Runs Rough - need mentors

[afriedl]

Background story: I have a 1977 R100/7 bought in 2008 April. I lost my motorcycle friend suddenly last October and am on my own, motorcycle-wise. I have had motorcycles in the past but I want to learn with this one. Surviving the winter has always been my weakness. I can never seem to get them running as good as they did before winter storage. I get lost in fuel, spark, timing, mixture, gaps, floats, jets... I just don't know where to start and in which order to proceed. I need to ask obvious, basic questions with follow ups.

My storage technique: drained tank, emptied float bowls?, pulled battery with used batt. tender, covered bike.

Out of storage technique: Drained and added new engine and trans fluid. Put some fresh gas in. No gas leaks. Battery installed.

Question: Choked it a bit and gave it a few twists of throttle and it started up but it was running really rough. Let it warm up for a few minuets but never calmed down. At idle speed it was shaking the bars like crazy. I felt the exhaust and the both had hot exhaust gas. It wouldn't idle and when it was revved up it sounded really strained.? There was no smoke, no back fire. Went up and down the drive and had to revv it up pretty high just to get going. I want to learn but I am very new to all this. please for give. Do I try new gas? Timing? I haven't cracked open the points/ timing on this bike but am willing to give it a try.

Thanks in advance for having patients for a beginner.
Hope I remembered everything.

 

[BRICKRIDER]

You could start by purchasing the Haynes and/or Clymer manuals for your bike. Both are excellent and it wouldn't hurt to have both.

Usually the first thing to look at in trying to decipher a problem is the last thing you touched. That would be the carbs. My first suspicion is that one of the accelerator cables is pulled out of the nipple where it fits at the carb. Could be the choke cable, same thing.

Fuel petcock on? Pull one of the carb bowls back off & see if it is getting fuel. Look for crud in the bowl.

Make sure the spark plug caps are seated properly. Pull them both off and re-seat. The ignition wires might have come loose up under the tank if you were pulling on anything last fall.

Finally, do not overlook the mice. Did a nest get built in one of the exhaust pipes? Look in both with a strong flashlight. Look for chewed wires - mice love insulation.

There's more, but that should give you a start.

Ride Safely,
BrickRider

 

[NEALART]

Old gas can definitely cause the bad running you describe, but you said you drained it for storage, right? Did you put in new gas from the jug in your garage? That would be old gas. With the alcohol in the gas now, it does not store well and you need fresh gas from the pump.

 

[afriedl]

Thanks for helping out. I'm going to try out the ideas mentioned and reply back. I was a bit worried I would get no responses so thanks for helping.

 

[535IS]

Even drained carbs can have some gas residue that clogs up small passages over a winter. I've found that a couple of ounces of Seafoam (the actual name of the stuff; I have no idea why ) in the tank can work wonders, even cleaning out carbs that weren't drained. Put it into the fuel and shake the bike a bit to mix it. Fire it up and get some of the mixture down into the carbs. Then shut it down and let it sit for a day or so. That's what did it for me.

 

[pschuyler]

Are both carbs sending fuel to the Cylinders

I you put your hand over the muffler you should get output from both, even if one carb is stuck because of the crossover pipe.

What I did to test the carbs individually is to use my finger and raise each throttle mechanism behind the carb slowly where the throttle cable attaches.

I found on my bike that only one carb was actually working even though I was getting spark to both heads. Remember the throttle cable actuates both, if you test one carb at a time you can get a sense of smoothness of each with out twisting the grip

Pete

 

[26667]

kiss

from my experience, keep looking at simple things. Are the throttle cables seating properly right where the adjusters attach to the carbs? it's ez to see if that little textured adjuster barrel is up. Are the choke cables hanging up? Notice where they pull behind the carbs and be sure that little connector is all the way down when the choke is "off."You can give it a push w your finger.
Are your in-tank fuel filters clogged? Take them out, and clean and replace. It's ez for tank crud or some of the liner to foul them.
Are the air "hoses" whatever they're properly called, from the air box to the carbs, secure. In other words are there air leaks?
I'm out of ideas, but you get my point, i'm sure.Good luck and do tell us what the solution is. Hang in there and keep thinking. You'll get it sorted out.

 

[535IS]

Don't worry too much even if none of this works. I'm kind of new at this Airhead stuff myself, but you are smack dab in the middle of some serious Airhead Country. Notice that 3 of the respondents on this thread are within 2?¢ hours of you, including me. There are at least another half dozen I could come up with in a few minutes, including Orbitangel up in Oshkosh, ManicMechanic also here in Manitowoc, and RapidRoy in Waukesha. Then, there are the Wisconsin Airheads. If you are not an Airheads Beemer Club member, you could do worse than to join up.

Plus, you make beer!

 

[afriedl]

Thanks, you guys are awesome! It is nice to know that there are people around and I'm not flying solo.

I have to do this when my 3yo daughter is not outside. She thinks if I even sit on it it will be "noisy" and then cries.

Here is what I did. I swung the bail on the right side float and it had gas in it. Turned on the petcock and it flowed gas. Reinstalled that side. Did the left side and it was really hard to take off the bail holding the float. This side the bowl was dry. I turned on the gas for this side and it flowed. Turned off. Reinstalled and it was hard to swing the bail again. I looked around and felt with my fingers to see if anything was in the way. The gasket was hanging down but didn't appear to be off center. When I turned the gas on and it leaked from around the bowl. I repeated taking it off and looking around. Still leaks. Replace the gaskets?

Thanks again for being cool to the new guy..

 

[RandyB]

The cork gasket may be dried out. I had my GS in storage for 6 mos and it leaked like crazy for a few minutes.

Welcome aboard. You'll have more help than you can use.

Just scroll thru the Airheads forum. You'll go nuts.

 

[afriedl]

Well I went back out after writing this and committed to getting my shirt and pants dirty. I looked to make sure the gasket was all aligned and made sure the bail was completely seated. truned on the gas and NO LEAK! It took a bit to get started but I did get it started and it runs much smoother. Like normal. Let it warm up and went to get the tank filled.It ran just like it should and it even restarted at the gas station. I should have tested that at home not at the gas station. I was a bit amped up.

 

[535IS]

I have to do this when my 3yo daughter is not outside. She thinks if I even sit on it it will be "noisy" and then cries.

OK; you gotta work on this. My daughter always loved my bike (a Honda Shadow with some 'artfully drilled' mufflers until 2007; not loud, but with a bit of a bark). I was bottle feeding her sitting on its seat when she was 3 months old. A month later, she managed to sleep through meeting Phil Hill while a B Production Mustang rolled by outside the tent at Road America. Got her photo sitting on a bike in a Chicago-area biker magazine when she was at the "Art of the Motorcycle" at the Field Museum at age 2. She liked to climb up on the 'Brumm-brumm' and went for her first short first-gear ride when she was 3. She has always been wary of loud noises, but internal combustion engines (like race cars) just don't seem to bother her. Don't let her be a weenie. Show her that the vacuum cleaner is louder than your BMW.

 

[sumran]

If the bowl was dry, it sounds like you were not getting gas to that side. The float needle may have been stuck in the closed position. No gas on the left side makes your bike run on one cylinder and it is rough.

Perhaps you freed it up by removing the bowl and it started getting gas again. If the bowl was overflowing the float or float needle may not be closing properly either.

I would pull the carbs and remove the floats and float needles. Clean carefully and reinstall. You can do that job without removing the carbs and it may be the best choice if you don't want to learn about adjusting and syncing the carbs.

By the way, the petcocks are not dedicated to one side. There is a crossover line that runs under the air cleaner box. I mentioned it because it is easy to spill fuel if you think you have shut it off when you really have not.

 

[Rod Sheridan]

Even with no gasket the bowl shouldn't leak without the bike running.

The float/needle should keep the fuel level at the correct height.

Since the first problem was caused by a stuck needle/float, you should carefully clean out the seat area, inspect the needles and floats carefully, then replace them.

OK so that statement was half facetious, however it's well worth doing after many miles.

Regards, Rod.

 

[JAMESDUNN]

Should have checked....

...all the things listed on this thread earlier. I rode my "78 RS on a longish trip a week ago. I did all the usual things prior to riding, check tires and oil as well as other fluids. All a-okay and went for a ride and it ran good, most of the way, then developed a miss. I had recently adjusted the valves and checked the timing as well as gaped the points. I suspected the plugs as I thought one had fouled out; not uncommon. Put in a set of fresh plugs and no improvement. Then ran through a list of the things on this thread and ...presto! Runs and idles good now. I don't really know the exact problem but suspect loose airtubes to carbs. Should have attended to these items when checking fluids, etcetera. Thirty minutes and big difference. Great thread!Live and learn.