Problem with tank venting or petcock. Could use some help.

[ryord]

Hello, I ride a nice 2001 Valkyrie Standard, Stock pipes only about 8k miles. Runs great most of the time only once in a while when I put about 8 miles on a tank of gas, seems to act like its running out of fuel. I have had it in dealer, they put the original diaphragm back in the petcock and it ran great for about 15 miles, But I still have an intermittent problem of running out of gas .I put it on reserve and it seems to revive, even though it left me stranded about 2 weeks ago. I have checked vacuum hoses petcock is brand new. tank vent hose seems to be OK. Still happens only once in a while. Cant quite put my finger on it yet. Seems to happen when the weather is warmer. Today here in Kansas city it was almost 90. Let me know if anyone has any thoughts. Thanks

[Bone]

Have you tried cracking open the gas tank lid when it starts running out of gas?  If you can open it just a crack it might continue to run which indicates a vent problem.

[Daniel Meyer]

Really sounds like vent hose is clogged/kinked...or the vacuum break is missing (a "T" fitting about halfway down that goes to nothing else...)

Like Bone said...if it does it and you crack the tank lid and it will run again, venting is definitely the issue.

[wizard -vrccds#125]

Did the dealer check the filter screen inside the tank when thy pulled the petcock? If thy did it is more than likely vent tube !

[ryord]

Thanks for your comments. Yes I have cracked the tank. But I still need to determine whether it is recovering because of this or just putting it on reserve or just slowing the bike down. I have noticed that the mechanic that went through the carbs after I first bought the bike about 9 months ago. put a vacuum hose between the forward and rear carb on the brake side of the bike connecting the 2 carbs. I am curious about this. also how much does the tank vent through the top. I will double check the screen and the vent hose at the back of the tank seems to be OK with the proper T at the midway point down the hose. It seems to happen worse when it is hot out. Most of the time the bike does recover when I switch to reserve. but there is always 2.5 or so gallons in the tank. thanks again for any more ideas. I was going to try the pingle petcock idea. I still suspect either vacuum problem or venting. Thanks Rick.

[Daniel Meyer]

Investigate the added line, sounds weird (and probably not helpful).

Do a leak-down test on the petcock (pull a vacuum on the vacuum line and see if it holds)

[rodeo1]

if some genius mechanic added a line that honda didn't deem nessesary, remove it ! change it back to OEM. honda  spent millions on expert engineers to produce the number one motorcycle on earth, what makes some mechanic think he can out think them ?

i have been working on other folks' cars and bikes all my adult life. i can tell you that when left alone, even a harley will run, and last a long time. i can attest that 90% of the issues with bikes (and cars) are brought on by folks monkeying around with things, trying to gain a few horses, or make it cooler, (or especially louder) than the guy next door.

leave them alone ! change the oil, maintain the crap out of them, and this bike for sure will still be running and making you proud to show the nickle trick for more years than you will care about.

[rodeo1]

i just took a look at the parts list on a 2000 goldwing. that line he put on your valk is a goldwing design, apparently something that works good on dual carbs. i would get rid of that and put the OEM lines back on.

[ryord]

Thanks Guys, I will look in the Honda Manual to see if it can give me some idea what the original setup is as far as the vacuum line is I wonder if I can just put a rubber cap on the 2 places where the forward carb and the rear carb on the right leg are now connected. I always like to keep things stock. This was a nice guy that is the head tech at the Honda Dealer near my home. I am not a bad mechanic myself, Thanks for the input. Rick.

[Patrick]

It does sound like you're experiencing a vent line problem or a petcock problem.. Regarding the vacuum lines, if the bike has been de-smogged then all intake runners are capped except #6 to the petcock.. If it hasn't been de-smogged then #'s 1,2,5 are capped.

[Garland]

I had a similar problem with a used Interstate tank I put on my Tourer. Afterr much frustration I found that the vent tube channel inside the tank was clogged with something. I ended up running a fine wire through until it cleared.

[ryord]

Hello, thanks to all, I capped the 2 vacuum lines like OEM, I had thought too about taking the tank off and running something through the tank vent to clear any junk that might be up there. We will see thanks to all again I will check back to see if there are any other posts here. In my research I did read that there have been some problems with the OEM Fuel valve petcock. I might consider changing over to a Pingle. Any thoughts there would help too.

[GOOSE]

ryord.... the best thing you can do for yourself, and for the big fat lady is to take that oem piece of junk petcock off, and install a pingle.  you will both be happy.

[X Ring]

ryord.... the best thing you can do for yourself, and for the big fat lady is to take that oem piece of junk petcock off, and install a pingle.  you will both be happy.

+1   

Marty