I realized I never followed up on the blue Ducati/Vespa coils. I ordered two of them ($35 each off of Amazon). Per the NL Morini site, these coils are for use with the magnetic pickups that have the diode built-in to them. The coils I was replacing had the diodes built-in, and were for the magnetic pickups without diodes. However, the NL site also had a schematic for making your own transducer with basic electrical parts, including a diode part number. I ordered these ($5 for a pack of 100 as I recall) and soldered them in on the red wires going from the magnetic pickup to the coils. I also had to extend the ground wire for the coil mounted on the right side of the bike so it could reach the ground point on the bike.
The bike fired up on the first kick and starts much, much easier now. The old coils had gotten noticeably worse in starting performance and it had gotten to where the motorcycle had gotten very difficult to start. For under $100, this is hugely improved.
I need to ride it more on the road to see what it does. Around the property it seems like it dies at full throttle, but otherwise it absolutely makes more power and doesn't seem to run out like it did. I suspect that this observation is likely due to the carburetors, which as I'd said previously are Dellorto PHBH 30s, whereas 28s were standard. I could try changing them out to 28s, or could try playing with the jets on them some. However I want to ride it more to see what it does there, get the rear brake finished up, put something in for the rear shock, and I would also like to do the 12V conversion. I think that will prove beneficial.
One complaint I've had riding it is the very narrow steering angle that this seems to have. There's not much turning of the bars at all compared to my other motorcycles, but I guess this is just how this bike is.
New Owner with 501XE Camel
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Are you sure that your alternator is a 6/12V one?
I only know a little bit from the Camel 501 Electric Start. This has the 200W alternators with the thicker wire directly on the nucleo package.
I wonder wether a XE still wears the 6/12V alternator, but don´t know. Others will do
I only know a little bit from the Camel 501 Electric Start. This has the 200W alternators with the thicker wire directly on the nucleo package.
I wonder wether a XE still wears the 6/12V alternator, but don´t know. Others will do
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Yes, it's a 6/12V alternator. It's kick start only (no electric start). The battery was 6V when I bought it (I replaced it with another 6V as the old one was dead). All the 6V electrics do work. The electric start models were 12V only.
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Ok, wasn´t sure about that.
Have you tried, changing the position of the needle?
Have you tried, changing the position of the needle?
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Position of the needle on the carbs? No, I haven't tried that and I could. I don't remember where it was set when I took them apart, I think they were probably on the leanest setting.
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Beware the PHBH needle retaining circlips as if they are off and on a few times can get a bit slack and might benefit from just nipping up if they do. I have been playing ( in the broadest sense of the word) with some PHBH28’s for the better part of 18 months. I recently acquired and refitted some parts of my airbox that had been modified before I got it and that really improved my running issues, which included a severe stutter at 4000 rpm and popping back on the overrun.I had 122 mains and have dropped to 116. I think there is now a slight lag if I open the throttle wide so may go up to 118.
John
John
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
John, what parts of the airbox did you replace that had been removed? My airbox seems to be complete and stock.
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Last night I did some checking around on eBay and managed to score three PHBH 28s. I figure out of the three I should have most of the parts needed for making 2, and then make sure I have appropriate jets. Hopefully that will help things.
As far as I can tell, there is nothing missing from the airbox. When I put a new air filter in, it was slightly larger than the original. The airbox had a plastic hat that went inside the main box and so I removed that (but still have it) and everything fit perfectly. I suppose there's always a possible cause. But since I've got these carbs coming, I'll try starting off by rebuilding them and then swapping them on to see if that doesn't fix things.
John, you said that you had 122s and swapped to 116s, but the 116s seem too lean. What were you finding with the 122s that made them seem too rich? Just hoping to learn from others so I can hopefully get it as close to right on the first rebuild.
As far as I can tell, there is nothing missing from the airbox. When I put a new air filter in, it was slightly larger than the original. The airbox had a plastic hat that went inside the main box and so I removed that (but still have it) and everything fit perfectly. I suppose there's always a possible cause. But since I've got these carbs coming, I'll try starting off by rebuilding them and then swapping them on to see if that doesn't fix things.
John, you said that you had 122s and swapped to 116s, but the 116s seem too lean. What were you finding with the 122s that made them seem too rich? Just hoping to learn from others so I can hopefully get it as close to right on the first rebuild.
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
The airbox on my Coguaro was the cylindrical type, missing the flowerpot. The rear of this mates poorly to a box shaped moulding.I recently became aware that on these 507 bikes there should be a cylindrical part running internally to the filter, between the two circular end bits which was also missing. However replacing a flowerpot made my running much better, in fact the opposite of others experience with Darts etc, not perfect yet though.
Before this It was running bigger main jets 122, so I arbitrarily put the smallest ones I had at 116. I now have a slight lag if I open the the throttle quickly at speed. I have 118’s so will see whether these are better or worse.
Hope this makes sense
John
Before this It was running bigger main jets 122, so I arbitrarily put the smallest ones I had at 116. I now have a slight lag if I open the the throttle quickly at speed. I have 118’s so will see whether these are better or worse.
Hope this makes sense
John
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
Thanks. When these carbs arrive that I've ordered I'll take stock of what I have in them and then decide what to do jet wise to start.
Re: New Owner with 501XE Camel
I've not updated on my 501 in some time. At this point, the project is very close to "done" (although I still need to replace the rear shock at some point).
The PHBH 28 carbs I've got jetted and working well, and the Vespa coils are providing good spark. On the whole I am very happy with how they start, run, and operate. I'm sure they could be optimized more, but the engine sounds and feels happy. It starts on the first couple of pumps of the kick starter, a big improvement vs. when I got it a year ago.
My brake adaptation to Kawasaki Ninja 250 brakes is complete and working well. The Ninja 250 brakes are not fantastic. However, from reading on here, neither were the original factory brakes. Given that the rotors of the Ninja 250 match the Camel's rotors almost exactly in dimensions, it seems to work well. My adapter brackets are not works of art, but they don't look out of place and they do work well. Braking is smooth and consistent. The transmission works well. If the odometer is correct, it only has something around 6,300 miles on it, and it does feel and look like a low mileage bike.
There's the rear shock and a few other little niggles to work on. I enjoy it, although it is a bike that seems to enjoy being ridden more aggressively than I care to, especially for something as unusual as it is. I'm debating what I want to do with it at this point. I still enjoy riding it, but it is a very different experience from my other bikes (primarily an old R1150GS) and I'm not sure it really fits what I want to do. So I may give some thought to selling it, but for now, I'll ride it and enjoy it some more.
The PHBH 28 carbs I've got jetted and working well, and the Vespa coils are providing good spark. On the whole I am very happy with how they start, run, and operate. I'm sure they could be optimized more, but the engine sounds and feels happy. It starts on the first couple of pumps of the kick starter, a big improvement vs. when I got it a year ago.
My brake adaptation to Kawasaki Ninja 250 brakes is complete and working well. The Ninja 250 brakes are not fantastic. However, from reading on here, neither were the original factory brakes. Given that the rotors of the Ninja 250 match the Camel's rotors almost exactly in dimensions, it seems to work well. My adapter brackets are not works of art, but they don't look out of place and they do work well. Braking is smooth and consistent. The transmission works well. If the odometer is correct, it only has something around 6,300 miles on it, and it does feel and look like a low mileage bike.
There's the rear shock and a few other little niggles to work on. I enjoy it, although it is a bike that seems to enjoy being ridden more aggressively than I care to, especially for something as unusual as it is. I'm debating what I want to do with it at this point. I still enjoy riding it, but it is a very different experience from my other bikes (primarily an old R1150GS) and I'm not sure it really fits what I want to do. So I may give some thought to selling it, but for now, I'll ride it and enjoy it some more.