rewiring a 1973 2 stroke motorcycle

[finchy]

Hi, I need help with completly rewiring my bike thanks to some "*%*! youths who stripped the electrics when they borrowed her without my permission !
I am getting rid of the Bosch Flywheel Magneto and will be replacing it with a 12v battery,
so that I can use her at night and be able to put an alarm on her.
The parts that I will be replacing are headlights, tailights, indicators,horn and an ignition switch
aswell as the wiring.
So will need a simple (i'm no expert) diagram to include rectifirer flasher unit and all the parts in the middle for me to start from scratch and finish ( hopefully in 1 sitting )
Is there anyone one out there ?( why do I keep getting flash backs from pinkfloyd)
Awaiting all answers
Finchy

[Motorcycle Forum]

[Easy Rider]

I am getting rid of the Bosch Flywheel Magneto and will be replacing it with a 12v battery,

I don't have a good feeling about this plan......for a couple of reasons.

Depending on the exact model, the magneto might be providing the spark too and eliminating it might be a LOT more problematic than you first think.
You are gonna need something to charge that battery. Adding an alternator might not be possible.......in any practical sense.

Secondly, regardless of what you do to repair it, the cost is likely to be a LOT more than the value when it's done.........if it ever IS done.

I think this is a big mistake overall and you would be better off selling it for parts and getting something else.

[DrBob]

Sorry dude, but you have no idea what you are getting into. The limited listing of parts you intend to replace and the short time frame show this, plus the comment about needing a diagram to know where to put the rectifier shows you are not thinking this through. A rectifier converts the bike's electrical output to DC to charge a battery. If you remove the magneto, you will not need a rectifier, because without a magneto the bike will generate zero electricity, so there is nothing to convert. Without a magneto, stator, or generator, the bike will simply run off the DC battery until that battery goes dead, like a battery powered toy car. So you need to replace that magneto either with a charging system like an alternator, or upgrade the magneto to something like a four coil flywheel to power a battery ignition system, or a better magneto (like off a modern dirtbike) that had enough output to provide power to a headlight and tail light. Converting a magneto ignition to a battery ignition is not hard, but you will need to swap the flywheel, coil, condenser, and a whole bunch of other little parts to do just this. But converting the entire electrical system to not only fire the spark plug, but also support a full range of 12V lights & signals so you can drive it on the street, which means keeping that battery charged so the bike runs for more than 30 minutes before the battery goes dead? Plus make your own wiring harness and install it? All in one sitting?

[Y2K]

These guys are spot on as usual,I'm not sure what make/model bike you are working with there but if it's not something really rare I'd be looking for a parts bike,perhaps one with a seized engine but with all the electrical still intact that you could pick up cheap and cannibalize for the parts you need.
Just my 2cts.

[DrBob]

That bike is a Casal K270, a 125cc machine made in Portugal. They made 25-75cc mopeds and small motorcycles starting in the 1970s, and I believe a 125cc was the largest one they ever made. The bikes were very bare bones but popular and reliable, and sold as basic transportation mostly in their home country, with some exports heading to other countries and a few making it to the US- exports were subsidized to help bring hard foreign currency into the country. The models very quickly became obsolete, and after the fall of the protectionist fascist government of Portugal the company started a downhill slide, with only a few cosmetic changes failing to stop the slide in sales. I think the 'large' 125 machines went away in the 1980s, but the company limped on until 2000 making mopeds. it liquidated in 2000. Parts are pretty hard to find outside Portugal, and even the company's records and documentation were lost when the company folded. But if he is in the UK or some other Western European countries there is most likely an owners group and a limited supply of parts around, due to the large numbers of these inexpensive bikes sold in the 1970s. I don't think they ever made a bike with a stator though, otherwise it would be fairly simple to swap a more modern motor (complete with charging system) into his frame.

[Y2K]

That bike is a Casal K270, a 125cc machine made in Portugal. They made 25-75cc mopeds and small motorcycles starting in the 1970s, and I believe a 125cc was the largest one they ever made. The bikes were very bare bones but popular and reliable, and sold as basic transportation mostly in their home country, with some exports heading to other countries and a few making it to the US- exports were subsidized to help bring hard foreign currency into the country. The models very quickly became obsolete, and after the fall of the protectionist fascist government of Portugal the company started a downhill slide, with only a few cosmetic changes failing to stop the slide in sales. I think the 'large' 125 machines went away in the 1980s, but the company limped on until 2000 making mopeds. it liquidated in 2000. Parts are pretty hard to find outside Portugal, and even the company's records and documentation were lost when the company folded. But if he is in the UK or some other Western European countries there is most likely an owners group and a limited supply of parts around, due to the large numbers of these inexpensive bikes sold in the 1970s. I don't think they ever made a bike with a stator though, otherwise it would be fairly simple to swap a more modern motor (complete with charging system) into his frame.

So long story short he's got a ...............

[DrBob]

Not really. If the motor runs and he has the tins, it would be a simple matter to just put it back stock because there is not much to it. Kick start only, simple but reliable magneto ignition pretty much like the one on your string trimmer, brake light, pathetic but functional headlight- the way it was designed to be. A basic moped-type bike for around town, assuming that he lives someplace where the lack of factory turn signals, mirrors, and other basic equipment is not an issue, and also assuming that he lives someplace where two-strokes are still legal to drive on the street. Of course, if all he has are the parts in the picture, forget it: the gas tank alone would cost more than the complete bike is worth in running condition.

[Camp21178]

Geez Bob, how do you know all this stuff? Really, a 1973 Casal. I'm impressed.

[Y2K]

Geez Bob, how do you know all this stuff? Really, a 1973 Casal. I'm impressed.

Heh,no doubt lol.
I still say it's a boat anchor though,it may be rare but there's rare bikes and there's rare valuable bikes,this thing is just rare.
I guess if you had the parts and needed something to do for a pass time it might be worthwhile but for at least me it's not a viable project.
Good luck to the OP,hope you find what you need but I wouldn't waste much time and money on it.

[DrBob]

I remember the Casal bikes and mopeds- when I started riding in the early 80s there were a bunch of imported bikes (mostly two strokes) in the 50cc-350cc range that could be had cheap on the used bike market, and every kid wanted one. The country was floated with small bikes and the 'newly-legal in the US' mopeds during the gas crisis of the early 1970s to 1979, and there were still a bunch around when I went looking for a first street bike. Casal from Portugal, Aermachchi from Italy branded as Harleys, Cagiva from Italy, Indian from Taiwan, Motobécane from France, AMF from the US, the Kawasaki KE 125, Moto Guzzi (with an inline 4 of only 230 ccs!), and probably the best of the bunch, the four-stroke Honda CB100. The Japanese 'big four' and Triumph made larger 2-strokes also, in the 500-750cc range, but they were more expensive and out of the reach of most of us looking to step from a dirt bike to our first street bike. The government killed the two-stroke street bike with the creation of the EPA in 1979, so other than the big four from Japan all the dealership networks dried up and the bikes were really, really cheap by the early 80s, and just about gone from the US streets by the mid 80s. Some of these brands lived on for another decade or more in other countries, but most of them are gone now. But they live on im my memories...mostly memories of frustrating afternoons in dad's garage trying to keep them running for my friends as I saved up money to buy my first street bike, a 1000cc Sportster.

[Y2K]

The Japanese 'big four' and Triumph made larger 2-strokes also, in the 500-750cc range, but they were more expensive and out.

I remember going to the outlaw "midnight drags" on Saturday nights in the small central Oregon town I lived in back in the '70's and a guy with a Kawasaki H-2 750 was cleaning house on all the cars out there lol.

[DrBob]

I remember the Widowmaker! They were a terror on the drag strip, and still hold many records...but they were a terror on the streets in a different way. The motor was a rocket, but the frame and suspension sucked, so it was really, really an adventure to ride one aggressively on the street. Those old two-strokes made almost twice the power of a four stroke, but the power band was narrow, and it came on all of a sudden at a certain RPM, so the inexperienced often got into big trouble. By the time I got into Jap bikes they few and far between, and the KZ1000 was the bike to beat on the street.

My dad had a 1965 or 66 Saab car with a two-stroke engine. Sounded like an angry hornet when you ran it hard, but that little car scooted pretty good for having such a tiny engine. every place he ever stopped for gas that little thing would draw a crowd of people wanting to know what the hell it was. By 1972 it was smoking pretty bad and dad traded it. I can;t remember the last time I saw a two stroke bike on the street, let alone a two-stroke car.

[Y2K]

My dad had a 1965 or 66 Saab car with a two-stroke engine. Sounded like an angry hornet when you ran it hard, but that little car scooted pretty good for having such a tiny engine. every place he ever stopped for gas that little thing would draw a crowd of people wanting to know what the hell it was. By 1972 it was smoking pretty bad and dad traded it. I can;t remember the last time I saw a two stroke bike on the street, let alone a two-stroke car.

I remember those two-smoke Saabs,there were quite a few of them around when I was in high school in Bend,OR.
They were popular as were VW beetles and Volvos as it was snow country and a ski resort town.
I also remember a few early Subarus and Suzuki's that if memory serves were two-stroke.
I see a two-smoke Yamaha scoot out this-a-way once in a while,the guy has several RD and RZ? sportbikes.
I took these two videos one day when I tagged up with him on the road to Mt.St.Helens then posted on a local rider forum and found out he was a forum member too lol.

[finchy]

I am overwhelmed with all the feedback that I have recieved ! and I take all feedback as positive regardless
of contents , I am by no means a motorcycle expert, I just ride them regardless , if any problem appears then it's of to my best friend M.C ( my local mechanic for 15 years ).
But I would like to contribute something to my Casal !
I can fix the wiring back to the original working model ( with some help) however I thought that it would be possible to update the wiring ( so to speak ).The electrics/magneto can and will work the lights/horn and but I need to keep the revs up very high and the carb does not allow me to alter the tickover so I have to expand/stretch the throttle cable as it goes into the top of the carb!
the carb is a conventional bing one as Dr Bob would probably know ( what an oracle ! I would love to pick his brains )
once again a very big thank you to all who have contributed to my thread
and will post the final outcome to my Cassie

[fear_cartaidh]

Is there no way to out fit the machine with a generic DOT kit for two stroke dirtbikes? - Complete with harness and easy to follow diagram. I think it's a neat bit of obscurity. But I'm like that. Do some parts junk work and you could have a neat bike back together on the cheap. Not orginal but still a rolling peice of motorcycling history.

NMc