Motorcycle Repair: CA95 Timing Confusion, crank shaft, long term storage

Question
Bill-
 I have a 1965 Honda CA95 Benly Touring 150.  It was in a garage since 1974 and in pretty decent shape.  No one wanted it because the engine was “Seized”.  This was my first attempt with a motorcycle.  The bike was not properly prepared for long term storage – just parked and neglected.  The pistons were stuck in the cylinders but no damage – so I got the following:  Two standard pistons and rings, set of valves, gasket set, battery, petcock rebuild kit, tank cleaner and sealer, air filter, throttle cable, and most important – service manual.  It was a lot of work!  I had the cylinders honed and the valves installed and adjusted by a bike shop.    
 I got it all back together and I had doubts about the timing – the service manual was a bit confusing.  There is a timing mark on the cam sprocket and a notch in the housing.  I lined up the mark with the notch.  I could not find any mark on the crank shaft sprocket so I lined up the keyway on the sprocket so it points toward the cam sprocket.  The pistons were TDC – seems right.  After I got it all together I referred to the service manual – it says to adjust the points so they ‘just close’ at the ‘F’ mark.  I did, and it would not start.  I had accidentally taken the cam off the spark advancer and wasn’t sure which way it went on – two choices.  So I changed the cam 180 degrees.  This is where I found an old posting by you and your advice was

… “After the point gap is set, you can move the backing plate until you get the points to just open at the F mark alignment on the flywheel/stator”

You advised ‘just open’ the service manual said “just closed”.  With the points cam rotated 180 degrees I could now adjust to ‘just open’ at the ‘F’ mark.  The engine started – runs a little rough, but it did start and run.  Very hard to restart when it’s hot.   I did completely disassemble the carb.  Cleaned and soaked all the jets and set the float.  I think the carb is ok.  The service manual seems right – the plugs should fire at the ‘F’ mark (5 degrees before TDC) right?  Can you explain what the correct procedure is?

Thank you,

Steve Bean  

Answer
Steve, you can recheck your cam timing by putting the pistons back up at the T mark and looking to see if one set of valves is closed and the opposite set of valves is just open slightly. Rock the crankshaft back and forth about 20 degrees each way and watch the opened set of valves. As you approach the T mark, one valve will just be closing and the other just opening. If one valve is still closed, while the other one is opened,  then the timing could be off a tooth. Usually the keyway in the crankshaft coincides with TDC on the pistons, so your valve timing is probably okay.  You should have around 140 psi or more in the cylinders.

The spark advancer point cam should move back and forth against spring pressure. Because the ignition fires every stroke, the point cam location in reference to the base plate shouldn't really matter. What does matter is that the points OPEN at the F mark alignment. Bad error in the manual, if it says to CLOSE the points at the F mark. The ignition can only function when the points open the circuit, causing the magnetic field in the coil to collapse and discharge through the spark plug wire. Maintain the .014" point gap at all times. Moving the base plate to adjust the timing can affect the point gap a few thou, which changes the point open moment.

Check both plug caps for either NO resistance or 5k ohms, if the later ones are used. Be sure that the battery is fully charged, as you only have 6v to play with.

Bill Silver