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I am befuddled ... and tired after pushing my bike a mile

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    #1

    I am befuddled ... and tired after pushing my bike a mile

    Here's the scoop.

    Totally rewired the bike, put in new stator (Rick's) and Rectifier (Electrex), new battery (Yes I even charged it) and the bike went like a banshee the first night I fired her up. I kept under 30 most of the time with brief spurts into the high 40 mph range and it felt like a dream. It even finally idled at 1100 without any hiccups. It seemed very promising.

    Tonight I installed all of the turn signals and was preparing to get it out on the highway to check things out at higher speeds and it just ran horribly tonight at low speeds similiar to the ones the first time-- It ended up dying about a mile from home before I even got near the highway and I could not get it restarted for the life of me. Checked the Fuel, Fuel lines, vacuum lines, plug caps and it all looked good. Tried using prime and got a hesitant start and then it choked off. Well after pushing a mile home I pulled the plugs and they were dry with black build up on the part that screws in into the head and on the tip of the plug it was white. I am befuddled and sad and mad... :x :?

    Any suggestions on what to look for?

    Thanks in advance for the help....

    And I would like to give the one finger salute to the guy on the goldwing who was honking his horn and pointing at me--very unShriner-like behavior
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: I am befuddled ... and tired after pushing my bike a mil

    Originally posted by GeeSeBeater
    Here's the scoop.

    Totally rewired the bike, put in new stator (Rick's) and Rectifier (Electrex), new battery (Yes I even charged it) and the bike went like a banshee the first night I fired her up. I kept under 30 most of the time with brief spurts into the high 40 mph range and it felt like a dream. It even finally idled at 1100 without any hiccups. It seemed very promising.

    Tonight I installed all of the turn signals and was preparing to get it out on the highway to check things out at higher speeds and it just ran horribly tonight at low speeds similiar to the ones the first time-- It ended up dying about a mile from home before I even got near the highway and I could not get it restarted for the life of me. Checked the Fuel, Fuel lines, vacuum lines, plug caps and it all looked good. Tried using prime and got a hesitant start and then it choked off. Well after pushing a mile home I pulled the plugs and they were dry with black build up on the part that screws in into the head and on the tip of the plug it was white. I am befuddled and sad and mad... :x :?

    Any suggestions on what to look for?

    Thanks in advance for the help....

    And I would like to give the one finger salute to the guy on the goldwing who was honking his horn and pointing at me--very unShriner-like behavior
    Sounds like you're out of gas.. But you said you checked it? Will the bike run on starter fluid?

    Also, what year bike do you have, and what style petcock?

    Is it the ~1980 style with a slot for the key & no reserve?

    Comment

      #3
      It's an 83 GS1100E, as far as a slot for the key on the petcock I haven't seen one but maybe I'll look a little harder. I'm pretty sure I didn't run out of gas because I could see it sloshing around in the tank and I also tried the petcock on reserve. Have'nt tried starter fluid yet but what would that indicate?

      Comment

        #4
        Re: I am befuddled ... and tired after pushing my bike a mil

        Originally posted by GeeSeBeater
        Here's the scoop. "snip"
        ........
        Tried using prime and got a hesitant start and then it choked off. ... "end snip"

        And I would like to give the one finger salute to the guy on the goldwing who was honking his horn and pointing at me--very unShriner-like behavior
        Based on the "hesitant start" I'm sure it's gas.
        You didn't mention whether you added the choke. Try it if you didn't.
        If that seems to help it sounds like your carbs are blocking up. Try cleaning them out. I know it's loads of work but I can't figure another way.
        Do you have an inline fuel filter?

        Bikers who don't stop have earned their own private cell in the afterlife.

        Comment

          #5
          A carb clean would never hurt but I really wanted to ride my bike...(stomps foot like an 8 year-old)

          Back to the garage-Hopefully this won't take me long....


          I'll keep posted---or maybe I should buy some RS Flatslides? :twisted:

          Comment

            #6
            It is possible that your jetting is way off, but you must first verify that your charging system is working: it is possible that there is a bad wiring connection or that your rotor is demagnetized. Get some new plugs installed and then jump the bike from the car battery (car NOT running). Remove the jumper cables as soon as it starts and check the battery voltage. It should be at least 13-14 VDC when revved past 3000 RPM. If this is good then you can move onto carbs and jetting.

            Comment

              #7
              RS Flatslides are always good. Not needed to get her running right, but good none the less.

              Comment

                #8
                Originally posted by GeeSeBeater
                It's an 83 GS1100E, as far as a slot for the key on the petcock I haven't seen one but maybe I'll look a little harder. I'm pretty sure I didn't run out of gas because I could see it sloshing around in the tank and I also tried the petcock on reserve. Have'nt tried starter fluid yet but what would that indicate?
                If you have a reserve and a lever-operated petcock, you have the 'newer' style... ~1980, they used a leverless petcock that required a flathead screwdriver or the tip of your key to operate.

                Since you didn't mention your battery being dead, I'll assume it's not a charging system problem... If it were, you'd have trouble cranking over, as running the engine would drain the battery...

                Are you running on fresh gas? If not, dump out your tank & use new gas. If your gas is fresh (less than 1mo old), try using a little starter spray, and see if the bike fires right up. If it does, your problems are limited to the petcock or carbs... Next thing to try is taking your fuel line off the bike, pointing it into a can, and setting the petcock to prime. If you get a good amount of gas pouring out, petcock's fine, clean the carbs. If not, clean the petcock...

                Comment

                  #9
                  Dave_A thanks for the info.

                  Tested the charging system and everything checked out. Tried start spray and it wanted to start but just didn't quite catch. I pulled the carbs and I'm getting ready for a rebuild. It's funny though after I pulled the carbs and inspected some of the screw heads half of them are stripped. I then started on removing the gang plate which wasn't stripped and the screws were not cooperating. I'm thinking that someone may have tried to clean these carbs but got too busy stripping screws. It looks like time to pull out the Wd40 and my imapact driver. I'm really paying for someone's past sins on this bike but its a good thing I believe in reincarnation. Now to find some valve floats on ebay....Thanks for the insights everyone

                  Comment

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