Roadside Mechanics Series #2 Check, Double Check:

The fuel line was clogged in the petcocks. I had forgotten there was a filter in there. Jen and I had even cleaned them in Dallas, and before we left New Orleans, but I forgot about checking them in Galveston. There was just enough crud getting through the old filters in the petcocks to make it look like our in line filters were doing their job and giving me the false impression that our fuel system was clean. Check, double check, and get it done right the first time.


Our gas tank was in need of an overhaul due to rust. There are many methods to clean out a rusty gas tank. Some people would say the best method is to go on ebay.com and buy a new one, but for our situation we were going to have to get dirty. The prevailing methods for cleaning out a gas tank use a three part system with the last step being the addition of a plastic liner.

I went with the first two steps. This involved shaking the tank excessively with a handful of nuts and bolts inside for over an hour. I even tried to sell this bit of work as a workout and get others to pay me to do my work. Unfortunately that didn't pay off, but my labor did. After the nuts and bolts were drained, the tank was ready for its acid bath. For this part I used a ten percent solution of muriatic acid and filled the tank all the way to the top. I let this sit for 2 hours while I cleaned out those pesky fuel petcocks. Once the acid bath was complete I washed the tank out with cold water, and dried it with an acetone to remove the last bits of water. Now it looks like a brand new tank on the inside.

Our engine starting is still hard. When cold, I can't kick the bike to life, but the starter button gets it going in about twenty seconds. The screeching is still there and the one mechanic that looked at the bike said the noise was related to an air leak. When warm, I can usually get the bike to start on the first kick. The starter button tends to hesitate when the bike is warm, but quickly gets the juice from the battery that it needs to complete the job, and it fires up in three seconds.

I took the carburetors off today to look at the flaps and fit some new gas lines. I found a little bit of Permetex gasket maker on the right side flap. This is in line with the diagnosis that our system is leaking a little bit of air. I also feel that the our RPMs are hanging at 2,000 when I pull up to a traffic light. I have heard that this is a signature sign of an air leak in the intake.

This is what we want our spark plugs look like after our tune-up.

Jen says this picture looks like the spark plug is going to hit on the motorcycle. Oh baby-baby.

My speedometer went out on me in Galveston. I haven't fiddled with it since then. So no diagnosis yet. I will take it apart and see whats up with it when we get a new front tire. When we started the ride I had to fiddle with it to get it to work right. I am not sure exactly how accurate it is, but most of the time it feels pretty consistent with traffic and those speed indicators that police forces use.

80 mph on the freeway is great. The bike handles well, and has lots of guts still to make passes. At first I assumed that we would be cruising at 60mph max, but soon enough 70 mph rolled around just fine, and when we were in a hurry to get to New Orleans 80 mph was no problem.

Benjamin

The last leg, on a broken leg

We did it! We left Galveston! Some of you might have thought we would be there forever. We almost thought the same thing. In fact, we only limped out of Galveston, and forty miles from Mission, Texas, our final destination in the US, the exhaust pipes started to scream, pop, hiss, and breathe fire. However cool it may sound, we lost power due to the excitement.

While in Galveston, we had been trying to eliminate some erratic behavior in the tuning of our machine. The hard starts, the loss of mid-range power, and occasional failure to start. We came to find out, when everything was said and done, all we needed was one of Jen's hair ties--well at least to help with figuring out why we were failing to start. After our last job with Tim, on the West End of the island, we couldn't get the bike to start. I figured it was just the points acting up again. I checked for a proper spark first. None. So we followed the connection back through the plug wires, and to the coils; when I got to the kill switch and hardwired it, the bike fired up and ran. So I cleaned the contacts on the switch and reassembled it to work normally. With the bike running, we buttoned her back up and started for home. Once we got on the highway, the engine cut out. I had missed something, or had I? I looped Jen's fabric rubber band over the ignition's kill switch, helping the contacts in the switch complete the circuit and transmit the necessary twelve volts to the coils. It worked again. When we got home that night, I took the switch apart, cleaned it up real good, made sure all the parts were functioning as they should, and presto, old is the new, new. Well, almost.

The engine is still hard to start/won't start. Jet Ski Joe, mechanic extraordinaire, and friend of Tim, an Adventure Rider (Princess Jamaica), told me our hard starts have something to do with the scratching sound we hear when the engine is starting, and that it is an air leak. To find out where the air is leaking, he advised us to spray starter fluid around where the carburetors mount to the engine head. If the leak is around the intake valves, the extra fuel will cause a spike in the engines RPM. To check the exhaust valves we will have to hold a burning match up to where the exhaust pipes mount to the engine, and watch for any movement in the flame. This will tell what gaskets need to be remade or ordered to fix the problem.

During our last days in Galveston, I bought a sort of insurance policy. New coils, four in fact. I figured we had replaced almost all the other ignition parts, short of installing an electronic ignition. Two of these coils were meant to be returned. I was able to find some car coils that were a match for the coils already on the bike and needless to say, the ones on the bike are not the right ones. So, I also bought the right Hitachi type Cm 11 coils for the bike, from MikesXS and had them shipped to Mission, Texas. My logic was that we could return the one set we picked up in Galveston when the right ones arrived and no one would be the wiser. Why the hassle? The idea was that if we did break down, and we did need the new coils between Galveston and Mission, we would have them. Guess what? It was a damn good "policy" I bought. When we broke down, I found one of our old coils was leaking oil. I think this is what caused our backfiring, but alas, when I changed them out, the problem persisted. We checked our spark, it was great; reset the timing, and fiddled with the carbs a little bit. Before we called it a night, I could get the bike to start up for about ten seconds, and then it would slowly die out. It would allow me to do this every fifteen minutes or so.

So that is where we are at. Oh, and the best part. We got a ride to Mission, Texas. I wasn't sure what to say when Mike, the second person to stop and ask us if we needed help, offered to throw our bike in the back of his van. I assumed it would be too large, and too heavy, but we did it.

Again, so this is where we are at. The bike runs, but only for a few seconds. Is it the carbs, or is it the valves? The engine running says to me it is not the valves, but the carbs, and the dying off to me sounds like there is blockage in one of the jets on the carbs. I guess there is only one way to find out. Pics coming tomorrow, or whenever we are at an Internet connection that will allow us to upload our pictures.

Be well
Be welcome
Benjamin