[CRASH!]

I'm working way too hard to safely ride my bike! I just wasn't paying attention this morning when pulling out of the driveway. Braked suddenly in the sand and dropped her right on the right side. No apparent damage. No tank dent! Redline clip-on rotated a bit. Have to adjust tonight. Custom Aluminum U-bracket deflected to save aftermarket turn signal. CRG Hindsight dug into the dirt, but rolled out of the way. A little scuff on the carbon can that can be buffed out. Whew!

But I do have a problem now

The bike runs fine up to about 3k, but really stutters from 4 grand up, almost like it's fuel starved. I don't know what's going on. I looked at the fuel lines when I got to work. No apparent kinks. Vacuum lines to valve and pump look fine.

Don't know if the drop even has anything to do with it. Bike has sat for a week. Fuel leve is very low, but light just came on so that shouldn't be a problem.

Any ideas?

 

[Guest]

d'oh!
good to hear there's no "real" damage don.
you said you checked the fuel line for kinks. i'd also recommend flipping up the tank to make sure the sender's okay and that connections at the carb's are okay. maybe something got jugged loose from the drop?

 

[CRASH!]

Well yeah. That's how I checked the lines; lifted the tank for a good hard look. Seems fine.

This bike is a carby and I'm not very knowledgable on carbs. I wonder if I could have some funny float bowl problem. I'd think that would sort itself out after a couple of miles though :-/

 

[DucCrazed]

Let's be optimistic: Try some new gas.

If that doesn't work check for damaged fuel pump. Can you tell if the bike is running too rich or too lean above 3K? If it is too rich you may have knocked one of your floats loose. You would be getting too much gas in this situation, but I find this unlikely. It is possible though.

 

[CRASH!]

Yeah, I'll tank up on the way home and see if that makes a diff.

As for too rich or lean, I dunno. Can I tell by riding or do I have to pull plugs to answer that question?

 

[DucCrazed]

To tell if it is running rich I usually use the choke test. Get it to the RPM where it is running rough and then apply the choke. If it runs worse or tries to die then it is probably running too rich. If it seems to run a little better then it is too lean. This is a rough test, but it will usually tell you what is going on. To confirm pull a plug. If it is black, and has carbon soot around the bottom, too rich.

If it is too rich I would suspect either, carb issues (float), or your airflow is being disrupted somewhere. More than likely its bad gas though. Also, when trying new gas you may need to run through a gallon or so before you see the improvement. I would only put one gallon of gas in the tank, run it mostly dry and then fill up. That will help eliminate the bad gas quicker. At least IMHO.

 

[CRASH!]

Great suggestions.

I was actually thinking of only getting a little gas, but not for the reasons you just gave me.

I figure if I'm not getting anywhere and I want to lift the tank to muck with the carbs, I'm not gonna want a full tank!

I'll do the choke test this afternoon, then get a splash of gas.

thanks

 

[arecarless]

You said you have carbon cans. Might an exhaust problem be leaning out the engine? I have no pneumatic/acoustic experience- but I've designed, specc'ed, and laid up enough composite to know that the exhaust scuffing is probably the tip of the iceberg. And the mufflers are usually the first thing to hit the ground.
Rene Carlos

 

[CRASH!]

Hmmmmm

I thought of a possible exhaust leak due to the impact, but not of anything internal. I fell over on the grass! We're not talking impact here. I did see what looks like soot at the slip-on joint. I jiggled it. Very scientific.

Anyway, I fired up and headed straight to a gas station. Seemed to have the problem again, but hard to tell; engine was still cold. Played with the choke. Inconclusive.

Then it seemed to run pretty well the rest of the 2 miles to the gas station.

Put in a couple of gallons and rode 10 miles home, getting hard of and off the throttle. Seems fine :-/

So it's a mystery. I did notice some difference when I first put the choke on; seemed to smooth out. After that I couldn't be sure. I wonder if the choke had gotten jammed and wasn't released all the way? Nah, probably not.

Got home, straightened out the right clip-on. Did a more complete inspection. Seems ok. I checked clearance on the tank/controls.... at lock the starter button was half way depressed by the tank! I was just millimeters from a tank ding!

Thanks for all the ideas. Let's hope that's the end of this thread, 'cause it won't be good if I have to come back here!