The Hodaka Club Forum

Hello All, just wondering what your using for points cam grease? I’ve been using the waterproof Bel-Ray grease on the cam and wick, same stuff I use everywhere else it’s required on my Hodakas.

I just got my M94 Wombat back together with a new top-end, following a seizure and noticed some rub marks on the ignition cam inside the magneto. Not sure if it was me or a PO but wanted to poll the collective.

Thanks,
Bev

This may not help. I bought a tube of point grease back in the 1970's and have used only a tiny amount. It is VERY waxy and barely squeezes out of the tube. I have not seen it at any auto supply for years.

One does not smear it on either the cam or the wick.

Rather, one puts a match-head size blob onto a spot on the cam where the (bakelite?) cam follower can scrape it off. Alternately, one might put a little on a finger and scrape it off onto the leading square corner of the follower. Premium automobile points often came with that tiny amount in a cellophane squeeze packet.

If the cam was not initially shiny-smooth, no amount of lubrication could keep it from rapidly consuming the follower. A pitted cam should first be polished with a buffer pad and jeweler's rouge. Those "rub marks" have got to be removed.

If both cam and follower are glass-smooth after break-in, the follower material would itself be almost self-lubricating. Any amount of wear on the follower would make more of that single dab of lubricant migrate into the sliding interface. That should greatly reduce further wear and the single dab should last the life of the point set.

That is why I have used so little of the one tube.

The Bel-Ray grease is fine for wheel and chassis use and has a high drop point but is just not waxy enough to avoid being flung off from the rapidly moving point follower.

The nearest modern product is plumber's valve grease. There is a cheap version that has a melt/drop point suitable for both cold and domestic hot water. That is what plumbers generally use but it WILL melt/drip off in motorcycle use. Next to it on the shelf should be a more expensive high-temp grade used for industrial valves.

I've been using synthetic brake caliper grease for years now. It's heavier than wheel bearing grease and has a high melting point.

This one is cheaper https://www.ebay.com/itm/Wells-CL200-Di ... 100623.m-1