It was finally warm here today on the east coast of Canada so I figured I would fire up the 4th gen.
Put a new battery in , full choke vroom she comes to life.
It sounded a bit weak and never came up to fast idle but I didn't think much of it at first. Let it run for a while and no change. Finally I figured it was running on 3 so I checked the pipes and the left front was cold, yep 3 cylinders. Took the fairings off and switched the front two plugs , fired her up again, same dead cylinder so I eliminated the plugs, they were new last year.
Where should I go from here?
After you've checked for spark on that cylinder, the most likely place to look next would be inside the carb for that cylinder. Check that the choke circuit pickup tube is not clogged and the idle jet is clear and clean.
Well I have fire for sure, but the plug was dry after running on three. I drained the float bowl un till it was empty and fed her some fresh gas and the bowl never filled. Looks like I may have to do the dreaded carb removal.
I broke the rule so I will have to pay the price.
Actually I normally run the carbs dry but my battery croaked at the end of the season and I just picked up another one now.
Drain screws on the float bowls are the way to go. Get a super long flathead screwdriver, and carve up a small bottle lengthwise to shove under the carbs and catch the fuel, or use a length of clear tubing on the drain nipple on the bottom of the float bowl.
I drained my carbs on my '86 every winter for 14 years and never required carb work. Ran like new when I sold it in 2000.
Did the same thing with an ST1100, but not even for a winter. Took 4 months of sitting from the beginning of summer to end of fall to clog the jets up to where it wouldn't run.
Well I have fire for sure, but the plug was dry after running on three. I drained the float bowl un till it was empty and fed her some fresh gas and the bowl never filled. Looks like I may have to do the dreaded carb removal.
Hey Mascar,
It is not fun the first time, but learning to remove the carbs on these bikes is the starting point for so many repairs and mods that it is time well spent! Like the sushi chef who must learn to cook rice a thousand times before ever touching the fish, removing and installing the carbs is a rite of passage. I cleaned mine out four times this last winter...
One thing that was essential for me was to use a large pry bar (!) to help in both removing and installing. I wrapped a carpenter's prybar with electrical tape to protect the carb bodies, and gently pried them off by levering against the valve cover. That may sound terrible, but it worked. I also used the prybar to get the carbs seated back into the boots, by sticking the pry under the frame on the side of the bike, and gently levering them down. Front two get seated first, then the rear. Here's a good thread: http://www.vfrdiscus...sync-with-pics/
Well I'm going to pull the carbs off the beast today.
I have some experience fooling with bike carbs in the past so I'm hoping my memory will serve me.
Has anyone ever drilled the hole larger in their slides and shimmed the needles?
I had great results doing this on an 84 nighthawk once.
A big thanks for all who chipped in.
Problem solved , the needle valve had a growth on it and was stuck.
I removed carbs, (super easy) cleaned everything in the bottoms with carb cleaner
and everything in the top with hot soapy water, put it all back together in less than 4hrs.
Thanks to all of you! :smile:
Did the same thing with an ST1100, but not even for a winter. Took 4 months of sitting from the beginning of summer to end of fall to clog the jets up to where it wouldn't run.
Gas has truly been lousy since 10% ethanol became the norm around here. Even so I purchased my ST1100 over 17 years ago and never experienced any significant carburetor issues until "critters" gained entry to my storage shed and proceeded to build a nest in the airbox over the winter a few years ago..
Over the winter I try to remember to add Stabil to the gas and try to keep the tank full (or nearly so). However, even when I may have forgotten to add Stabil my ST's carbs still seemed to do fine as long as I ride, or at a minimum try to remember to start and warm her up to operating temperature at least once a month.
Of course it's probably been over a month since the last time I fired her up...so maybe I should have knocked on wood before making such a claim.
End of thread · 17 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 14 Apr 2016