It's alive again... Mostly!

[clcorbin]

Well, I FINALLY got the bike fired up tonight. There has been a lot of work put into this bike to get it ready for daily use again between the transmission repair, carb cleaning, final drive clean/grease, gas tank electrolysis (followed by pin hole repair...), brake cleaning/flushing, etc., etc., etc.

It REALLY pissed me off when I finally went to start it. After setting the tank on the frame backwards and hooking up the fuel lines, I added about 1 1/2 gallons of fuel and then carefully checked for leaks. No leaks! I then turned the peacocks on to prime and waited for 10 seconds. When I hit the start button, it fired right up!

And ran for about 3 seconds before sputtering and dying! I spent the next hour trying to get it so much a cough again, let a long run. The gas was fresh, the tank was clean, the carbs where clean. I opened up the drains on each bowl and verified that I had gas and the gas was good, clean gas (it was). I pulled an inner and outer plug and verified that I had spark at each cylinder. Nothing seemed to want to get this bike running. I even hooked up my battery charger to the battery while starting (it has a start mode) to make SURE I had enough voltage. Nothing worked.

Finally, I pulled the outer plugs and shot about 1/2 an ounce in each hole and tried it that way and I was finally able to get it running. I had to do the gas trick twice, but after the second time, all four cylinders cleaned out and started running right.

After a bit of tweaking on the idle speed and setting the pilot mixtures, it was running pretty cleanly. The only thing I have noticed is that I have the pilot screws out between 2 1/2 to 3 turns on each carb. Per the service manual, I DO need to put smaller pilot jets in the thing. That is going to wait for a long weekend before I do that! Pulling the carbs on this beast is NOT my idea of a good time!

All in all, she is in a lot better shape than she has been in a long time. I have replaced a lot of the rubber (gas cap seal, rear brake isolator, assorted o-rings, brake caliper bleeder screw caps, foot peg covers, etc.), FINALLY cleaned all the rust out of the gas take, went through the carbs top to bottom including new main and pilot jets, all new fluids, repaired transmission, and on and on and on... She definitely needed the work.

Now I just can't wait until tomorrow when I am going to take her out and see how she likes the TLC.

[CatatonicBug]

Congrats! It's experiences like this that make you proud of your bike, and yourself. You know that you never have to pay somebody else to fix it, because nothing could possibly be more difficult than the stuff you just took care of all by yourself. Patience is definitely a virtue, and mixed with determination, it really makes for a nice ride.

So, you gonna show us some pictures of your accomplishments?

[Bigfoot]

After a colortune on mine, the pilot screws are out about 3.5 turns each. It is running very well with that setup. It eliminated the lean popping I was getting on deceleration. The stock settings resulted in a very lean condition for me when off throttle. In my opinion 2.5 - 3 turns is not XSive.

[CatatonicBug]

In my opinion 2.5 - 3 turns is not XSive.

Agreed. Mine are over 4 turns out, IIRC.

Are the older ('79F) carbs different in that regard at all?

[Larrym]

The basics???

You didn't mention pulling the choke lever out.....

I hope tomorrow's trial run leaves you smiling.

[clcorbin]

You didn't mention pulling the choke lever out.....

I hope tomorrow's trial run leaves you smiling.

I didn't mention it, but I DID try every choke position, multiple times. Including draining the float bowls, using prime on the peacocks for 5 seconds, then trying to start it in every choke position, then moving he peacocks to prime again for another couple of second, then trying to start it in every choke position.... !

After I called it a night and cleaned up, I called my brother to let him know she lived (and give him an update on how big a PAIN it was getting her alive!). We discussed a few things that had been done to the bike over the years we have owned her and finally got into a debate on if the fuse box had been replaced, so I decided to go back out to the shop to settle it (I was right, I HAD replaced it and her did have automotive blade fuses!). While there, I HAD to start it real quick and she fire right up. The starter didn't even spin for a split second before she barked to life. That definitely made me feel better! The real test will be to see how she starts this morning when she is stone cold. It's 34F outside right now.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also replaced all the fuel lines, fuel filters and vacuum lines as well.

One issue that I have always had with this bike since I first bought her in 1989 is with the starter clutch. It will either not grab (so the start just spins, but not the engine) or it will grab and spin the engine over for a few seconds before it releases and the starter just spins. In the past, this wasn't a big issue as she started so quickly that usually it would take no more than two tries before it was running. Fighting trying to get her started last night REALLY bought it to my attention just how bad the starter clutch has gotten.

So, the question is this: Is there anything I can do to improve the clutch assembly without pulling and splitting the engine? Per the manual, it definitely shows step one being pulling the engine. Needless to say, I would REALLY like to avoid that if possible, at least at the current time. Maybe this summer when I redo the gas tank...

[DiverRay]

The oil you use WILL make a difference in the starter clutch. IF you are on 20-50, go to 10-40. The lighter oil seems to help in cold weather. The bike should run well on any oil, unless you are running 85MPH in the 118 degree summer! Even then, I was using the OLD Chevron 15-40 Delo and had no problems. The "NEW" Delo 15-40 now has friction modifiers, and is NOT good for the clutch!

[clcorbin]

I hadn't though of the engine oil being a contributor. It currently has 15W-50 Mobile 1 in it. I have ran Mobile 1 in this bike since day one and the main clutch does not have any trouble with it. I didn't think about the fact that they starter clutch is ALSO a wet clutch. Given how cold it has been recently, it wouldn't hurt to try thinner oil and see what happens.