Issue with all cylinders running

[Sylvester]

If you have read posts in the past, I have been having an issue with getting all four cylinders firing. Last summer I finally had all running well and was able to ride the Asheville meet. Not had issues since until yesterday. Took bike outside the garage and fired it up. I have Seafoam in it and it was filled with non-ethanol fuel. The bike only had the left cylinders running. Nothing on the right bank. Do I have coil issues or carb issues? The carbs have been rebuilt four times in the last two and a half years.

 

I will pull the plugs and check for spark, but what other areas should I look at.

 

[BlueSky]

If they sit for much more than a week, the carbs are partially gummed up. If you drain the carbs when you leave it, that may not happen. I put a whole bottle of Gumout for high mileage engines with PEA in a tank and run it a while and let it sit overnight and run it again. That clears it up for me.

[WildBill1]

Before you pull the plugs on the right side try running it again then immediately pull the right plugs. Check if they are dry or wet with fuel. If wet not a carburetor problem dry firing. I'm North of Charlotte at Lake Norman.

Edited January 17, 2019 by WildBill1

[Patch]

Hi Sylvester...

1St I will express my condolences as to the news of your fathers passing.

 

I couldn't find the post you mention above?

So a quick check could go like this: Start the bike cold close choke and grip to 1/4 throttle turn, may spotter a bit but, if she catches her wind then, coils are good, fuel is getting through, pilots are blocked!

 

That is way too many carb rebuilds....... Time to drain the bowls and save these hassles.

[Marcarl]

If you can, squirt a bit of carb cleaner or WD40 into the intake as it's running. If the cylinder fires, it's not spark, if it doesn't respond check for spark, fouled plug, loose wire, bad resistor,,,,,,

[CaseyJ955]

I've been storing my bikes for the winter with non-ethanol and a good splash of seafoam, probably one can split between the two bikes, then I run them enough to get it all through the carbs. I fill the tanks as full as possible, then throw the covers over them. It fills me with shame to reveal that I've had to store them outside under cover for the last few years in the SD winters.

 

The relevant part is that under these conditions they still bark right to life in the spring with 0 fidgeting needed. This was far from the case with even a gentle aroma of ethanol in the bike or if I did not use Seafoam at end of season. I'm sure there are other factors but I dont see any fault with your winterizing strategy as far as fuel management goes.

 

When I had a weak battery I had some missfiring, even though it was strong enough to start the bike I could feel it was not quite 100% any more. New AGM and miss-fire solved. Anyting less than a fully charged battery might have a fellow feel like he's urinating up a waterfall.

I cant find it now but there is a multi-meter test for the pickup coils that should help rule that out.

 

Mine are gen1 machines but I do believe the carbs and charging systems are quite similar.

[Patch]

When I had a weak battery I had some missfiring, even though it was strong enough to start the bike I could feel it was not quite 100% any more. New AGM and miss-fire solved. Anyting less than a fully charged battery might have a fellow feel like he's urinating up a waterfall.

I cant find it now but there is a multi-meter test for the pickup coils that should help rule that out.

 

Mine are gen1 machines but I do believe the carbs and charging systems are quite similar.

 

Well Casey you are right!

For those of us that ran bikes before modern gas mixes battery and coil voltage was what we had to kick start thru.

In those days we had lousy electrics like batteries you had to shake and coils that leaked.

 

Combustion in a cold engine is the hardest combustion to achieve. So a fat crushing spark under compression makes it or breaks it. 11 volts time X (60/70...) if there's fuel gets them going quick. Many times old bikes only measure 8ish at the coils, sometimes it's the house but more often than not its the old wiring!

 

On mine often I would need to roll her out in the winter which is when I used to project fuel stuff for the spring/summer. That old MKII could fire up at minus 18C with no problem but I saw to it that it had house right at the terminals.

[Sylvester]

If it were the pilot jets it should run on throttle, but it doesn't. Nothing. I will get into it later since I am very good at rebuilding them now. Thanks to all.

 

[Rafterd]

And remember, it will be expensive, but you can run Sea Foam 50/50.

[Patch]

Air gap test!

[bongobobny]

I had a similar problem a few years ago where one side stopped working. After a lot of troubleshooting, someone brought something to my attention. There are two rubber vent lines, one for each side of the carb banks. One vents the left side and one vents the right side. Now, what happens is either a bug builds their home in the hose or the hose gets plugged up and it causes that side to shut down!! When the vent line is plugged and the two carbs on that vent get empty of gas, the fuel pump tries to refill the bowls but the air in the empty or partially empty bowls can not vent out, and a positive air pressure builds up stopping the gas from filling up the bowl!!!

 

Locate those two vent hoses and disconnect them and try to blow through them. Chances are that one of them is plugged up!! You can also try starting the bike with those two hoses disconnected and see if it runs OK again...

[Sylvester]

Finally got around to addressing this situation. Started the bike and still no fire on right side. Let it run under choke at 2000 rpm for a bit and it started to backfire and then revved up so backed off the choke and voila it is running on four again. Busy on other things so shut it down and will address service and tune-up soon. We have weather pattern coming next week so garage work will be in order.