Starter Issues

[GS_in_CO]

Not the first question but - there is no way you can make that engine open the exhaust valve first if it is being turned in the correct direction. The bumps on the camshaft decide and the intake bump operates the intake valve first if the engine is turning the correct direction. (unless you creatively put the camshaft in backwards - not likely)

You probably aren't getting very much "exhaust" out the exhaust port because the throttle is closed. Am I right? Unless the engine can get a full gulp of air on the intake stroke (which requires the throttle be fully open) there is not much to push out the exhaust port. The suction on intake will feel weaker with full throttle.

4 marks on the camshaft end probably are leftover from the machining operation and have no meaning for this problem.

2 marks on the camshaft "gear"- is it a gear or a chain sprocket? If the sprocket can only be attached to the camshaft in one orientation because it is keyed, then probably one of the marks is what we're looking for. When the crank is at TDC both valves should be closed. One of those marks should line up with something on the head (or just be perfectly perpendicular to the head) when the camshaft is timed correctly against the crankshaft. I suspect the other mark is 180 degrees from the first so you have to look at the cam bumps or the valves stems to know which mark to use for reference.

Don't stay up all night!

[KevariMan]

Okay, so i checked the timing once again today, and i feel like its now like its supposed to be.
I dont know if i should call it gear or sprocket, but the timing chain goes with it, so its a chain sprocket(?). I also noticed that the timing marks on the sprocket are supposed to be on level with the cylinder head, if you know what i mean.

I was wondering, when i put my finger on the spark plug hole, its not exactly getting wet. There is a really faint smell of gas only, but its not wet in anyway, or atleast it doesnt feel wet but i can feel the engine pushing my finger and air rushing out the plug hole, feels like good pressure since i really had to use force to keep my finger tight around the hole.
I have cleaned the carburetor aswell, so that shouldnt be clogged in any way.

[GS_in_CO]

Chains go on sprockets. Gears have teeth that mesh. So you have a sprocket.

Marks level with the cylinder head makes sense to me so it's probably right if the cam bumps make sense to be in that position when the crankshaft is at TDC.

Finger smells of gas is just fine. Remember that we're working with a mixture of air and gasoline vapor - not a heavy spray.

Cleaning the carb is good but it might confuse things because often cleaning means changing settings and changing settings might mean that failure to start is because of carb settings rather than something else. So it can cause confusion about what is wrong. If you just dumped and cleaned the carb bowl but didn't change any settings then this is not a problem.

But it sounds like you are on your way as best as we can tell.

Good luck!

[KevariMan]

Ok, now i know the difference with gears and sprockets, thank you for explaining it.

Well i did twist the knobs on the carb, but there really was not any knobs except for the idle mixture, but that really isn't the problem since it wont even cough.

Also, this might not have anything related to this issue, but the starter get ''tired'' fast, then i give it a few smacks and it spins happily for awhile again.

Just need to keep on trying i guess, maybe it will cough up at some point

[GS_in_CO]

Fuel - air - spark. Basics.

For starting fuel needs to be "rich" in order to get enough fuel vapor from cold liquid. (that's what choke does - enrichens the mixture for starting) Of course you can go too far which is the meaning of "flooding" in the context of starting.

Spark has to be at the right time and sufficiently strong.
And you need some compression.

My Dad tells a story of getting a junked Model T car to run even though it didn't even have a carburetor. He used a pesticide sprayer to vaporize some gas into the intake manifold while the engine was being cranked. So mixture doesn't have to be perfect.....

I hope your battery and starter hold out until you find the combination.

[KevariMan]

Oh before i forget, there is a small, like ~2cm tall, brass coloured pipe looking thing, sticking up from the valve cover, right about where the timing chain is located.
Have any idea what it could be ? it propably isn't any missing sensor, since there aren't any treads for it.
It's blowing air out from there when i crank the engine, does this mean that my piston rings could be bad and let air go out thru the engine itself.
The ''pipe'' is located over the chamber where the timing chain goes, and it has like a small black piece of plastic right underneath the pipe. The black piece of plastic is basically against the camshaft and the other end of it is ''sealing'' cylinder head and the valve cover.
Its hard to explain since i have no idea what it is, but im more conserned about it puffing air out from the pipe.

I heard that i can test the piston rings by putting compression tester in the engine, cranking, get the reading and then pour some oil in from the spark plug hole and redo the test and see if the compression goes up.

There is also some sort of long but thin, cylinder shaped, metal object on the front plates next to the frame of the bike.
The object has 1 nozzle at the bottom pointing towards the engine and is otherwise sealed.
I was thinking if someone here knows if this has something to do with the pipe sticking from the engine since they both are located on the same side of the bike and the cylinder shaped object hasn't had any use until now and i still dont know what its supposed to be.
Diameters of the cylinder is ~15cm long and ~2,5cm wide

Oh and the bike is a Supermotard, and what i mean by the front plates is the place where the radiator is typically found on supermotards/enduros, between exhaust and gas tank.

[GS_in_CO]

I've not seen anything like the pipe thru the valve cover you describe. At least how you describe it and how I picture it.

However there is always a way to allow air to go in and out of the crankcase since there can be some piston blowby as well as air needs to go back into the case as the engine cools down after running. So my best guess is that it's the crankcase vent and should not affect getting the engine to start and run.

Modern crankcase vent piping runs to the clean side of the air filter on cars so the engine sucks and burns the oil vapors from the hot oil in the crankcase. In the old days (early 1960's) there was just a simple pipe venting to atmosphere. Motorcycles have more tricky arrangements because the crankcase volume changes as the piston (or pistons) go in and out. If you can't figure out the original vent piping you can use some fuel hose and clamps and put an inline fuel filter on it to prevent sucking road dust into the engine thru it. I'm thinking of a small one about the size of an old photgraphic film canister.

Yes, compression testing "dry" vs. "wet" is an indication of ring wear.

No idea about the small cylindrical object. Picture would help a lot. Doubt it has much to do with the engine - but I could be wrong for lack of being able to picture it.

[KevariMan]

Okay so, I went and got a picture of it. Hopefully this will clear something up. There are all 3, the cylinder shaped object, the pipe on the valve cover and the black piece of plastic right under it. The red wire is the solenoid wire, so that wont cause any confusion

[GS_in_CO]

This is an air-cooled engine, right? So I'm not seeing radiator mounting holes or a coolant expansion tank?

If it's air-cooled and has always been air-cooled and the frame is original for an air-cooled engine then my guess is that the engine pipe is the crankcase breather and the cylinder on the frame is some kind of expansion chamber volume connected to the crankcase breather. But I've never seen an arrangement like that and am only speculating.

What is on the top of the black cylinder? Is it closed or open?

[KevariMan]

Yes, this is the original air cooled engine and the frame is non-modified and meant for this exact engine.

So no coolant pipes, radiator holder etc.
The backup engine that was on this bike was also air cooled, but it didnt have any pipes on the top of the valve cover.

The cylinder is fully sealed from top and around, except for that little nozzle that comes from it at the bottom.

I have this problem of buying, bikes or cars that are more unique and you dont see everyday on the road, and it always takes a toll when i need to repair the engine, since there are no parts or instructions available anywhere.

So i'm pretty much open for any suggestion what these parts might be.

I was thinking here, this is totally something that i have no idea of and was just wondering, if the engine blows air from the pipe to the black cylinder trapping the air, and creating sort of backpressure for the engine making the compression better, or reducing blow by air ? this is probably all very funny sounding, but i mean it could right ?