Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech MRs. Robinson Running Horrible (long'ish)

Okay, I FINALLY got all of my parts for her. I put her together Thursday night and finished up this afternoon, with great hope and intention of being able to ride to my Mom's for Mother's day. Well that didn't pan out. I was sad and angry at the same time. Man did I want to ride. Low to mid 80's, sunny, a light breeze.

Here's the symtoms. I got her started and of course she started a little rough. I figure no big deal since I dropped her last August 15th and I am just finally getting it all together. As she warmed she started to run a little better. Then nothing, she just stopped. Would not start immediately but after a half minute or so she would run again and then just stop. I thought maybe water in the gas or something. Got a gallon of BP premium to no avail. Tried readjusting the mixture screws. Before I put the tank on I swirled gas aroung in it and dumped it. Figured this was a good idea as the tank is fresh from the painter. Didn't see anything. There is a new petcock installed. She pretty much sat at the bike shop all winter waiting for parts. The mechanic (really good guy that isn't there anymore) said that he drained the carbs so they didn't sit with fuel in them all winter.

I need ideas at what to look at. After I put the BP fuel I took her out on the street to see if I could blow it out. Same thing, she would either just die or backfire horribly. She almost threw me off the back on a burst where she died and then power came right back. Could it be vacuum? Will a good blast of carb clean help? Please help! I REALLY NEED TO GET OUT FOR A GOOD RIDE. It's been awhile since I felt the smile.

Here is a discussion that sounds similar.

http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/message...&startat=31

Or search the old forums for fuel+filter or stalling

Could be it. I never know about that filter but had a stinking suspicion after today. What size do you think I need, 1/4 or 5/16? Also, could this cause the backfire? Thanks for pointing the stick in the right direction. I will have a look at it tomorrow evening. If that's it she is definitely getting the inline.

I finally got some time from work to start looking at the bike. I pulled the tank off and drained it thinking maybe bad gas. The flow from the petcock is fine. I removed the carbs from the bike and pulled out the small filter at the "T". It looked clean but I cleaned it anyway. Sprayed some carb clean in both sides of the carb. Put it all back together and still had the same symptoms. Filled the tank with BP Ultimate, seems to work in the car. It would start with the choke pulled and run for a minute or two and then just die. I played with the idle adjust a little and could then get it to start without the choke. Same problem though. I made sure that I had the fuel mixture screws turned out 3 turns. It would then run, pause, run and then die. Decided to run her around the block a few times with a mixture screw adjustment between each trip. It ran slightly better than before but not much. I think I have the mixture screws at 2 turns out right now. Backfiring and stalling. Will pretty much start right back up though. Sometimes I need to wait a little. Getting pretty frustrated.

Just a reminder. Last time the bike ran before this was August 15th when I dropped the bike last year. I don't know what this could do to it but it apparently did something. Could the ignition pick up coil have gotten knocked loose? I really need some help here. Could it possibly be timing? Any sugestions are welcome. I am going to try again tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Sounds like a fuel supply problem to me. I would drain the carbs (with the petcock shut off) and see what and how much comes out. It is possible that you have a stuck float or a stuck float needle. If you remove the float bowls to check this out, be careful that everything is free and in position before you reinstall the bowls, especially if the bike is on the kickstand. The pin that the bowl swivels on can move out of the holes it lives in and then nothing works....!

Thanks Grump. I will give that a go. Yeah, I noticed the pin holding the floats when I rejetted. I'll let you know how it goes. I will have to see if I can get you a breakfast beer someday if this works.

Beware that electrical problems can disguise themselves as fuel supply problems!!!! Had one bike where one of the coils was stuffed but the initial suspicion was fuel. Same thing could get it started ran like sh*t then stopped. The other time on another bike was the stator, the bike ran fine when cold then as it heated up the winding would part and bluh the thing would die, again the initial symptons pointed to fuel problems.
So keep an open mind and expect the unexpected.

Drained the carbs using the drain at the bottom of the carbs with the fuel turned off. Each carb contained about the same amount of fuel. Let the drains sit open with the fuel on and obtained continuous steady flow. Closed the fuel and checked the content of each carb bowl. About the same as the first time with an even level. Seems like my flow to the carbs is fine. I started the bike with the choke on. Ran for about 50 seconds. Restart gave only 5 seconds. Re-restart gave a backfire and about 5 seconds. Same again after that. Could it be the needles sticking?

I got her running. Not the best she has ever run, but she is running. I guess I finally got frustrated and figured I would try anything. I pulled the plugs and used some fine grit sand paper to clean them a bit. Lo and behold, she ran without a sputter after that while I stood there having a smoke expecting her to die any minute. She didn't. Yee Hah!

Of course I had to take her out and see what happened. Well, it was a little cold but after 80 miles the smile is still frozen to my face. I had a small sputter every now and again. I'm thinking I might need to get some new plugs and tweak the carbs after all the messing around I did. Thanks for all the help and support. Now I think I am going to have to ride her to work in the AM. A little chill in the air is good for the soul I believe.

what color were the plugs?

cat

The plugs were a light brownish tan to white color. I thought that is what they are supposed to be. I am stopping by the shop to pick up new ones tonight. I am thinking they must have acquired a small oxidation layer while sitting for nine months. I did turn the motor while I had the plugs out just to clear the cylinders out. Rode it in to work this morning. Small stall every now and then but other than that running fine.