Helllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllp!!!!!

[Dave Weaver]

OK, here's the story.  I bought my '97 Tourer from a fella that had let it set for 2-3 years.  I rode it for a year while occasionally running Seafoam, MMO, and other carb cleaners through the fuel system.  It got to the point where it was rideable, but still wouldn't idle correctly and seemed to have a slight miss to it.  I removed carb bank over the winter, replaced slow jets with 38's, readjusted pilots to 1.5 turns, replaced o-rings, cleaned other jets, cleaned bowls, replaced bowl screws, replaced intake o-rings, rebuilt petcock, replaced all fuel and vacuum lines on bike.  The bike still doesn't idle correctly and has a miss to it, only now seems to be a little worse.  Just for the heck of it, while the bike was idling, I removed the plug wires one at a time to see if anything would happen.  When I removed plug wire on the number 1, 2, 3, or 4 cylinder the bike would stumble badly almost to the point of dying.  When I removed the plug wire from either 5 or 6 it seemed to have very little effect on the bike's performance. I did notice that there is good spark on all cylinders because the spark would travel from the boot to the head when I removed each one. I am going to check timing marks next. I am picking up new timing belts Wednesday and will replace them.  I have checked the wiring on the coils, and the wires there are in proper place. Is there a way to check the coils?  What else would you guys suggest?  Any suggestions appreciated.  TIA,
Dave

Update--I installed new plugs and timing belts last night.  I also removed intake tubes and checked to see if my o-rings were OK.  I still am getting a misfire and popping noises at all RPM ranges, but only from left side of engine.  I still believe it may be coil or plug wire to #6 cylinder.  Is there any way to check coil or plug wires without replacing?

[ArmyValker]

Have you run compression on it?

[Valker]

Did you try changing the plugs?

[F-106]

I would go for the carb syc and valve adjust. you have done everything eles. at least you can mark
those off the list. you might have one carb or two off the mark.

[f6john]

Another quick check you can do is after starting the bike start feeling the exhaust pipes on 5 and 6. If it's not firing the pipes will remain cool to the touch. I went up to a Harley dealer in Illinois to buy a Valkyrie that they said was perfect and ready to ride. After a 350 mile trip to buy the bike, no trailer my buddy was going to ride it back, I cranked it up and knew by the sound it wasn't right. I had to show them by holding my hand on the right hand bank of exhaust pipes that none of those cylinders were firing! How did they respond? "Well we rode it around and it felt plenty powerfull enough to us". Needless to say we left without the bike or an apology for wasting our time.



This is the bike we went for, it was still a good deal, but we came in a car with no hitch and they had assured us the bike would be ready to go when we got there. They later wholesaled it out to another dealer.

[98valk]

intake manifold o-rings are bad, search ebay for the viton o-rings, ignore the oem which are cheap buna-n.  Also carefully check the petcock vacuum diaphragm with a magnifying eye-piece near the center where the rubber coating wears away.

[sandy]

If you have spark, then fuel must be the problem. Set the bike level and open the bowl drain screws. If the float is stuck, it'll drain a bit out but then stop. Pull a vacuum on the petcock and see if it drains again. If no fuel, the floats are stuck closed.

[John U.]

If the bike sat for a few years you should get an inspection mirror and flashlight to check the condition of the gas tank. If it sat empty it may be rusted up. Rust can reclog the slow jets pretty quick and no amount of Seafoam or Techron will fix it. Does it run strong over 3,000 rpm? The main jets don't get clogged as easily.
If that proves to be the problem check Caswell Plating's website. I used their epoxy tank sealer, worked great.

[Ricky-D]

If it turns out to be crap in the tank, the easiest way to resolve that issue would be an inline filter.

[NiteRiderF6]

That sounds like you could have a bad coil or plug wires to me.... 5 & 6 use the same coil so if it is a little weak those two could be firing low or misfiring... Good Luck!