Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Stalling in the rain?

I got caught in a rain storm yesterday. The bike kept stalling out. It would run for about five minutes, then I'd have to pull over and let it dry out before it would start again.

Anybody else have this problem? Is there any way to fix this? I figure I could pull off the tank and the seat and coat every electrical connection I can find with dielectric grease. Anything else?

Hey Joe, I'll tell you what the guru "Chy" would say.
Dielectric every electrical connection you can find.
Pull the CDI from under the tank and seal the gap on the metal bracket that the CDI is mounted to with RTV.
Mike

What's RTV?

It might also be the gas tank breather tube. When it rains water gets sucked into the tip-over valve at the end of the breather hose, the gas tank develops a vacum and the carbs don't get gas. You can test this by unscrewing the gas cap after the bike stalls and if it starts right up, that is the problem. Solution is to remove the valve from the end of the breather line. However, if you do this and have a crash it is possible for gas to leak out of the breather and ignite from a spark and catch fire. I removed the breather valve after having this happen one too many times and am living with the potential fire risk. I guess I like to live dangerously.

RTV = Room Temperature Vulcanizing. It is adhesive silicone rubber caulk, made by several manufacturers, GE, Permatex, etc. It goes on in a paste and 'dries' to a rubbery solid. Clean the area well with alcohol or a drying solvent before applying. Smells like vinegar while curing.

yep.. that's what I would say..

...and if that fails, get hold of procom.....my 03 america hated to start after it was washed.....eventually, I started having only one cylinder run if the bike sat for a few days without running.....since I replaced the igniter with a procom unit, I'm no longer afraid to wash it, and it always runs on both cylinders!....

I do remember a few people here in Australia having problems quite awhile back with their Triumphs not wanting to run when they got caught out in bad storms, it had something to do with the spark plugs getting covered with water, as the water builds up in there, I haven't had any problems myself, but I do remember talk about it in 2006

The side stand switch can give the same problem when wet

Tiny digress..wasn't there a post on how to eliminate the sidestand switch? Anyone done that?

Well... it ran fine today, after sitting in the garage all day yesterday. So, I guess a trip to the auto parts store for some dielectric grease and RTV is in order.

How difficult is it to install a Procom? I was kind of interested after reading the threads about it, anyway. If it could help with this issue, I'm all for it.

Don't ride in the rain.

I experienced this with my original TBA, as well as 1 or 2 others, when we were out riding and got cuaght in the rain. The bike loses power and then stalls. Just try loosening the gas (petrol) cap a little to break the vacuum. She should come right back.
Soren is right, some people have cut their breather tubes at an angle to get more air flow in. Something I will have to do on the "new" TBA, maybe when I replace the in-line "secret" filter.

10 minutes, plug and play.

Have you checked your air filter?

Back when my airbox had a hole in the bottom as did the bottom of my UNI filter, I had the same problem. It would choke down and stall out, then re-start after a few minutes. I found that the bottom 3rd of my air filter was getting washed out.

I bought a new UNI filter, and never cut holes in the bottom, so it covers the hole in the bottom of the airbox. Haven't had a problem since. (In the rain).

I had that once with my left coil getting soaked and shutting off. Liberal dose of WD-40 got me going. Dielectric greased everything once I got home. Nary a hiccup since and that was at least 4 years ago, maybe 6. I rode in a torrential downpour this past Sunday with no ill effects.