Carb Issues

[JustaKid]

Good afternoon folks,
I have recently acquired a very clean, 10,000 mile 99 Valk Tourer. Its perfect in all aspects except I believe I have a bad carb. When I start the bike cold with the choke, she runs perfect. When warm and the choke off, I can feel the bike 'chugging' above 3,000 rpm. You can even see the tach dance a little above those rpms. I took it to a local Wing shop and the guy there put a heat gage on the exhaust and found one cylinder running hotter than the others. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the time to work on the bike and really prefers wings so he didn't want to 'learn' on my bike on my dime. He felt that there was probably a piece of dirt stuck in one of the jets preventing the fuel flow when more fuel is required. It idles fine. I have run two tanks of gas with carb/injector cleaners and may have improved it a little, but I am probably trying to wish it was better. He told me the reason that particular cylinder was probably running hot because the fuel was leaner from the carb. Does this make sense? I have an appointment at my local dealer and his best guess will be around $450 for the tear down and cleaning of the carbs, parts extra. 

Here's my question: If this truly is running leaner thus hotter, am I hurting the bike by continuing to ride it before its fixed? My gas milage is a little over 30 so I don't think I'm losing too much there. It drives me nuts when I feel the 'miss', I've owned Valks before and have never had a mechanical issue at all. What would happen if I just ignore it? Bad idea?

Thanks for any input,  JustaKid.

[JC]

Carbs are becoming a regular topic here. This may be a leaking intake runner seal sucking air and causing it to lean out. Verify they are all properly torqued and tighten the hose clamps on each one. Continue with a heavy dose of the carb cleaner, either Seafoam or Techron seem to be favored here and run another tank through it at interstate speeds above 3K. If you have access to some gauges try to see if they are all in sync. If that doesn't fix it then it's time to get dirty for a weekend and rebuild them. Search this site for more on the subject. 

[Hoser]

Check out my recent post.  Hoser
http://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,30244.0.html

[ricoman]

I am not sold on temp gauge results on the exhaust headers (I surmise that's where he shot the temps) as proving much on a valk.
Unless you have precision aiming abilities and work incredibly fast you don't get readings that prove anything.
Your mileage shows it may be less a worry than you think.
As suggested, sync them-see what happens. If that doesn't work, do the whole carb thing. With the low miles, it's probably a wise choice as it has sat and crap has settled. My 98 std. only had 8500 when I got it in 2008 and she really needed the carbs done.

[Ricky-D]

If your problem is only with one carburetor I would urge you not to take on a whole dismantling of the carburetor bank or any facsimile of that.

You can drop a float bowl pretty easily if you use good mechanical practice and the proper tools.

With the float bowl off you can then inspect the whole innards of that carburetor, the jets and float assembly.

The first thing you could do is to tap the bowl of that carburetor with the wood handle of a tool. This may dislodge the suspected particle.

You can remove the low speed jet and inspect it for clogging.

There is no sense to go so deeply into the bike when it is not called for at this time.

And remember that fuel treatment is your friend and use it amply.

I don't think you will hurt the motor running under this condition.

***

[Patrick]

Usually the problem with these carburetors concern the low/slow jets, but, that shows itself below 3K rpms.. If this monster runs smoothly in the higher gears from a high idle speed up through 3K rpms then the low jets are OK.. You could try making sure the pilots are set at 2 1/4 turns, but, I don't really think thats a problem.. Since your trouble is above 3K, I'd first check to make sure you have proper fuel delivery[petcock/vacuum line].. I'd also look at all the vacuum lines and any possible point for a vacuum leak.. Lets look at the easy stuff first..

[JustaKid]

Thank you for the input, you have given me good ideas where to start. Unfortunately I am not in any way shape or form a wrench, but my best friend  (who is a first class auto tech) can walk me through a couple of these procedures. It KILLS me to spend $600 at the dealer.

Thanks again for the ideas.

[9Ball]

Thank you for the input, you have given me good ideas where to start. Unfortunately I am not in any way shape or form a wrench, but my best friend  (who is a first class auto tech) can walk me through a couple of these procedures. It KILLS me to spend $600 at the dealer.

Thanks again for the ideas.

definitely don't use the dealer.  With the money you save you can replace all the vacuum hoses, jets, drain hoses, screen filter, orings, etc. and still come out WAY ahead.  You will learn a lot about your bike and gain confidence in your mechanical abilities, which really aren't stretched too far with any work you'll run into on the Valk.  You will also have a bike you won't have to worry about for another decade as long as you store it correctly during periods of inactivity.

The Honda service manual provides all the details you need to do the job right and we're here to help should you run into problems or have questions.

Good luck.

**** Recommendation...add you location to your profile and you may be able to get help from some local Valk owners....

[GOOSE]

justakid.......listen to these people here on this board.....they are really quite remarkable in their droves of knowledge about this particular machine.  the problem you are experiencing is not going to get fixed by taking it to the dealer, and spending not $600.00, but probably closer to $1100.00, and they still probably won't solve your problem.  this problem you have is going to be a minor one.......o-ring/hose loose/crap in the carb......whatever it is you can fix it with these guys help.  good luck....

[JustaKid]

Location added to my profile, thanks for the tip. Now as far as doing all these suggestions myself? My knees are knockin' at at the thought. If i screw it up and cant get it back together I'd have top have it towed a dealer and end up costing more. I really really appreciate your input guys, let me think about it. The dealer didn't have anything available for a week anyway.  Thanks again for all the input! 

[9Ball]

there are a lot of members in your area....some may even be able to provide guidance or help.

If you don't have the Honda service manual, get one.  I personally like the hard copy, but Dag has a free one on his website.  You can print out the pages you need.

Biggest thing is to have all the parts on hand before you start.  This can take several weeks to accumulate the stuff.  If you're "going in", then do it right and replace the tubing, drains, orings, while you're in there.  Do it right the first time.

[X Ring]

My thought is with the low mileage on this Valk, it has sat a LOT.  It's possible with all the sitting the fuel has softened the inner surface of the fuel line causing it to collapse, restricting fuel flow and starving the engine at higher speeds.

Marty

[Brian]

justakid,
My 97 wasn't running when i bought it 5 years ago, it only had 895 miles showing. The inspection sticker was two years out of date and a 1/4 tank of stall gummy gasoline. The manual is by far your cheapest mechanic and highly recommended. The previous thread is correct about having all your parts ready to go. Once I lapped the 3 burnt valves back in to working order and heads back on I still had three carb's dumping fuel to correct. Study the manual, purchase all the viton o-rings, a 1 gallon can of Gunk parts cleaner with the basket I recommend, spray carb cleaner rags and a clear clean space. I tried the least expensive route the first time, don't do it. I ended up removing the carb assembly 6 times before this started to purr with fuel leaks on the supply connections. The factory needle valves were the most expensive of the parts , I am still running the OEM jets. If you have any mechanical abiltiy and can read and understand the process you will be successful. Don't be afraid grasshopper.
Think of it this way. For every hour you spend doing the work you are saving $70. I bet you never thought you could earn $70 an hour working on motorcycles? Go for it. It took me 4 weeks to get this dragon on the road. The education was priceless.

[JustaKid]

Thank you again for all the input, Designer even offered to help me wrench on her. This is a great group to be part of, I hope some day I can offer up some good help like has been offered to me.

Keep the shiny side up,

Justakid.