electrical vs. fuel problem?

[alke46]

Went for a ride this morning after synching the carbs from the last dipping process and the bike ran great. Idles nicely and starts quickly with minimal choke action.
20 miles into the ride I was coming up to a 4 way stop intersection and the bike backfired twice maybe three times and died on me. Would not restart easily and as a last resort I pulled the choke knob and it fired up. Ran OK for another 2 miles and then died again. Finally got it to "limp" home sometimes running good, other times with the help of nearly full choke.
Seemed like electrical but with using the choke makes me wonder if it is fuel related. I still lean more towards the electrics though.

I guess what I am getting at is wondering if this is fuel related or electrical. It seemed like electrics to me but don't know for sure. Anyway, I have made copies of the "stator papers" so I can read up on all this stuff before doing anything I might be sorry for. This is because I have read so many posts about the GS electric troubles.
My plan was to just enjoy the bike during the summer and then go through all of the connections over the course of next winter but maybe I will have to do that sooner rather than later.

Am I on the right track or not?

Thanks for any helpful insight.

Larry

[rustybronco]

My vote is petcock/ petcock vacuum supply issues. have you tried it on prime or reserve as of yet or checked the vacuum hose going to the petcock?

[alke46]

My vote is petcock/ petcock vacuum supply issues. have you tried it on prime or reserve as of yet or checked the vacuum hose going to the petcock?

Petcock was new last fall. No to trying it on prime as it would run ok in the regular position most of the time. Vacuum hose seemed OK yesterday when I hooked it up.

[Steve]

How low is your fuel level? Might just need to turn it to REServe.

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[alke46]

How low is your fuel level? Might just need to turn it to REServe.

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Tank was full.

[Steve]

OK, it just sounded like typical symptoms when it's starting to run out of gas.

I remember one guy posting about similar symptoms, then admitted that he had drained some gas off for his lawn mower and forgotten about it. While it was sputtering, he was checking his trip meter and thinking "I can't be low on gas, I haven't gone far enough yet" before remembering what he had done.

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[alke46]

OK, it just sounded like typical symptoms when it's starting to run out of gas.

I remember one guy posting about similar symptoms, then admitted that he had drained some gas off for his lawn mower and forgotten about it. While it was sputtering, he was checking his trip meter and thinking "I can't be low on gas, I haven't gone far enough yet" before remembering what he had done.

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If only it were that simple. No it didn't spit and sputter like low fuel does.

[alke46]

anybody else have a suggestion? I will try another ride today but it would sure help if I had some kind of clue. Will keep you all posted.

[Guest]

I once put everything back together and had a similar experience. The fuel line was bent behind the side cover. Maybe your carbs sucked something up? The fact that opening the choke up managed to start it might suggest there was something floating around in a carb or two or three. Check you vacuum line to the petcock as well.

[rustybronco]

I still believe it to be fuel delivery related.

The questions that need to be answered, rust in tank, fuel screens plugged, either in the tank, or in the the carbs, is the tank properly venting, was the tank coated?

do you have a inductive timing light? you could always go for a ride with it connected up and look for loss of spark at the time the issue starts.

[alke46]

I once put everything back together and had a similar experience. The fuel line was bent behind the side cover. Maybe your carbs sucked something up? The fact that opening the choke up managed to start it might suggest there was something floating around in a carb or two or three. Check you vacuum line to the petcock as well.

I still believe it to be fuel delivery related.

The questions that need to be answered, rust in tank, fuel screens plugged, either in the tank, or in the the carbs, venting,is the tank properly venting? was the tank coated?

No more rust issues as I just did the tank cleaning and re-sealing.
You mention tank venting. After filling it and driving it home, I opened the cap and some gas came out and settled on the tank.
makes me wonder about that as it did remind me of something like a vapor lock issue. More checking.

do you have a inductive timing light? you could always go for a ride with it connected up and look for loss of spark at the time the issue starts.

Thanks, I will recheck stuff today. I will post whenever I find the cause.
I will start by draining the tank to remove the new petcock just to make sure the screen is clean as well as pulling off the vacuum line to make sure it is clear of any obstructions. But from what I saw when I put it all back together and did the carb synching, I am somewhat at a loss. Maybe something will turn up. Gotta stay cool today as the heat is going up to mid 90's with heat index of between 105-110.

[slip]

I was getting issues like that myself after going through the carbs. I then checked voltage at the coils with the ignition key in the on position and found around 10V there. I think this might be borderline on getting a good strong spark, so I did the relay/coil mod. This helped out a great deal, so in my case, it turned out to be electrical. I still hit a flat spot on the higher end of the rev range, but I know for a fact, I have smaller main jets than what is recommended for the Smoothbore carbs, so I am going to go up a few sizes to alleviate this.

[rphillips]

No need to remove the petcock to check it or the screen in the tank

[alke46]

I was getting issues like that myself after going through the carbs. I then checked voltage at the coils with the ignition key in the on position and found around 10V there. I think this might be borderline on getting a good strong spark, so I did the relay/coil mod. This helped out a great deal, so in my case, it turned out to be electrical. I still hit a flat spot on the higher end of the rev range, but I know for a fact, I have smaller main jets than what is recommended for the Smoothbore carbs, so I am going to go up a few sizes to alleviate this.

I pretty much went through the whole fuel delivery process and found nothing. After that I starting with the electricals and found a bad regulator so I removed that along with the rectifier and put on a honda R/R unit from duaneage. Got the charging system working good now but also checked voltage at the coil and ended up replacing the spark plug caps. Just about everything is in place now but the voltage at the coil terminals is low at 10.9v. However, I have had the bike out on the interstate and also local highways and with nearly 300 miles since my problem, it has not returned. Still not real sure what it was but at the present time I am just happy to be riding again. Later on I will do the complete wiring harness clean-up and also a coil relay mod.

Thanks for all your inputs. They are greatly appreciated.

Larry