Motorcycle Repair: points, cam bearings, point gap

Question
what is the point setting on a 1971 honda cl 100

Answer
Frank, Honda specifies a point gap of .012 to .016"

Turn the motor over until you see the points open up as wide as they can go, measure and adjust the gap spacing. Once the gap is set you can loosen the backing plate screws and swivel the whole points plate around until you find the setting where the points just open when the F mark on the rotor is at the alignment indicator on the stator.

The problem with the 1970-75 engines is that the cam bearings are not very substantial and the cams get loose in the head. With the point advancer hanging off the end of the camshaft, any sideplay in the camshaft is going to "adjust" the point gap for you, which, in turn, changes the spark timing. With a loose cam, you will never be able to obtain correct ignition timing and the performance will be very poor indeed.

BTW.. Always have a fully charged battery in the bike for proper operation. These ignition systems are battery powered not magneto. When you only have about 6v to start with any dying/dead battery will suck up the charging system output, instead of relaying it to the ignition coil.

Bill Silver