I don't think she liked being trailered.

[uncledj]

Wife and I took the motorhome with my 87 on a trailer out to the East Coast for a bit of riding in the Ocean City area.

When loading / unloading the ol' gal on the trailer, (the bike, not the wife), I noticed something on the underside of the bike nipped a weld at the back of the trailer. Apparantley there's a really close tolerance where the ramp ends and the trailer deck begins. I could see no damage on the bike,...nothing obvious broken or pulled apart, but I can see where the weld on the trailer was scraped.

I learned that for easiest unloading I'll use the motorhome leveling jacks to lift the front of the motorhome, giving less of an angle on the loading ramp on the trailer.

In any case, the bike seems to run ok, although the diaphrams need replaced (just ordered a new set)

The thing is that she started making some sounds that I first thought were major problems, ....sounded like maybe a valve rapping, with an occasional backfire on low rpm / heavy throttle situations.

Got the bike back to the motorhome, and let her cool down and gave her the once over, finding the source of all the noise was from the 1/4" hole in the bottom of the inlet of the left muffler.

I kept riding, with the noise, and had no further problems, but am wondering what could be causing the increased exhaust flow through this hole. (compared to the other side)

Right side barely has any exhaust leakage through it, and no noticeable noise......left side has noticeable exhaust flow and noise through this small hole.

Any ideas what I should be looking for before I tear into it?

Thanks y'all.

 

[Marcarl]

The muffler has a hole manufactured at the inlet for drainage. You'll find one on either side, although the one might be plugged. I would suggest that you might have scraped the collector box that connects all 4 pipes. It's kind of thin material and usually the item that gets hit in this situation. You may also have loosened a connection between one of the pipes and the box.

[Flyinfool]

I learned that for easiest unloading I'll use the motorhome leveling jacks to lift the front of the motorhome, giving less of an angle on the loading ramp on the trailer.

 

Thanks y'all.

 

 

Would you not want to lift the rear of the motor home to raise the front of the trailer to reduce the angle of the ramps?

[Trader]

:sign yeah that:or back the trailer up to a sidewalk so you start 6" higher

[KIC]

I have loaded my two 84 parts bikes and my 89 and 87 onto my trailer and they do hit at the bottom. The 84's had a bolt under there that snagged my ramp right at the top of the ramp at the angle point.

 

One thing I have done is to use a different receiver hitch when loading and unloading the bike(s).

I loaned mine out but the picture below shows the type of hitch, a 5-inch drop hitch. I put the ball on the hitch upside down so it becomes a 5-inch riser hitch. I tow my trailer with a 2-inch drop hitch upside down to level it out.

 

By raising the trailer tongue up, the angle of the ramp and rail meeting point becomes less.

 

i always also look for a sidewalk, concrete area to load/unload at. If you are early or late in the evening, or even weekends, you can find a business like a bank that is closed. Back up to a side walk area and unload onto it. That can add ( subtract) another 4-inches to your angle.

 

Oh yea..doesn't hurt to have at least one linebacker available to help wrestle that beast up/down...

[uncledj]

Flyin' Fool

Duh....yeah....that's what I meant. Raising the rear of the motorhome drops the back of the trailer to a point where it doesn't scrape at all.

I saw no damage to anything on the underside of the bike, but the curious thing is that I do get a tiny bit of exhaust coming from the drain hole on the right side of the bike, but significantly more from the drainage hole on the left side. With the bike running, I could find no other sources of the noises I was hearing. I did the tubing thing to the ear to isolate where it was coming from and the left side drain hole was the source of all the unhappy sounds.

The exhaust coming from the tailpipes seems to be about the same on both sides. I thought maybe something was clogged on the problem side, but everything seems normal except for the excessive leakage from the drain hole. ???

I'm an air conditioning tech, so it's hard to get free time right now, but I'm gonna try to tear the exhaust apart this weekend to look at it. If it's something I can see, I can weld it up, but I don't know how much I'll be able to tell from an external examination.

I guess I'll find out.

[friesman]

I am betting you have loose baffles inside the exhaust collector

 

 

Brian

[Marcarl]

If I were you I wouldn't spend a lot of time trying to find something that might not even be there. Run it for a week or two and then decide.

[uncledj]

Ok....still really busy for an air conditioning tech, but I was able to get home early enough to pull the mufflers off and compare. No visible difference between the two.

I started her up with the mufflers off, and I must say, it put a smile on my face....she sounded good.

Anyhoo, I tried comparing the two sides with mufflers off and what I decided is that it's not an exhaust problem at all. I have one cylinder with a miss. I noticed a more definite "pulse" from the right side, but from the problem side, the pulse isn't as well defined, and when I'd rev it a bit it'd give a little backfire here and there.

I'm guessing it's gotta be ignition rather than carb because it's inconsistent. I changed the plugs when I first noticed the problem, so I doubt it's a plug. I'm thinking I may have a bad plug wire. Tomorrow I'll start it up again and check the two pipes on that side to see if one heats up quicker than the other.

Any other suggestions appreciated.

Thanks:detective:

[Brake Pad]

I carry three, stone pavers with me. and place them at the bottom of the tail gate. having longer legs, I can still walk the bike up the ramp. (2nd gen). I found the trailer was to steep.