Running lean... curses

OziOsborne · Post by **OziOsborne** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 8:57 pm

Okay lets see, rebuilt the entire front end (both forks, triple tree and clamps, rim, tire, brakes...), got rid of what plastic pieces were left and replaced them all with a streetfighter front end, dents pulled out of tank and had whole thing repainted, fender eliminator in the rear with integrated turn signals. Yup shes looking hot right now, too bad she runs like an asthmatic fat kid. Ive gone over all the hoses a dozen times now after reinstalling the tank and they all look perfect. I changed the position of the front carb fuel breather tube and adjusted the idle with the choke screw and that took care of most of the stalling at idle and low revs however it still runs REALLY lean. A lot of the times I have to take off the gas cap to get it to start reving again without dying. What am I doing wrong here? She was running just fine before I pulled off the tank (even with all the other damage) but no amount of fiddling or wire pulling will straighten her out. The last time I took off the tank I had the same problem, the shop fixed it in under an hour and told me i had just "misassembled the petcock". I want to learn to do this on my own now but I dont see anythiing Ive done wrong and its driving me nuts. Five hoses under the tank, two breathers on the riders right (a skinny and a thick) and three on the riders left that connect to the petcock. The two really thick carb hoses that go on the left and right of the petcock and the thin one that runs to the top of the rear carb (which I assume is the vaccum hose) and connects to the bottom middle of the petcock between the carb hoses. Is there a trick to reseting the vaccum compression? Should I start sucking on hoses till fuel starts pumping everywhere? Im losing my damn mind here. Anyway, time to go back out into the garage, I thought Id just shoot up an SOS and see what comes back to me. Thanks guys.

phild · Post by **phild** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:34 pm

Oz, there are two possible connections that the vacuum tube can go onto the petrol tap.make sure you use the right one.if the vacuum is there(put your finger over the end of the tube and you will feel it with the engine running)it should just let the petrol through no need to suck or prime anything.hope this makes sense...phil

beckster · Post by **beckster** » Sun Apr 01, 2007 10:43 pm

Hi ozi,if you have your vacuum hose at the bottom of the petrol rock its on the wrong connection,you need to have it on the one that sits behind the left hand fuel line to the carb as you sit on the bike.

Stormin Ben · Post by **Stormin Ben** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 12:29 am

Wot Beckster said -the vacuum is not connected right

And also, the fact that the bike is running at all means that the diaphram in the tap is split

With no vacuum on the tap (as you have currently connected it) you should have NO fuel flowing -the bike usually runs long enough to get to the bottom of a hill before conking out at the side of the road!

Stratman · Post by **Stratman** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 5:34 pm

Hi ozi,if you have your vacuum hose at the bottom of the petrol rock its on the wrong connection,you need to have it on the one that sits behind the left hand fuel line to the carb as you sit on the bike.

Agreed!

You can't actually disassemble the petcock without grinding off the rivets, though Honda do sell a diaphragm kit for about Â£25 (i fitted one)

OziOsborne · Post by **OziOsborne** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:07 am

Okay okay, the award for biggest loser can be presented now, after four weeks of the bike sitting in the garage in pieces as I desperatly tried to solve the mystery problem, all the while swearing I had the petcock hooked up right, it turns out the vaccum hose was on the wrong connector. The sad part is after taking the tank apart several times I never even realized there was a connection on the back side of it, hell even after my fingers found it I didnt think it was anything more than a screw point or something. Anyways Im back up and running, had to go out and do some celebration wheelies. Thanks for your help guys.

cupasoop · Post by **cupasoop** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 7:16 am

Dont worry Ozi, your not the first and you certainly wont be the last to do that.

Mind you, most folk dont take 4 weeks to spot it

Jaglifter · Post by **Jaglifter** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 8:29 am

Don't worry Oz. It took me months to realise I didn't have to switch off the tap to stop the fuel coming out! I'd no idea it was controlled by a diaphragm.