Spare Change Project First Bike

[Folsoml]

Your bike has the VB44A carbs, so syncing them will not have an effect on how it handles under load. It will only smooth out your idle. If the bike is charging well, and has good compression, your problems under load are probably in the carburetor--something in there is still not clean enough. This is something that happens to the best of them when dealing with carbs that sat up for a long time. What process did you use to clean them initially (i'm sure you said it somewhere in this thread, but I can look right now. )

As far as the petcock goes, try something a little thicker. I use old bicycle tire tubes as gaskets quite often. Maybe double up on your cereal box gasket. You might even check for an O-ring that is the correct size to fit in there.

Riding is a blast, isn't it! Give it a little time and you'll be riding like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvOePg35KVk

(that is me, BTW)

[Dads Toy]

Folsoml, Man you got skills. Very impressive and that is a large heavy bike too.

I think my problem is in the carbs. I still have a little debris in the tank. I switch to a different fuel filter that have fiber strains instead of a micro paper filter. The new filter you can take apart and clean and reuse. I don't think its doing a very good job of filtering. So I am going to pull the carbs AGAIN and clean them back out. And switch it back to the paper unit.

The petcock I double up on the cereal box tops. Still leaks. Its just in the center of the petcock. Doesn't leak around the threads. Thought I had it fix at one point. I was going to use a garden hose rubber washer, but was concern the gas would eat it away.

[Folsoml]

Folsoml, Man you got skills. Very impressive and that is a large heavy bike too.

Thanks! The hard part is remembering which way to go!

[Dads Toy]

I bet, I would get lost and forget which way I was supposed to go.

Well I found the problem with the Petcock. It had a crack around the neck. When I went to tighten it up I finish it off. So back to reaching to find another petcock that will fit. I have order 2 cheap ones off amazon and either one fight. I could order the OEM part, but man its like $60. Just trying to save a bucket or two and trying to find one of the $10 ones to fit. Any suggestion would be greatfull. I had even thought about going to the hardware store and finding brass fittings that would work. All I need is a 90 and a ball valve. Little bit of engineering.

[Dads Toy]

New Petcock arrived today. Installed and it fits. No move leaking gas. So I thought.
After I took the carbs off and cleaned them out again. I now have a leak around the accelerator pump.
Fix one problem and get another. Installed a different fuel filter too.
Man I had this thing running like a Swiss watch. I am about to give up and just sell the darn thing.

[Folsoml]

Fix one problem and get another

Welcome to the world of working on 30+ year old motorcycles!

Be sure the leak it not coming from somewhere else and just dripping from the accelerator pump. That has fooled many of us at one time or another (ask me how I know). Did you replace the o-rings on the fuel rails?

[Dads Toy]

Well took it for another ride today. Was hopping the stumbling problem went away. It didn't. Going up hill or under a load it just bogs down. Never has done this before. Always had plenty of power before.

[Dads Toy]

Oh I am so over this bike.
I finally was going to ride the bike for the first time to work today. Was so excited, nice Weather and would have been a great ride.
Things was going good and was fixing to turn onto the main road that wold take me all the way to the office. Turn the corner and tried to accelerate.
Bike die!! Had to push it to an opening. Battery was dead and wouldn't turn over. Once my son showed up with the car I tried to jump it off. It would crank and wouldn't start. This thing ran great and don't know why it was doing this.
Finally would start, but with the petcock in the off position. Which leads me to the fact a float is stuck open. Every time I would switch it to fuel it would die. Finally got it back home with it running in choke.
So will have to pull the carbs again. I can't believe this. I am so over having to work on these carbs again. It wouldn't be that bad, but its a pain in the rear to get the throttle cables on an off. I don't have time to miss with this right now because we are moving.
So the bike is posted on craigs in hope to sell it fast.

[Folsoml]

Did you try tapping on the float with something like a heavy screwdriver handle? That's usually all it takes to get the needles to seat.

I've never heard of that causing a bike to stall. Usually it just leaks. Have you checked the charging system?

[Dads Toy]

Charging system seems fine. Get 14 volts when running.
I even hit the bowls with a wrench. Would only run in the off position. Once the gas ran out of the bowls it shut back off. Turn the petcock back on to fill the bowls then to the off position so it would run.
Will have to take them off again and clean them back out again. Trying to figure out if there is a modern set of carbs I could replace these carbs with. Say like off a nighthawk. Don't know if the CFM would be the same. Be a lot of tuning. Working on the carbs wouldn't be that bad if it wasn't for putting them back on. Throttle cables are a pain. Plus the stock air box is not fun to play with. Been thinking about removing it and buy some pod filters instead. But people say you have to re-jet the carbs and tune is hard. If anything you would think it would run better.

[Dads Toy]

Well I think I found the problem.
Took the carbs back of again. Found the accelerator pump diaphragm has a small crack in the rubber. Its not all the way thru to the other side. So it was seeping gas thru the mess of the diaphragm causing a rich running condition. Was really bad when trying to accelerate. Plus this would be a vacuum leak. Also found one float needle stuck. This was cause the brass seat was not polish. Cleaned it up and should be good to go. Have a new accelerator pump on the way. I hope this will be the last time I have to remove these carbs.

[Folsoml]

You have to love working on these things as much as riding them.

[Dads Toy]

OK it is now FIX!
Receive my new accelerator pump kit today. Arrived a day early. The only problem was the shaft on the pump was too long. So measured the old one and cut it to size. No leaks!! And it works. Took it for a test drive and when you give it gas it goes. It has come alive. I guess the fourth time is the charm. By now I have the throttle cable removal and install down. I also got smart and pre-filled the float bowls with gas. This way I know if its going to leak gas or not before installing them. I really didn't want to stop riding it, but the bugs are getting pretty thick. Just might try and ride it to work tomorrow. Weather said chance of rain in the PM. Just have to wait and see. So glad it is back on the road and running great.

[Dads Toy]

I know it has been some time since my last post. I had sold my house and I am homeless. So hard to post things when I don't have a computer or network connection. So been riding the bike some. Has a couple of new problems that I need to sort out. One is it stumbles when you give it gas from a stop. Once you get going it seems okay, but when you start to go up hill you lose power. My other problem is the front left brake caliper has lock up again. I really would like to figure out how to replace these with a more newer modern bike caliper. One that I can get parts for without breaking the bank. Anyone ever done a swap like this?

I finally broke down and purchase a new seat cover. Was the first thing I have bought outside of my bike budget. Wasn't too bad. Got it off EBay. Was able to save the chrome trim piece too. My daughter had some leftover quilt padding. So used 3M tack spray and added the padding before installing the seat cover. Was a challenge but managed to get it done with little issues. I think it came out pretty nice. Now the bike looks new again.