Dual Headlight Mod...HELP!!!

[element192]

Hey everyone,
Just got off the phone with the local dealership and explained the problem to him. He said it was probably a gummed up carburetor and that putting in a fuel system cleaner can actually be BAD for it. That the carburetor actually needed to be physically removed and completely cleaned and retuned. Does that sound right to you guys or he is he just selling me on some work? I'm thinking that since the bike is a 2004 with only 2,000 miles on it that it was probably sitting for a while before I bought it and could use a tuneup by a professional anyway...
Any thoughts?

 

[RJ2112]

Since you don't have any carbureators..... how much do you trust the guy?

It really does sound like you have an issue relating to the 'off idle' engine performance. If the bike had carbs, I'd think this guy was on the right track. As it does not.........

Fuel in your tank for 2-3 weeks is not going to varnish enough to cause the sort of grief you are having. Especially if it all started immediately after you were 'under the hood'. (good on you for giving that a shot!)

Something is obstructing your flow of fuel, or your flow of air, or the spark. You disturbed the air box, and probably had to shift wiring around to do the work on the dual headlight setup.

I would suspect (ppersonally) that you have a chaffed wire (causing a short circuit), or a blocked vent line creating a vacuum on the fuel tank.... as you have already taken the air box back off the bike and checked at great length around the air ways, I'd be checking the wire harness you directly worked on, as well as anything the air box may have disturbed when you were wrestling it in the first time around.

 

[element192]

Yeah, I wasn't too sure why he kept referencing a "carburetor" either. I just figured he was speaking loosely, who knows. I don't trust him one bit, I've only owned the bike for a couple of months and have never been to a bike mechanic. He just happens to work for the dealership closest to me, that's it.

I guess I'm up for ripping it all apart again, it's just getting to the point of shear frustration. The hard part is that I'm not super familiar with what all of these vacuum and fuel lines even look like.

I hate being a quitter, but man I've pulled all of this stuff apart so many times now I'm not sure what I'm hoping I'll notice with my "untrained" eye on the next go around. Well, it's at least something to think about until I have enough light to work on it.

 

[RJ2112]

One quick check you can do to see if there is a vacuum problem..... if there is a venting problem relating to the gas tank, you could open the gas cap with a second key and see if the problem goes away..... Not the most elegant thing to do, but it may give you some idea of where to spend your effort. You can let the cap 'rest' on the opening of the tank to keep the slopping aorund to a minimum, or ride the bike with the cap closed until it does the 'sucky' thing, and quickly pop the gas cap open -- that second key would really help, there.

 

[element192]

...that sounds like a great test to try but the previous owner only gave me one key!!!!!! No luck for me with this problem!!!

 

[RJ2112]

If there is a vacuum being created, it will be there for a few seconds.... you may be able to tell by riding until it happens, pulling hte key from the ignition, and opening the cap. If you hear a whooshing noise, there was a vacuum... either way, stop the bike, pop the cap, close the cap and start the bike. Ride it again..... if the problem went away with stopping and opening.... there is a vacuum being formed in the tank.

If not.... at least you can be a bit more sure of it not being a venting issue.

 

[element192]

I will try that as soon as I get off of work. Boy, I could use you as a neighbor! Any chance of leaving Oregon for the Bay Area???!!!

 

[dantrigg]

I have not read the 4 pages of posts so I hope no one has suggested this already.

Untill you let the bike fully warm up the bike will bog down if you give it major throttle. Once it fully warms up it will function normally again.

While you do your testing make sure it is fully warmed up before you come to any conclusions at to whether or not you have fixed anything or even have a problem at all.

Good Luck.

 

[RJ2112]

I lived in the Bay Area for a number of years..... I was stationed on the USS Enterprise in the early 80's, and returned to NAS Alameda for the late 80's working for base security. Met my wife there, and haven't been back since 1990.

Riding in the Oakland hills on Skyline was always a favorite, above Berkely all the way south to San Leandro, and dropping off the East side into Moraga was one of the least travelled routes I could find.

 

[element192]

Alright everyone... it seems to be working!!!

It was a little touchy for the first few blocks but after that it really seemed to smooth out. I rode around for about 40 minutes with no problems!

It really must have been the whole "sitting around" thing after all and just needed a good cleaning.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your advice!!!

 

[TownsendsFJR1300]

Excellent!

As a side note, I use a marine gas additive , "Gas-shok", (stablizer/cleaner) on a regular basis on ALL my machines (especially the boat) for preventive maintainance. It also eliminates the effects of ethonal.


The Yamaha Marine dealer informed me NOT to use pump gas with ethonal per Yamaha on the boat... I have a 4 stroke 150 Yamaha outboard. He stated the Gas shok would eliminate the ethenol problems and pump gas could be used in the boat. I'll also add techtron or Seafoam occasionally to as an addtional cleaner.

Keep running the techtron for a couple of tanks and it'll run better yet. The injectors have very small holes and are suspectible to clogiing. As stated earlier, carbs are the worst but are repairable at home...

Scott

 

[tweak89]

Alright everyone... it seems to be working!!!

It was a little touchy for the first few blocks but after that it really seemed to smooth out. I rode around for about 40 minutes with no problems!

It really must have been the whole "sitting around" thing after all and just needed a good cleaning.

Thank you so much to everyone for all of your advice!!!

:Sport:

Just keep a bottle of fuel stabilizer handy. When a bike isn't your main form of transport it's easy for it sit a couple weeks or more and next thing you know....

 

[killian]

i have only been on here a few days, but i am really impressed how helpful everyone is. awesome forum:cheer: