probably farther off than just an old bike)

If it is still giving you hell, write down the position of the choke, throttle, and how hard it is running/not running. That will give us an idea of where 'healthy' is for the bike and what might be wrong.

Smithers · #27 07-11-2009, 08:14 AM

Rob you got this down to a science! Very good info.

RobG · #28 07-12-2009, 05:58 AM

I don't know whether I have it to a science or not, but I certainly got some practice in. I also tried almost everything before getting mine straight. Knowledge through frustration : )

Hotdoggin' · #29 07-13-2009, 02:28 PM

Thanks so much guys, really appreciate the info.
She's with a mechanic now and of course is running just fine for him... Murphy's Law i guess... if this happens again, i'm dissecting that carb like a frog in science class and using carb cleaner instead of formaldehyde...

safetyjon · #30 04-25-2012, 07:00 AM

hey all!
i bought a 65 benly last october and spent a little bit of time trying to get it's battery situation figured out, but then i bought a 75 cb550 and it's taken up most of my free moto-time. i pulled the old battery out, with most of the bits and pieces, and so it's sat for the last few months while i find the time.

i'm back at the benly now and have am looking for a replacement bolt for the battery ground wire. it's the bottom bolt that attaches to the frame and it seems to be missing from my setup now. the frame hole isn't even threaded, so i'm not sure what type of bolt it'll accept. photo attached.

thoughts?

jon