For the Carburetor Gurus

[Red Diamond]

This is really a “why question” and a little information seeking. I haven’t ridden the Interstate nor the Tourer more than a few miles in the last year or two. The Interstate starts and runs as if it has been ridden daily, smooth as the day I bought it 15 years ago. I can’t say the same about the Tourer, carbs clogged, missing, sputtering, hopefully someone can tell me why they run differently and have both been sitting for the same amount of time. Information: would it be wise to install the larger jet size or stay with stock? What is the alternative size numbers for the jets? TIA
  I will only install new jets in the Tourer.

[98valk]

stay with OEM sized main and pilot jets.  anything else will reduce mpg and HP on top end.

[Rocketman]

As for why one is failing and the other is smooth:  I don't have a real good answer for you, but I've had lots of mixed experience and heard mixed stories on leaving carbs idle for long periods of time.  That makes me think that there's a lot of just pure luck involved.  Perhaps the purity of the gasoline initially plays into it?  Perhaps if there are any flakes from the tank that the varnish can coalesce around, that starts the process and then it goes faster?  These are all guesses, and not terribly helpful, but I think I would be happy that I only had one to work on instead of both.  (:
As for the jets:  I wouldn't replace them, just pull them and clean them.  It's not much more work once you've already gotten them out, surely it's less expensive, and no risk of further screwing with the system by changing the dynamics inside the carbs.

Mark

[RainMaker]

Eli - I have found the same thing.  The Interstate is less prone to the carb problems than the Tourer in my garage.  But I can't tell you why, either.

[da prez]

Run a strong mix of berrymans b-12. After it runs in , let the bike sit for a day or more. Then run it fairly hard.  I would also suggest using marine stabl in the fuel all the time. It has driers in it that will help prevent corrosion.  Fuel starts going bad in less than 30 days ( I read it on the internet , it has to be true) and the stabl will improve it.
 This is a non-tear down attempt to resolve the issue.
 Hey Red , I havent seen you since LaCrosse unless I forgot.

                                       da prez 

[Red Diamond]

Thanks for the replies, they all seem to coincide with what my body wants me to do. As I age my body wants to do less of the tear down stuff, hence, fix it with liquid if possible. It has been a little too chilly lately for the B-12 long ride attempt, but that definitely will be tried first.

Ross, yes it was the LaCrosse Inzane that we last eyed each other. Even though I wasn’t on a Valkyrie, that was a really great trip for me, my wife, my brother and sister-in-law. My brother did not ride motorcycles, but he enjoyed both you and Dennis. I loss him on this past January 28th, he was 81 years old, but still looked forward to our outings and trips.
     

[HayHauler]

Sorry for your loss Eli.  My sincere condolences and prayers for you and your family.

Hay

[Red Diamond]

Thanks Jimmy, thought about you today passing by Turner road off 1725. How’s Ms BJ?

[f-Stop]

So sorry for your loss...

As far as the "why" I have no answer, but...

If you do need to pull and clean your carbs, it's actually a fairly simple process.  Some things to check are the air cut valves and the little vacuum lines that actuate the diaphragms.  Those lines can go bad just like the other vacuum lines on the fuel system.  Non-working air cut valves can cause popping and such.

My '98 Standard (named Hildr) was sputtering a bit and would occasionally backfire upon deceleration.  I pulled the carbs late last year and was surprised to find that they were fairly clean -- after only 23.5 years!  But, I did find a hair (yes, a hair) in the #2 carb main jet and all the vacuum lines on the air cut valves were cracked.  Long story short...Hildr is running better than ever right now.

Good luck!

I recommend Red Eye for carb parts -- https://redeye.ecrater.com

Years ago I recall that Laser Pat used some Yamalube Fuel Stabilizer on a '98 Tourer he'd bought that had been sitting a while and did not run very well.  The process he used was something like this: pour a full bottle of the Yamalube Stabilizer into a near empty tank, drive around a bit, then let sit overnight...repeat.  I remember that bike running great afterwords.

[franco6]

 Eli my problem is reversed the tourer starts somewhat right up though it is over do for an outing. The interstate will not .I had it all apart last to change the fuel , vacuum and air tubings.The inside of carbs were clean so just reassembled it all to have a leak somewhere and have to do it over again this time with a complete rebuild kit  lol
Premium fuel seems to last longer in the tank-carbs.
Be safe.

[RainMaker]

Eli - on Facebook, there is a guy named J.R. Barnes who is a carb guru that lives in the Houston area.  He retired but is thinking about coming back out of retirement due to the passing of BigBF.  You can contact him through Facebook messenger.

[Dodis]

Eli,
Been years since we rode together, a short ride from Galveston through Winnie, with a stop at Al-T's...

Anyway, I had a mess of carb problems for a while starting with the passing of my mom and step-dad within 9 months of each other. Starting back in 2015...

My first vote for you will be the quality of the gas, or lack of... I have found locally that my 2019 F-150 will knock and clatter terribly depending on where I buy gas, worst place being the local Stripes/Sunoco.

And something to check, if you do pull the carbs, check the tiny pin in the float valves. It is spring loaded and should be easy to push in. As for the gas issue, just need to somehow find the chance to ride it till it is fully warmed, not just idling in the garage, or do the full winterizing like the northern guys do.

Mike


And for my carb history...

My first round was when the bike sat while attending to them before, then attending to the estate after, so the bike sat for over a year. I kept Seafoam in it, and tried to ride to the store, short runs just to keep it going, but wasn't enough. So a full rebuild, and I went with larger jets. It was a jade green mess in there! Ran great with the bigger jets, no choke to start, but never felt "quite" like before. Butt dyno...
20160216_185251 by Mr_Dodis, on Flickr

A few months later, I fell and bruised my tailbone, so no riding for a while. Kept starting and running it till plenty warm every couple of weeks. Missed that once and then it never would run right after that. Another rebuild to just clean it all out.

I had already quit riding to work (Texas City to Galveston) because the UTMB traffic is crazy, almost as bad as Houston! So local rides just didn't keep it clean enough. I tried the strong B12 doses with no luck. ANOTHER rebuild, and it was all green again! I also found that the strong B12 ate up the fuel strainer in the tank, so be careful with that. This time I had the Red Eye full rebuild kit, so broke the carbs apart and everything. AND the pectock was varnished up solid too, so Dan Marc manual...
IMG_20180225_154228463 by Mr_Dodis, on Flickr

Went back to factory size jets, got it all together and it just would not run right after a fresh rebuild. Searched the archives, gathered some things to check and tore it all apart again. I found the float valves had the tiny plungers in ALL the valve pins froze up. So new float pins and floats just to CYA. FINALLY it ran great again. YouTube showing the float valve pins ► https://youtu.be/yozErdfKGTw

Just in time to get it sold before we went into lockdown...

[Red Diamond]

Thanks for all the replies and info.

Mark, I will definitely give consideration to contacting J.R., just not energetic enough to tear into it anymore.

Mike, that ride was a long time ago, enjoyed it. I still haven’t had a chance to give it a good long ride yet, waiting on warmer weather. It does run now with the addition of the B-12 with slight sputtering at about 1200 rpm’s. Most of the times I run Exxon in it