Weird stuff

[BA80]

Today riding home from work.....the bike hadn't run all day, I rode to work this morning and got there about 7:15 AM. When I got on and started it to go home at about 4:45 PM it acted like it had flooded a little during the day and sputtered a bit until it cleared.

It's right at 16 miles from home to work.

Rode it almost all the way home, about 14 miles with no problems. Partially in city traffic but mostly highway. At my exit off the highway it started popping through the exhaust on decal like it was running out of fuel but my low fuel light wasn't on and there was only about 70 miles on the trip odometer (my fuel guage) and I go about 100 miles before I'm watching for the fuel light to come on normally.

I clutched it and it died. Turned the petcocks to reserve and it fired right up and I came home.

Thinking I was out fuel for whatever reason, I stopped at the gas station on the way to the grocery store to fill it up. My special tank holds about 3.9 gallons when it's bone dry.......it only took about 2.5 gallons.

Not sure what happened but it seems to be running perfectly now.

Anyone else ever experienced that? What would cause something like that?

[soccer4m]

Maybe?

Maybe a bad vacuum line to the petcocks so the gas flow is off? Just guessing......or really plugged inside tank filter screens? Hope it only happens once....Mike in Sun Diego

[BA80]

No vacuum petcocks on a Special and the octy has been deleted for many years now.

If a screen is blocked it would have to be both of them because the lines are T'd together.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Greg,

Well, the most common problems have already been eliminated by no octy and the gravity feed petcocks. That leaves a possible air lock in the in line filters, OR...when was the last time you checked the gas cap vent??? It might have gotten gummed up and you developed the dreaded vac. lock in the tank once it got just so low! JAT!?

T.C.

[BA80]

Hey Greg,

Well, the most common problems have already been eliminated by no octy and the gravity feed petcocks. That leaves a possible air lock in the in line filters, OR...when was the last time you checked the gas cap vent??? It might have gotten gummed up and you developed the dreaded vac. lock in the tank once it got just so low! JAT!?

T.C.

Hmmm......that doesn't add up either since the on and reserve share the same line and as I stated, they are T'd together.

[motoman]

Today riding home from work.....the bike hadn't run all day, I rode to work this morning and got there about 7:15 AM. When I got on and started it to go home at about 4:45 PM it acted like it had flooded a little during the day and sputtered a bit until it cleared.

It's right at 16 miles from home to work.

Rode it almost all the way home, about 14 miles with no problems. Partially in city traffic but mostly highway. At my exit off the highway it started popping through the exhaust on decal like it was running out of fuel but my low fuel light wasn't on and there was only about 70 miles on the trip odometer (my fuel guage) and I go about 100 miles before I'm watching for the fuel light to come on normally.

I clutched it and it died. Turned the petcocks to reserve and it fired right up and I came home.

Thinking I was out fuel for whatever reason, I stopped at the gas station on the way to the grocery store to fill it up. My special tank holds about 3.9 gallons when it's bone dry.......it only took about 2.5 gallons.

Not sure what happened but it seems to be running perfectly now.

Anyone else ever experienced that? What would cause something like that?

Well Greg, know you ain't gonna' like this, but here goes: Had an almost identical thing happen with my Venturer some 5yrs. ago. Then it just run fine again.....actually for a period of time after that incident.....until a much later date. The decel you spoke of kinda gave me a clue as to what possibly happened. The vacuum advance returning to its stationary position could of caused one of the pick-up wires to break contact internally, and then melt a couple of the internal wires back together from heat resistance, making a connection again upon rotation of the vacuum advance assembly........for a period of time running fine, riding again. That was the case with mine......till the next time and then found the white wire internally had come apart again and just stayed that way. JAT and worth pulling that cover and tugging every inch of those wires using both hands while looking for a stretched insulaton spot, specially since you are planning on a LD ride later this summer. Actually, second time my Venturer did that, a hellof a backfire came from that stock exhaust while on I-70 at speed! Other than that, I'll guess with ya'.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Greg,
Have you recently changed to that new fangled Synthetic Oil
That stuff does weird things to these old machines.

Just messing with you
Sorry no useful ideas.
Phil

[BA80]

Well Greg, know you ain't gonna' like this, but here goes: Had an almost identical thing happen with my Venturer some 5yrs. ago. Then it just run fine again.....actually for a period of time after that incident.....until a much later date. The decel you spoke of kinda gave me a clue as to what possibly happened. The vacuum advance returning to its stationary position could of caused one of the pick-up wires to break contact internally, and then melt a couple of the internal wires back together from heat resistance, making a connection again upon rotation of the vacuum advance assembly........for a period of time running fine, riding again. That was the case with mine......till the next time and then found the white wire internally had come apart again and just stayed that way. JAT and worth pulling that cover and tugging every inch of those wires using both hands while looking for a stretched insulaton spot, specially since you are planning on a LD ride later this summer. Actually, second time my Venturer did that, a hellof a backfire came from that stock exhaust while on I-70 at speed! Other than that, I'll guess with ya'.

Ha ha ha ha...even a flat tire is electrical to you Brant.

Just put that set of pick ups in there last fall when the mufflers were having an electrical problem.

Pretty sure this was a fuel issue. Possibly caused by the full green moon.

[BA80]

Hi Greg,
Have you recently changed to that new fangled Synthetic Oil
That stuff does weird things to these old machines.

Just messing with you
Sorry no useful ideas.
Phil

I'm blaming it on the moon......LUNACY!!!!!

[motoman]

Ha ha ha ha...even a flat tire is electrical to you Brant.

Just put that set of pick ups in there last fall when the mufflers were having an electrical problem.

Pretty sure this was a fuel issue. Possibly caused by the full green moon.

Hmmmm.......may wait for a blue moon as that may help the already teeny wires consisting of low lotage/low resistance........just don't have a flat.

[trbig]

This happened quite a bit on my bike. Plenty of fuel, but for some reason I've never figured out, it would run out on one or the other bank of carbs. I could feel it start to lose power, so I'd have to twist the petcock to another position, usually reserve, let it catch again, then spin it back and all was good. The problem is trying to figure out which side it's happening to while you're running on two cylinders usually in traffic. It didn't do it every tank full, so no ideas why.

I always figured I'd clean the petcocks up at some point. Seems I have the time now. lol.

[BA80]

This was BOTH sides. Running down the highway it as fine but as soon as I started to decel for the ramp it started popping from both sides and when I clutched it, it just quit.

I've had this happen once or twice before but that was when I still had the octy. It's been quite a while since though.

[GLoweVA]

Something similar happened to me once, turned out to be a stuck float. The bowl would fill up and flood out the engine. Switching the petcock around interrupted the flow enough to allow the fuel in the bowl to be consumed and it ran fine for a few miles then it would fill up again and bog down and die.

Just a thought.

[Eveready1100]

Greg, I had exactly the same problem some time ago with my SF.
Turned out to be the fuel tank cap vent. I asked the nearly identical question of why, on the Aussie forum. Check the reply I got, which explains the "why" simply

[IMG][/IMG]

It fixed my problem immediately, and it hasn't happened since.

[ViperRon]

Greg
You say all four carbs so it has to be something common to all 4. If you have your lines tied together it could be an air bubble trapped as I have had that issue before with a filter but only on one group of carbs for me as mine are separated. The only thing I could see is the vent in the tank as far as fuel goes. If it was electrical it would need to be supply of voltage to the coils or bad connection to the ignition. The only reason I even think it could be electronics is you say it sounded flooded and its very doubtful all carbs had a float problem at the same time but an ignition problem would act the same]after it starts to fire.