Continuation - 1974 TS 250 - More riding-Need tuning advice

[neomuzzi]

Puffs,

You have some really good observations and truth is, I have no idea. I agree that it is actually more probable that the bike has more miles on it and that is a new speedo...

But I'll take some more pictures of stuff that speaks to the chance it might actually be correct. Or perhaps maybe they will tell just the opposite. But would be fun to chew on it a bit more with you guys.

More to come one day soon. Too lazy to head down 1 flight of stairs and grab pictures with my phone...

I DO have an update though. Based on what the other fellas suggested around the ignition ideas, I pulled that cover off and advanced the timing about 4 degrees. I think I might have set it wrong way back when I first got the bike running. Now the bike pulls much harder. It still peters out eventually, but I would say I am doing 4-5 mph more in every gear. Feels more "natural" the way it revs out. I'll be more scientific tomorrow and use a timing light and all the goodies to make sure I am in spec. For tonight, I just slid the plate a couple mm to the left. Revs much nicer. Idles way nicer, had to turn that down a good amount.

As far as buy a fast bike, I get your point. I have faster ones and slower ones in my small collection, and to me a big part of the fun is trying to make them "right". If I make them "right" and it is not right for me, then I let them go. If I make them right and they are right for me, they stay. I really like this bike, it has a very stable attitude and even a hard to imagine "torquey" 2 stroke. I am 100% certain that that lower end grunt is to blame for the missing higher end HP due to port mapping but I'm good with that.

Cool that you are all sharing your thoughts and helping problem solve. Sincere thanks for that.

Keep you posted.

MG

[Puffs]

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[neomuzzi]

Folks,

The knock is still a mystery. It has toned down like 80%. I really have no way of explaining it. Doesn't seem to affect any aspects of the way the bike runs.

I didn't actually get scientific yet, but I did go for a ride and as stated, the bike pulls much better. It also starts and idles way better from cold. I'll gather the actual timing data in the next couple of days. Perhaps next week at the latest.

Going to double check the points too because it still kind of just maxes out in the same range as it did before. Today's ride led me to believe that perhaps it just doesn't have enough charge to fire the coil at higher RPMS. What brought this thought on was that after I was riding for a while, the bike didn't want to rev past say what the middle of the gear was just before. If I rode it at low RPMs it ran fine. They after a little while, as thought the battery charged a bit, it would rev a bit higher. The battery did take a decent charge when I got home and the charging light never turned off on the bike the whole ride which in the past it has.

If I turned on the light or even a blinker, the bike wanted to die. I had to keep it revved pretty high with the clutch in around some traffic light turns or it would bog down.

Is the power dynamo 12V system the only good option here? Perhaps the genny is fine and another component is aging in the charging system.

I have a couple of images here that to me, make the bike seem pretty new and unused... Looking forward to your thoughts.

thanks,

MG

[neomuzzi]

another pic

[Puffs]

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[Blurredman]

The felt attached to the contact breaker itself is normal- it is there to catch excess oil on the cam that would be provided by the other felt. Or so the factory manuals say. There is a rectangular hole so that the points foot is not lying on the felt- but the cam.

[parrbd]

Looking at those butchered screws makes me think this bike has lots of miles on it. The first thing I would do is burn out the muffler. I have to do that twice since 1985 on my ETZ and many times on other two strokes.

[Andy_C]

Whether the felt should be under the heel of the contactor breaker or not I would remove - surely it will affect the opening / closing / gap of the points - I would at least try it without the pad.

My ETZ once had problems with intermittent running / stalling, that was down to electrics, I checked all of the connectors and tightened them up - just slightly close them with a pair of pliers and re fit.

Some were pretty loose.

Ever since doing that it has run faultlessly - worth a look perhaps?

[Puffs]

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[DAVID THOMPSON]

i have had problems with fuses lately both new and recycled ones from junk cars

and lamps

new fuses and lamps being found DOA as they are poor quality

i used to recycle lamps as salvage from cars the son was junking

but my supply is low as the cars are so new the bulbs are not worth salvage

and wiring harness parts from cars made after 1995 are junk and not any good to make patch wires
in an other bike or car
i slammed the door the other day on my 2004 vw bug and the red safety lens fell apart
thats in bottom of door
there is no hope for it.. 15 year old less than 130,000 miles and wait a few micro seconds and something will break
dave