1000R valve ticking, All better now!

I've been slowly working away at this '86 1KR since last fall, sometime over the winter when I was not busy with one of 3 other projects I did rebuild the carbs, cleaned the tank and snd got some other small problems sorted. Today after a long break finally pulled it out of storage and got it to the point where I can take it for a spin: rebuilt the master cylinder, bled the brakes, pumped up the tires and suspension, attached all the palstics and tank. First problem is that carbs are clogged up again, it must have sat for 3 or 4 month since it ran last, I drained the carbs when I put it in storage but did not help, no idle without choke and can barely get it to come off the idle, so I guess it's time to pull the carbs again and clean the idle circuit.

Also when it does idle (choke on) there is a definite "tick" from one of the valves, probably should take a look at them when I have the carbs off, is it a simple adjustment or is there some common issue I should look for? There is not much info I can find on the subject so perhaps someone here can point me in the right direction, I did my Desmo Duck valves over the winter so pretty sure I can handle this, just don't want to waste too much time on it since it's a riding season and I have lots of house work on top of this, been promising "The Boss" that house will get painted this month.

Appreciate any help

D

Came in this morning and there is a pool of gas on the floor, my first thought was stuck float. No problem, was going to pull the carbs anyway but further inspection revealed this:

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paint must have been covering the hole and gas ate through it overnight

I have a whole spare bike, but those rusty spots in the photo are actually holes right through the tank

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plus another spare tank, but it's not much better, how ever it does not leak, so now I have to decide which tank to fix and how.

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POR-15 Motorcycle tank repair kit! I fixed a leaking tank on an '83 VF750F with that stuff and it was magic.

Depending how bad the holes in the leaking tank are, you can use it on that, but if they're really big (other than pinholes) I'd treat the spare tank instead.

Those are pinholes, been thinking about POR or Caswell treatment, used both in the past with good success, also used RedCote but last time I did it something went wrong and it got all wrinkled.

http://www.caswellpl...ds/epoxygas.htm

I'm a bit concerned with internal plumbing of the tank, main feed and reserve lines are part of the tank and I'm worried that they will get clogged with sealer, I guess will have to try to find out. I want to get it on the road before the snow starts falling :)

I fixed pinholes with POR 15 and the tank has held gasoline for years. I did this: I treated the inside with POR exactly by the book. Then, on the outside of the tank I used JB Weld to reinforce it.

See, JB Weld will NOT take fuel. It says it will, but it won't. Not ethanol. It won't stay solid with ethanol fuel touching it. But POR will. So, the enamel-like POR is on the inside, and on the outside of the tank is a spot of JB Weld to make it strong. Seems to be working years out from the repair....

You can't leave ethanol fuel for more than a couple months. Not even with Stabil in it. Won't work right for ethanol, period.

If you gotta leave your bike the best thing is to drain the tank, drain the float bowls, and then start the bike and run it completely out of fuel.
The biggest problem I had with bringing my VFR back to life after it sat with ethanol fuel in it, was getting that mess cycled through the fuel pump....

One more thing I found: POR won't tell you that the best way to clear the rusted mess from your tank is Muratic acid. This is the stuff you buy at Lowe's, etc. to clean the concrete around swimming pools. It won't eat paint. But it will eat the heck out of rust in a tank, and you better wear eye protection and stand back. Once it's done, rinse it and pour some acetone in there to get the water out quickly, otherwise it will flash-rust. THEN apply the POR and do the drying process with a hair dryer, exactly according to the instructions.

Dmitry, Check your PM.

[image: View Post]Dmitry, on 08 July 2011 - 09:25 PM, said:

Those are pinholes, been thinking about POR or Caswell treatment, used both in the past with good success, also used RedCote but last time I did it something went wrong and it got all wrinkled.

http://www.caswellpl...ds/epoxygas.htm

I'm a bit concerned with internal plumbing of the tank, main feed and reserve lines are part of the tank and I'm worried that they will get clogged with sealer, I guess will have to try to find out. I want to get it on the road before the snow starts falling :)


Bummer, sorry to hear about your troubles.

The Caswell stuff is great. I'll never use another sealer. You don't even have to have it rust free inside. After swirling it around awhile, tilt the tank so it settles on the rusted area. Hook up a compressor to the fuel line and let air blow in. Cycle through the petcock, On to Reserve and back while the stuff sets up. The lines don't sit directly on the bottom so it's unlikely you'll clog them but this is a good insurance. It will never leak there again.

Thanks all for advice!

I have done the POR in the past and the results were great if you wait 4 days for it to cure.

Unlike most tanks draining the rinse water from this one is very difficult and it has to be absolutely dry before the last step is applied.
What I do is use a quart of that cheap alcohol from the pharmacy to rinse the tank, it does two things:
first it degreases the surface removing any oils left behind (especially on 2 stroke premix tanks)
also it absorbs any water left behind and dries quickly, I just stick the air hose in the tank and let the air blow for a while.

Never used Caswel myself but I have it in the shop cause someone else was using it with great results, and I was amazed that it took right on the rust, no problems so far, will give it a shot once the original tank is dry.

As for storage of modern gas I have couple solutions if anyone is interested:

First is "dry storage": I have a de-humidifier in my basement where I store some of the bikes, those will fire up even after 6 month with no sta-bil, Seafoam or any other additive, been doing it for years.

Another is Race Gas, yes, Race gas does not go bad, I have a bike that was stored since September 2000 when I crashed and broke few bones, last fall after 10 years and few month I decided to see if it still runs, with a fresh battery it fired right up once the fuel pump filled up the carbs. Carbs are clean, perfect idle and plenty of power with 10+ y/o gas. Have heard similar advice form few friends that just fill up with race gas before winter, we have a gas station that sells Cam2, they all visit it late fall before just before putting the bikes to sleep.

I thought I did due diligence on this one, ran it dry and then drained the carbs, I knew the humidity will be an issue, still it seems the pilots are clogged...

Replied to your message about the valve adjust.

Bummer about the tank. I use a cheap siphon pump to get the last bit of fluid out of the tank. Still can be a bit of a pain, but alcohol works.

I also have used race gas to store. Seems to work well.

Kel, did you use the Caswell stuff for your tank with the modified flush mount gas cap? I`ve got a VF1000F tank I just did the same thing to and would like to make sure it seals around my welds.

Thanks for the replies and Pm's.

I just got home and got to be a parent for a while...

Waited few days to dry the tank and then sealed it with Caswell, looks good but I have not put gas in it, we did another one earlier and it worked well so no reason to doubt the power of Epoxy!


While the tank is drying (curing) I puller the rear valve cover off and found the exhaust valves way out of spec, 0.3mm instead of 0.14, set the clearance and buttoned it up, decided not to mess with front cylinders yet, can't even see that valve cover, looks to be a fun job (seems the radiator has to come out?)
Also pulled the carbs, removed all jets, blew air through the passages and checked the float height, all looked good and clean but once I put them back the idle is back to normal and the valve ticking is gone!!

Tomorrow (hopefully) new tires and than test ride!

[image: View Post]VF1000RS, on 09 July 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

Kel, did you use the Caswell stuff for your tank with the modified flush mount gas cap? I`ve got a VF1000F tank I just did the same thing to and would like to make sure it seals around my welds.



I did.

[image: View Post]Dmitry, on 13 July 2011 - 10:25 PM, said:

Waited few days to dry the tank and then sealed it with Caswell, looks good but I have not put gas in it, we did another one earlier and it worked well so no reason to doubt the power of Epoxy!


While the tank is drying (curing) I puller the rear valve cover off and found the exhaust valves way out of spec, 0.3mm instead of 0.14, set the clearance and buttoned it up, decided not to mess with front cylinders yet, can't even see that valve cover, looks to be a fun job (seems the radiator has to come out?)
Also pulled the carbs, removed all jets, blew air through the passages and checked the float height, all looked good and clean but once I put them back the idle is back to normal and the valve ticking is gone!!

Tomorrow (hopefully) new tires and than test ride!



Awesome.

[image: View Post]Kel, on 14 July 2011 - 06:06 AM, said:

[image: View Post]VF1000RS, on 09 July 2011 - 12:15 PM, said:

Kel, did you use the Caswell stuff for your tank with the modified flush mount gas cap? I`ve got a VF1000F tank I just did the same thing to and would like to make sure it seals around my welds.



I did.


Another question Kel, how did you deal with the water drain? I want to do the same mod for the dented tank but recessed caps tend to collect water. I had an issue in the past when my drain clogged water would collect in the recess of the cap, every time I opened the cap after it rained water would just dump in the tank, every time I switched to reserve it would get in to carbs and cause misfire.