So the 1969 CB160 has had trouble idling lately, maybe the last 6-8 months, and I've been too busy to do anything about it (what with moving across the country and what have you). I wasn't sure what it was -- dirty points? valves? bad plugs? uneven spark? timing? carb issues? I had put a new throttle cable on and that's when the trouble had started, or so I thought. Someone told me to switch around the tops of the carbs (which is where the cable mounts into the slide) -- apparently there is a left and right one, which seems weird as the carb bodies are identical for the most part, except for where the choke is. I had also switched out a float bowl, as the right hand side one was leaking. And the new one was leaking now too. Was the float sticking to the gasket? I put up with it, and just puttered around the neighborhood in PHX and in Boston, but last weekend was the time for action.
I adjusted the valves -- they were close, but not perfect. I checked and cleaned the points. Seemed to be fine. I checked the timing -- slightly off, but got it right. I pulled the plugs and cleaned them; they're fine. I pulled the right hand float bowl, the one that was leaking and that I had tried to fix once. I slathered on a little more JB Weld, and that did the trick.
But it was the float height all along. I usually adjust float height by using a drain screw, drilling through it, and using clear gas line through the screw and help up next to the carb to determine float height. I couldn't do that with this one, since the mount for the screw hole was cracked and that was where gas was leaking from (well, one of the spots I found out). So I fiddled, thought it wasn't getting enough gas (but didn't think it could be getting too much... because then the gas would come out of the overflow tube, right?). Lo and behold, the float height was way off. I took off both carbs and adjusted them by hand using a caliper. Got 'em to within .5mm I estimate. Waited overnight for the JB Weld to dry, snapped the float bowl back on, gave it a kick, and boom! Perfect idle, and the idle adjustment actually works properly again. Float height was always on my list of things to do, but I finally got around to it and everything else. Now it purrs (and kind of rattles and shakes and spits, but in a good way).
So there is the new JB Weld, all around the drain screw and on the underside of the bowl. Hope nobody notices and gets all pissy about it. Actually, I don't give a shit. Thing rides killer, that's all that matters. Viva CB160!
Got my records all shelved but not quite sorted through. I will get to it. But I pulled out two records that are fantastic, and I am going to tell you about them.
First up is Tina and the Total Babes. It's Tina Luchessi, from amazing and legendary bands such as the Trashwoman (along with Kreashawn's mom!), the Bobbyteens, AC/DShe, Deadly Weapons, Top Ten and the Midnight Snaxx (with Dulcinea Gonzalez from the Loud Mouths!). This record came out in 2000, and on a trip to San Francisco, Matt Howe turned me on to it. It's amazing power pop at its best, rockin', one foot stuck in 60s bubblegum, and just plain tough. They do covers by Holly and the Italians, the Messengers, and the Demons. And the originals are killers. Check out her current band Midnight Snaxx, they're rockin'!
The second record I dragged out lately is one I hadn't listened to for a while: The Fluid's "Clear Black Paper." I listened to this at the record store I worked at (Fallout Records in Seattle!) when it came out in 1988 -- all of us who worked there dug it and we played it a ton. They were the first band outside of Seattle to sign with Sub Pop (it's SP016), and although they were a little like some of the bands that would get painted with the "Grunge" label, they were also full bore. The first song on side 1 is a killer, with some tambourine shakin' going on.
Man, couldn't find a studio version of this, but it rocks. Just ask Keith Morris!
They put out a couple more records, but none topped "Clear Black Paper" IMHO.
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