double trouble

TRANNY? Here's an interesting thing that has been going on since I changed my cam, adjusted the valves and installed a new kicker cover. I'm not sure which of these things may be causing the problem I have with starting the bike. When I kick it over it will often jam and the pedal will not go down all the way unless I let it up a bit and then it will kick it through. When it jams, I release the pedal to about 10 or 11 o'clock, but it doesn't have that clicking ratchet sound like it's supposed to. BTW, this "jamming" has become more frequent - nearly every time I kick it now - and has become a real PITA. Tattoo says carry a few bricks around, as some of you have suggested before, but I suspect this is something mechanical in nature as I've always been able to kick it through before I made these changes. (He also said my valves may be a bit tight, though I don't think that would cause the kicker pedal to jam.)

CARB? Also, the bike is very hard to start first thing in the morning, sometimes taking 20 kicks or more. It seems that since I changed the things listed above it has been getting very hard to start. It also will fart or back fire once in a while as I try to start it, even if it's warmed up. I've had the carb off and cleaned it, removed the jets and blew them out. Mix screw is turned out 1 3/4 turns at present. Jets are CVP 50 pilot & 180 main. No vacuum leaks that I know of. I wonder if the new cam has caused this. Could it be the timing's off? It runs great when it gets going - it's just getting it going that's the problem LOL.

Pure guess on my part but perhaps a timing issue now?

Ignition timing a bit too far advanced?

Okay . . . But I haven't checked the timing since before I put the new cam in. Should I use the same timing procedure as before, like in the manual, or have things changed? I only static time the bike and it has worked great in the past.

How am I gonna know how to reset the timing? This sucks.

check to make sure the points are not too closed! double check the point gap

also if the valves were too tight it would actually be easier to kick as the cylinder pressure would be lower not higher. as it would be holding the valves open ever so slightly.

The point gap was smaller and I adjusted them back out to .018. I started to do the timing using my Acu-Timer gizmo. The instructions at letter "D" (see highlighted section of pic) say the narrow cam lobe is supposed to be at approximately where the points begin to open, but it's the wide cam lobe that is in that position. I wonder why . . .

Your probably off a little can you adjust the mag or distributer a bit if not your off one tooth on the dfive gear

Don't have a magneto or a distributor. The point plate can be adjusted to change the advance. But I risk kickback if I retard the timing too much.

Kick back will happen if its to far advanced. I forgot its a shovel .lol I would shift the plate over a bit and see what happens .according to tjhe accutimer .see how she fires off

Well, I retimed it again according to the Accu-Timer instructions, but this was before I read your last post - I didn't retard the timing from what it's "supposed" to be. Before I retimed it, I reversed the cam lobe on the shaft so I could use the test light on the narrow lobe, as per instructions. You are supposed to set the lobe as far counterclockwise as it will go (advanced) locking it in with the Accu-Timer so it won't move and then turn the plate clockwise until the test light comes on. That's when the points just begin to open. This has worked before just fine, but now it won't. When I kicked it over, it still coughed and still wouldn't run. Did this a few times with the same results.
I guess tomorrow I will try retarding the plate timing a bit as you suggest and see what happens . . .

I went on the shovel forum for some more feedback. One guy said that if the new cam hadn't been indexed right the timing would be changed. I'm sure that I put the cam in correctly - all the marks lined up - and the bike did run after that and ran well. I was also advised to recheck the ignition timing which I did twice, the second time with the cam lobe in the correct position.

I can't consult with Tattoo as he is down in Georgia for the week.

I seem to remember that when I changed the cam the bike started up as it normally did and only started this coughing and hard starting later on. A couple guys on the shovel forum suggested I look at the carb and the fuel pump in particular. Maybe the diaphram is compromised in some way.

The way it's looking, it's gonna be hard to find what the trouble is - too many variables .

When you did the engine repairs,(was it a cam and remill the intake?) did you replace the sparkplugs? Possibly plugs are the wrong heat range? Did you set gap to spec? How does it run with some octane boost in the tank? Luckily with a small tank it should not take long to run a bit of octane boost in it and see a difference. If it still runs and starts like crap with these things checked, you could still go further mechanically. This would just get the cheap easy stuff out of the way. If your timing checks out, these are easy things I would try.

Do you have a buddy with a known good ignition coil to try? Possibly weak spark causing hard starting and crappy running at times.

Did you check the quality of the spark?? bright blue/white, good...orange/yellow,bad....could be a condenser giving up the ghost giving a crappy spark...