I have a few issues....

[airborneXS]

Hey guys, its been awhile since my last post, had some family tragedy to deal with, thank god my bike has held up through it all...
I am having a few issues though...

1) Since i last tore down and cleaned my carbs a few months ago, i am getting around 80 miles per tank! ugh...any ideas on this?

2) My front wheel is wobbling around 75 mph...i did some searching and I believe my front wheel weights fell off, so Im going to put more on and see how that goes...

3) The other day, my speedometer started flying around all over the range, then crapped out completely, including the lights. The tach still works though...any ideas on this?

4) Lastly, my horn sometimes works, and sometimes doesnt. Again, any ideas?

[WMarshy]

Hey guys, its been awhile since my last post, had some family tragedy to deal with, thank god my bike has held up through it all...
I am having a few issues though...

1) Since i last tore down and cleaned my carbs a few months ago, i am getting around 80 miles per tank! ugh...any ideas on this?

2) My front wheel is wobbling around 75 mph...i did some searching and I believe my front wheel weights fell off, so Im going to put more on and see how that goes...

3) The other day, my speedometer started flying around all over the range, then crapped out completely, including the lights. The tach still works though...any ideas on this?

4) Lastly, my horn sometimes works, and sometimes doesnt. Again, any ideas?

If your having problems with your speedo and think your getting 80 mpg then your speedo is having issues and I wouldnt believe your MPG's. Thats double what one would expect, that cant be right.

[CatatonicBug]

The horn is a simple ground switch in the left handlebar controls. Take it apart and clean all the connections in there, then lube it all with dielectric grease.

[Laptop_geek]

If your having problems with your speedo and think your getting 80 mpg then your speedo is having issues and I wouldnt believe your MPG's. Thats double what one would expect, that cant be right.

Correction, he said 80 miles per tank, or about 20 miles per gallon (with some rounding errors, not sure of the actual tank cap on a special but know its a little more than 4 US gallons). How did you calculate the miles per tank? If you speedo is wacking out and you used that to calculate it that number may be off. I'd try and find out why you lost power to the speedo first, check the connection to the front wheel and make sure that is good and make sure its still getting electrical power. Do a search on here or look in your manual and you'll find a schematic that you can use to trace the wires. You should be able to find the bad connection by doing that.

[DGXSER]

Most Special tanks will be running on reserve by about 3 gallons or so of fuel, maybe 3.25. The tnak is about 3.5 gallons total IIRC. 80 miles per tank is pretty weak, but as much as you have been working on your carbs is that the same tank of fuel your using to figure that? I recently have been tyring to iron out a few issues with a set of carbs I rebuilt, as a result of all the pulling of carbs and dumping several bowls of fuel out in the process, I added 3.2 gallons of fuel at 85 miles the other day. I continued riding form there and at around 70 miles I refueled, taking in 1.8 gallons of fuel, about 40 MPG.

Item 3 may be closely related to item 1, if your going by your odometer to calculate your Miles per tank, if the speedo part is not functioning correctly, then your odometer is questionable. For it to go as crazy as your describing, sounds like the internals flew apart to take out the lights as well. The speedo is mechanical, the tach is electronic so not connected other than mounted to the same bracket.

As Bug stated, the horn is a simple switch that grounds the circuit. Either your horn button needs cleaning or replacing, or perhaps the wires on your horns have loosened.

[airborneXS]

the speedo has been fine the last few thousand miles, thats what ive been using to average my gas...i ride around 500-1000 miles a week, at least...i fill it up with 3 gallons every time, and only get about 80 miles...when i have to switch to reserve i get maybe 5 more miles of fuel...

the horn wires are good, at least to the horns, i replaced and modified the horns...i will try taking the switch apart and cleaning it...

i just checked the speedo cable and it came loose at the end that goes into the speedo, i will have to try and re-crimp the end...however, it has no power so i think i have 2 things wrong with the spedometer...

[James England]

Your front wheel will need balancing (as opposed to sticking weights on where they were before). Are the wheel bearings OK? See if you can wiggle the wheel from side to side.....

[fredintoon]

Hey guys, its been awhile since my last post, had some family tragedy to deal with, thank god my bike has held up through it all...
I am having a few issues though...

1) Since i last tore down and cleaned my carbs a few months ago, i am getting around 80 miles per tank! ugh...any ideas on this?

2) My front wheel is wobbling around 75 mph...i did some searching and I believe my front wheel weights fell off, so Im going to put more on and see how that goes...

3) The other day, my speedometer started flying around all over the range, then crapped out completely, including the lights. The tach still works though...any ideas on this?

4) Lastly, my horn sometimes works, and sometimes doesnt. Again, any ideas?

Hi Airborne,
1) if that's 80 miles before switching to reserve, that's ~25mpg.
Is your vacuum advancer still working?
Recent posts on gas mileage inspired me to check the one on my SG.
Not working! Pulled it off and sucked on it and it works, will check further.
Do you suppose the carb cleaning may have upset the #2 carb's suction?
2) You can DIY a static wheel balance but best you take the wheel to someplace that can do a dynamic balance.
3) Alas, your speedo is hooped. Best buy another one. The tach is a completely separate instrument and cannot be affected by a speedo failure
4) Dirty terminals. Clean them. If that don't work, perhaps the horn itself is hooped. Check it by connecting it directly to a battery.
Consider replacing it with a Stebel-Nautilus or other LOUD horn.

[mack]

Horn

The horns on the SF are pretty weak at best. Mine was buzzing last week so I had a look at it. Turns out a big dragon fly had committed suicide and became lodged in the diaphram. Blew it out with compressed air and it works fine now or at least as good as it ever did.

[airborneXS]

hey fred, what did you mean about the #2 carbs suction?

[fredintoon]

hey fred, what did you mean about the #2 carbs suction?

Hi Airborne,
if the vacuum advance don't get sucked on it ain't gonna move.
The vacuum advance suction line is hooked up to the little metal elbow that sticks out of the forward face of the #2 carb.
The hole the elbow sucks through is quite small and could have gotten blocked over the years or perhaps by your cleaning process washing some crud in there.