Project bike

[lwinders]

I guess I’ll begin by introducing myself. I’m Lee Winders and live in the small town of Mansfield, Tn. A few months ago I purchased an ’83 VR. The motorcycle had been setting up for quite some time. The man I bought it from hadn’t ridden it very much. He bought it from someone that I think had let it set up as well. The man I bought it from said the last time he rode it, it quit and he was unable to get it to run again. He said it acted like it was not getting gas. He had shown me the bike about a year ago and I told him if he ever wanted to get rid of it to let me know. He called me a few months ago and asked if I would give $200.00 for it. Well I figured it would be worth it if only for parts. I got it home and the first thing I did was remove the carbs. They were a mess to say the least. I went through and cleaned them as well as I could. I removed the gas tank and drained it. I replaced the fuel lines and filter on the tank side of the fuel pump. I still have the original fuel line on the pressure side. By the way, the bike has 19,000 miles on it. I put fresh gas in it and tried to start it. After about 10 minutes of messing with it, it finally hit. It will only run when fully choked. And then it runs very rough. I’m sure the carbs are way out of adjustment. I also notice the when trying to crank it, one of the carbs didn’t have any suction at all. Possibly a stuck valve. I don’t have the air box on it at this time and I’m sure this would also affect the way it runs. There is a lot of other work that needs to be done on the bike but first I want to know that the engine is ok. I really don’t think there is anything seriously wrong with the bike. It’s going to be a work in progress. I welcome all the help I can get

[Squidley]

1st thing I do on any new to me bike is a complete tune up. Replace the plugs, wires and caps, the fuel filter also. The floats might be out of adjustment and that might not help with the running right. The airbox has to be installed with a filter in it for these things to even try and run right, put that back on and see how it reacts. It will be a work in progress, but keep asking questions, we'll get you pointed in the right direction

[lwinders]

Thanks for the reply. I'll put the airbox and filter back on and give it a try. I'm really looking forward to getting this bike on the road.

[Condor]

Check your diaphragms for leaks, and your idle jets are probably clogged if it'll only run with full choke.

[lwinders]

I think I cleaned all the jets but I may have missed one. It's very possible I may have a leak in a diaphram. I didn't see any visible holes but they did seem a little stretched looking. I'm still concerned about not having suction on one of the carbs.

[lwinders]

Here is a picture of the bike as it looked when I got it.

[sgn]

Check your diaphragms for leaks, and your idle jets are probably clogged if it'll only run with full choke.

 

Condor's remarks seem right on the money. To check the diaphragms, remove the four covers and gently ease the rubber loose and hold them up to a bright light and check for pinholes. Search the forum and you will find some repair ideas as a temp fix, replacement is best and info for them is also on the forum. The idle jets may not "cleanup" by it but if reading post you will see many "feed" these bikes a dose of "Seafoam" found at most auto supply stores and Wal-mart. Yes it will make the bike smoke and smell like crap but sometimes it does help. (it can also "foul" plugs but it takes a lot of it) My 83 sat for three years and it made a big improvement.

 

Hope you have great success and welcome to the forum. The only "dumb" questions are the ones you don't ask!

 

Wish I was closer so I could stop in and help get it going!

[Yammer Dan]

Want your money back? I would do a Sea-Foam soak on it for a couple days after sitting like that. May help a lot.

[lwinders]

I'll have to give the Sea-Foam a try. Seems like everyone thinks a lot of it. You said to let them soak for a couple of days. I've seen Sea-Foam gas additive but does it come in other forms?

[Yammer Dan]

It is the gas additive. Kind of costly now but works great. Mix about 2/3s can with 1/3 can fresh gas or restart is hard. Pull intake line from rear of fuel pump. I use vise grips oto close off gas from tank because these old bikes don't like to use petcock. Open carb drain screws and drain carbs. Close drains. I forgot to do this once!! Use a extra piece of line to put on fuel pump and in can of Sea-Foam mixture. Turn bike back on and let carbs fill. Start bike and run until you are pretty sure all carbs are full of mixture. Shut off and leave sit for time. At least overnight. It will smoke cough and fart when you start it back up and if jets are completly plugged this may not clear them. I've had a lot of sucess with this. It may cost you a set of plugs. You will be surprised at the stuff that comes out of there.

[lwinders]

Thanks so much. I'll give it a try. I must warn everyone, this is just the beginning of a long list of questions I'll have on this bike.

[Venturous Randy]

Lee, I looked at your location and unfortunately you are on the wrong end of the state for me.

When you cleaned the carbs, did you take off the little manifold that has the rubber plugs in the bottom of it? Inside where the plugs are is where the pilot jets are and if you did not get them cleaned out, the bike will run terrible. You may need a smaill piece of wire to clean them out.

RandyA

[bongobobny]

Another thing to check is the carb manifolds, those 4 rubberized angled pieces that the carb sets on and connects to the heads. There are rubber seals on the bottom, and corrosion can and will happen between the boot and the head. I really think that your main problem is the carbs need to be rebuilt. There is a really good DVD available on Fleabay geared at the VMAX but the procedure is the same.

 

Do a compression test on all 4 cylinders, they should be all about equal. That will also tell a tale on the intake valve on the cylinder you are concerned about...

[bkuhr]

I would also suspect the YICS system. The plastic 4 chamber box under the battery forward of the carbs with 4 hoses going to the intake manifold.

This YICS system was for fuel economy but really does not do much, but is prone to cracking in the sealed seam and causing loss of control vacum for the carbs.

 

Suggestion is to completely remove it and the hoses, and cap off the ports on the intake with very sturdy rubber caps/clamps

[Lil Venturous]

Like dad said. If you did not remove the little block inside the carbs and remove the jets with a GOOD flat tip screw driver you may wasting time. They are under the small rubber plugs. Dont forgot to put the rubber plugs back in either. the jets are small and it will take a very small wire to clean them out. I wasted days taking carbs off several times before I broke down and did it right.

 

After reassemblying the seperate carbs back into one assembly hold up to the light and attempt to sync them as close as possible. If you open the idle screw some you will see light through there. This little trick has been so close sometimes that I "almost" wasted my time syncing them afterwards.

 

I would not waste time with diaprams at all right now. If they look even close to usable they will get you running.

 

My seem like an odd question right now but does your tach work correctly?

[Dragonslayer]

Here is a picture of the bike as it looked when I got it.

It looks like it is all there. I've had success with a 83 that looked alot worse.

[lwinders]

Thank you so much to everyone that has replied. I did remove the jets under the rubber plugs. They were completely stopped up but I think I got them cleans out. While working on it this weekend, I may have found another problem. While cranking on it at one point it seemed that the starter just stopped working. I would hit the start button but nothing would happen, however the lights would dim so I know the switch was working. Then by accident I noticed something. This is where I will show my lack of knowlege. There is a box that sets on the top of the battery. Not sure what it is yet. But anyway, I tapped on it and the starter worked again. It stopped working after a few minutes and I tapped on it again, and again, the starter worked. Is this a possibility or just a coincidence? Again I want to thank everyone for all the help.

[friesman]

that lil black box on top of your battery is your fusebox, some people have had issues with the old style tabs that hold in the glass fuses getting loose, so they replaced the fusebox with a newer holder that uses plugin fuses. Check with Skydoc in here he sells a kit with instructions to do the upgrade.

 

Brian

[lwinders]

I checked the fuse block and it does need replacing. The fuses are very loose and it is where my starter problem is coming from. Also when I check accross the contacts in the fuse box (with fuses removed) I still show a reading with my ohm meter accross the headlight, ignition, and turn signals. I guess I need to start chasing down shorts.

[FuzzyRSTD]

Here is a picture of the bike as it looked when I got it.

 

Nice ride, like someone else said, would you want your money back and some boot. We like pictures around here, and somewhat of a rule stating that we really like to see pictures with the progress. Also if you have questions about a certain area or part, include a picture and this will really help the others to help you. Also goo idea to put your bike/bikes information in with your profile or signature, so everyone will know what you are working on as your thread lengthens and others post. You came to the right place to get help.

 

I wished you lived a little closer, so I could offer some help in some way. These find mechanics, and like me, shade tree mechanics, can get you fixed up. Welcome to the site and hope you get her done soon. V7Goose is one that has helped a lot, with many good articles and pictures to help you out. Be for warned that Goose is just very straight up and will answer you just as he sees it, period. I like this about him and he is a great help around here. There are many,many, good mechanics by trade here and have their own business. Yet they always offer their help here. I do not want to just pick out one person here, but Goose has helped me a lot and I have met him personally and feel as if I can pick on him a little bit. A VERY GOOD BUNCH OF PEOPLE HELPING PEOPLE. I am glad I belong to the VentureRider.org, thanks to the boss Freebird for a great site.

 

Fuzzy

Edited August 10, 2011 by FuzzyRSTD