[Honda74]

Hello all. I have really wanted to get my dad's 74 Honda cb 360 running. He passed away last August and he used to set me on it when I was 5 and we would go for rides. Basically it has sat for years in the shed. It only has 3500 miles on it. I know that sitting long periods of time is not good. We last started it about 7 years ago. So I bought a new battery, charged it. But before that I disconnected several things around the battery box such as the solenoid etc... Now my question is why is there two black (negative) cables?

When I put in the battery, turned the key on all the lights came on except the head light. The turn signals will also remain on instead of blink.

I would like to post some pictures for you all to see. I was able to set my profile picture with the photo of the two black cables.

One last thing, I tried hooking both black cables to the negative battery post, separately of course. When the longer cable is attached and I hit the starter button I hear a clicking of the solenoid.

Which is which? I've got my Clymer's manual, but am terrible at reading wiring diagrams. Any thoughts of suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[slumlord]

The head light not coming on is normal for a 1974 model. You turn the light on with the switch control [on the right handlebar, I think} and a separate control for low/high beams on the left

Look at the black cables carefully. One of them goes to a ground on the frame and that goes to the negative battery post. The other one should go under the engine and emerge to the front of the bike at the starter. Even though it is black,that cable connects to one side of the solenoid. The positive post of the battery is hooked to the other post of the solenoid with a very short cable about 4" long I think. The cables sometimes come equipped with little rubber ends that may be red in color to help you sort one from another

When you push the starter switch, that clicking sound you previously heard should operate the solenoid and crank the starter. I have a 1974 CB360 so I might be able to help you out if you need anything else. They are fun bikes and easy to ride

 

[Honda74]

Thanks, Slumlord. So, I figured that one of the cables even though it is black, came from the starter. It is odd to me that the one that is grounded to the bike when connected to the negative battery terminal does not cause the solenoid to click, but the longer of the two does...

But if you say that the longer one should be connected to the starter solenoid then, due to its length, that would make sense. At any rate, I don't think I charged my new battery long enough anyway so I put it on the charger for awhile longer last night. I also plan to clean the points some. Should there be some grease on the points? I noticed grease on one of them as I removed the cover. thanks!

 

[slumlord]

What has grease and what should be clean

http://www.dansmc.com/bat_coil_ign.htm

If you skip down to the paragraph about filing/cleaning the points, you will see that the contact area must be very clean. However, there are some areas that need grease. A good factory service manual, the above website, and the shadetree guys on this Forum are good resources to have.

I might as well explain the front turn signals you referenced as staying on. With the headlight on low beam,both sides light up as running lights. With the high beam on, the running lights go out. Your turn signals should always work, because there are twin filaments in the bulbs.

So we can see that Honda knew that the generating capacity of this bike is pretty weak. You have to stay with a 35 watt headlight so the battery will charge.