Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Cross Winds and Cutting Out

Hey everyone,
I'm new here at the Forum and new to motorcycling. I bought a 2003 America a few weeks back. What a great bike. Previous owner had removed the air injection, installed the Freak air box removal kit, took rebar and reamed out the TOR pipes(his words) and rejetted.

The bike starts and runs great except for one problem. If I get to a road that has wide expanses of flat land on either side and a strong wind is coming from my right, my right cylinder will begin to cut out. It usually starts to happen between 50 and 60 mph. I ran into this one day, immediately turned around and went back down the same road. The bike ran great. The previous owner told me this happens and he had even made up a shield for the right side. I'd rather fix the problem.

I did a search and found a lot of entries where the cutting out was either on both cylinders or it happened all the time. My problem just happens during the conditions listed above. I would appreciate the help.
Thanks,
Will

I have never heard this going on, Welcome to the greatest site on the net btw. I think I would check the jetting. I would also suggest going to the performance mod section and the vault. You may have to dig, but you will find an answer. You may also want to hit up EARL or Pat--aka Dinqua-- Past site --located in performance mods -- is great, you could also pm either of them. They always have great advise,,

You can learn a lot here! great bike choice. make sure you announce yourself in the lounge.

Always keep the wind on your left.....
Proble solved!

Check your wiring harness for a loose connection or a broken/cracked wire. One place to check is under your rear guard above the rear tyre. Sometimes the cable loom can be pulled through from under the seat and be worn down by the tyre (notice the y in tyre.. queens english lads!)

Buckers

I've had this problem on one of my older Triumphs, after it was fitted with a different air cleaner system, but never heard of problems with the Freak kit on a newer model. Another thing to try and narrow it down to air flow is to ride with the foot on the pegs, but with your knee way out in the breeze. I'll bet you are going to have to build some kind of air dam by the air cleaner to solve this problem.

Yeah, I get this sometimes and I only have a K&N in the regular airbox w/velocity intake. It goes away if I clinch my knees on the tank so I know it's the snorkle removal that encourages this behavior. I'd bet you can block the right side air filter with your leg on the rare occasions the wind acts up (it's what I do) or you can work on a shield.

I've had it happen to me as well, same side. Only in pretty severe cross wind.

Had cutting out when the snorkle was removed also. I have not had it happen since I installed a freak kit. All factory covers are in place, do not have the little tool box in place.

You should post some pics of the freak mod. One a general right hand side of the bike and some close ups of the mod. I would be willing to bet its as the other guys said caused by the direction of the wind. As they suggest building or fabricating up some wind blockers. If you convert to pods you can buy some pod covers that would solve the problem.

I fought this issue for a year and a half. Tried everything. In the end, I ended up switching back to the stock air box (which made it run super rich from the K&N kit that was on there before with the 155 mains). I noticed the bike still cut out when I rmoved the snorkel an only at highway speeds and when the wind hit from a certain direction.

Later, I tried completely rejetting, building new intakes with velocity stacks in the filters, cussing a lot, changing the fuel filter (again), and a few other "fixes" after dynoing the bike and finding it running quite lean.

Turns out, the problem is the vent tube from the bottom of the fuel tank. There is a little, black valve on the bottom of it. I took the valve off and it fixed the issue to a degree. I have't got the balls, yet, to cut the tube down.

What I did was moved the tube end, without the valve, to a place under the seat where I can grab it while I ride. If the wind is effecting it, I grab the tube and smash the end through to the other side of the bike. Problem solved.

You can look through my other threads and see if you experienced some of my problems. I'm willing to bet it's the vent tube.

Thanks for the post Cory. You might have something there related to the vent location. We know that water up the vent will shut these engines down. The fix is to cut the bottom of the vent at a 45 degree angle or switch to a vented gas cap. The high winds might be causing a siphoning effect on the vent hose creating a partial vacuum in the tank.

Next time it happens crack the gas cap to see if the problem is still there.

Some have reported that moving the vent tube termination point above the swingarm solves the issue. The tube on my 07SM terminates above the swingarm & I have not experienced the issue. Coincidence? Perhaps.

Gregger, I have a vented Kuryakyn gas cap.

I can't explain why moving the tube works, but it does....

Fantastic! Maybe this will solve my problem. I was starting to think of shield designs for the right filter. I would much rather fix the problem rather than put a Bandaid on it.

And to all who responded, being a newbie bike rider, Triumph owner and forum member, the support and advice means alot. Thanks.
Will

Let us know!

I've had some problems with my BA over the years but I've never had that one! Keep checking with the folks here... they will help you get it figured out.

Update?