As The Crank Turns

I put the CB360 in the frame and tried to kick it. Wouldn't budge. I yanked the clutch cover off and, although pretty clean inside, the discs were stuck together. I then tried to turn the crank on the rotor side. There was only about 120 degrees of rotation. Crap.

I pulled the rocker cover off and it actually looked pretty good. No oil starvation signs, which these bikes are known for. The cam actually turns right on the head's aluminum, no bearings! There was no liquid gasket between cover and head, so must it have been opened but not resealed. The motor now turned freely. Cam chain looked tensioned well. Valve springs compress with heavy finger pushing. Points side oil seal needs replaced.


Tensioners looked good, very good. I have the 2 marks on the vin stating the tensioner recall was done on this back in the 70's.




Rockers looked good too!


I put the cover back on, tried to turn it, locked up again! Pulled the cover off again and looked at the rockers. 3 moved up and down... 1 had a snap back. The spring was catching the cover and acting like mousetrap. Interesting that one side is held on with bolts, the other side had rubber plugs, and then you just pull out the rod.



After that I loosened all the tappets. I put the rocker box back on and low and behold, a rotating engine and working valves. Not sure if the spring loaded rocker arm was the culprit or over-tightened valves. Either way, she's loose. I need to clean everything up and do my research on cam chain settings and torque specs, then on to seeing if she'll fire.