Stratoliner aficionados?

[DarkLeftArm]

So I just talked with a guy I know and he wants help with his bike. It's a 2007 Stratoliner, and he stopped riding when he tried to bleed the clutch hydraulic system and got air in it, and couldn't figure out how to straighten it out. It's been sitting in his driveway since then, and that was over a YEAR ago.

Now he says the battery is dead, and I'm sure the fuel has gone to good gas heaven long ago.

Besides pulling the tank and dumping it, I'm not sure what to do. Is there any hope for the fuel injection system?

 

Last I saw it, it was beautiful. Like new. I cringe to think what the Arizona sun has done to it by now, I'll have to keep my judgement to myself. He's a busy guy with obviously different priorities than me. Who knows.... maybe he put a cover over it or something.

 

Who knows.... Maybe I'll score a Stratoliner project for REAL cheap!

 

Any suggestions of what I might be up against would be welcome.

Cheers

Bert

[djh3]

Dont know much about the Strats clutch. But many with RSV have had some troubles bleeding them out. Best suggestion I have heard that works decently is to fill reservoir, tie the clutch handle down and open bleeder with a bottle attached to catch fluid. Leave it over night and proceed with a normal bleed.

[DarkLeftArm]

I'm really not concerned about his clutch troubles. I've done that job on my bike several times with zero drama. Maybe I'm just lucky, but I've never had to wait overnight or over 2 minutes, for that matter.

It's the other problem that I'm worried about:

Bad gas in a FI bike.

I have no knowledge about this at all.

[CaseyJ955]

In my experience it will make a huge difference if the fuel that sat in it all this time is tainted with ethanol or not. If not you probably have no real issue. If so draining the tank and lines is probably a must but EFI is pretty straight forward stuff. My guess is a fresh battery, some fresh fuel and a splash of seafoam for a couple tanks will get her straightened around if you can drain off the old fuel. EFI is generally much less finicky than our antiquated carbs if one wants to store old fuel in it. Ive not worked on a strat before but generally EFI is not bad to work on at all.

 

I like the above gravity bleeding idea, I also use a vacuum bleeder with good success. Good luck.

[Condor]

I like the above gravity bleeding idea, I also use a vacuum bleeder with good success. Good luck.

 

Do i want to respond to this??? Oh hell.... The tied clutch lever 'trick' is a wives tale.... It's physically impossible to bleed the clutch and get the air out of the lines with the lever tied to the grip. I'm real intimate with the clutch system dynamics on the Ventures, and there is absolutely no way a gravity bleed will work. With the lever tied down the piston cup will move beyond the expansion hole and seal off any air passage. At rest the cup 'lip' will locate between the expansion and the fill hole. There are guys that will chime in and say it worked for them, but all it did was allow the air in the lines to accumulate up around the banjo, and if they're lucky enough not to squeeze the lever right after untying and let it sit for another hour or so, some of the air will escape thru the expansion valve hole, but not all of it. Now a vacuum bleeder could work if pumped fast enough to draw the fluid..and air out of the system. If the clutch fluid is in good condition a vacuum pump works even better because it doesn't have to move a lot of airy fluid, and just needs to draw out the old discolored fluid. One of the unique problems with bleeding the clutch is that you are dealing with a no or low pressure system and it can't be pumped hard like a brake system and then crack the bleeder valve.. kinda like rinse lather repeat... Both systems are set up the same way, it's just that the clutch doesn't deal with brake calipers and pads... Whew!! Tired of typing. Hope this makes sense to a few of you. Any questions

[CaseyJ955]

Do i want to respond to this??? Oh hell.... The tied clutch lever 'trick' is a wives tale.... It's physically impossible to bleed the clutch and get the air out of the lines with the lever tied to the grip. I'm real intimate with the clutch system dynamics on the Ventures, and there is absolutely no way a gravity bleed will work. With the lever tied down the piston cup will move beyond the expansion hole and seal off any air passage. At rest the cup 'lip' will locate between the expansion and the fill hole. There are guys that will chime in and say it worked for them, but all it did was allow the air in the lines to accumulate up around the banjo, and if they're lucky enough not to squeeze the lever right after untying and let it sit for another hour or so, some of the air will escape thru the expansion valve hole, but not all of it. Now a vacuum bleeder could work if pumped fast enough to draw the fluid..and air out of the system. If the clutch fluid is in good condition a vacuum pump works even better because it doesn't have to move a lot of airy fluid, and just needs to draw out the old discolored fluid. One of the unique problems with bleeding the clutch is that you are dealing with a no or low pressure system and it can't be pumped hard like a brake system and then crack the bleeder valve.. kinda like rinse lather repeat... Both systems are set up the same way, it's just that the clutch doesn't deal with brake calipers and pads... Whew!! Tired of typing. Hope this makes sense to a few of you. Any questions

 

I have used gravity bleeding on my old VWs and a few other vintage turds, Sometimes traditional bleeding is a bear, especially if your solo. One thing I have never tried was tying a clutch or brake lever to the bar, and like you I cant rectify in my twisted mind how that could work. I'm not sure how a master cyl can pass fluid through if it is in the actuated position.

 

I do recall a clutch lever zip tied to the handlebar overnight trick in my Triumph days. The rational as I recall was not one of bleeding but was supposed to take care of the spongy lever feel by "training" (lack of better word) the seal to conform with the sustained pressure. I have no idea if it works. Other than traditional bleeding I have used gravity as mentioned above or a vac pump. Any time I use gravity or vacuum I finish up with a few pumps the traditional way if possible. When I did the R6 calipers/SS lines on my MKI it took quite a lot of furious handiwork with the Mighty Vac but finally we got there. If I'm doing a quick flush I wont even bother dragging out the vacuum pump, it's when we start with dry lines or after doing some work that it seems to be a time saver to throw some vacuum on her with the system in the at rest position.

[vzuden]

I never had the need to tie a clutch or brake lever back on a Venture but I did so several times on mid seventies Honda front brakes. The theory is that the random air bubbles want to rise and do so on their own and eventually find their way to the atmosphere. I didn’t do this as standard procedure, only on the stubborn ones and with success.

[rbig1]

If you stick a thread of wire in vent hole. Some times it breaks the air loc. But don't move lever when doing so. Worked a few times for me ya get about 2 to 3 air bubbles then you can bleed the normal way. Its kind of like when you forget to prime a new master.

[cowpuc]

:sign yeah that:,,,, but wear safety glasses and be careful that that little bleed back return squirter dont spit in your eye after opening er up - those plugged little snickers can be the most ungrateful little critters when ya open em up and that spitters are more accurate than a hillbilly with a full jaw of backy chew I tell ya!!

Stepping out on a little perverbial branch here cause I dont know if this is even applicable but, take a view at the video below = I use this method of bleeding the rear brakes on my 1st Gens a lot and it works because of one simple old rule = air bubbles rise to the highest point in the system..

As shown in the vid, the metering valve I bleed from in this case is the highest point in the system and, that being so in my theory, therefore any trapped air will end up at this high spot and, knowing this simple little theory - I have successfully rescued more than one 1st Gen rear brake system.

I have another theory that I have used on my 1st Gen clutch and front brake bleeding.. If the system on your Strat bango's at the master up on the bar, this might work for you too.. I always bleed from the bango at the master until I know I have removed any trapped air from that point first. I do this from the same perspective as the video addresses = its the high spot of the system.. If you decide to attempt this though it would be wise to cover the area under the bango with rags = you dont want brake fluid on any painted surfaces!!!

Any of this making sense?? Probably not but thought I would join the chit chat any way

 

By the way Lefty = CONGRATS on the new scoot!! My nephew bought a new Strat back in 06 = WOWZY WOW WOW WOW - nice scoot!! I have always wanted to own a Raider,, being an old school chopper freak and parcial to Yamaha's = I think that great big ol push rod motor would be a ton of fun in a chop!!!

Congrats and keep us posted on what ya end up with = pictures are like candy around this joint!!

 

Edited December 22, 2017 by cowpuc