My own hydrolock experience

[jmann]

I own a 1998 Tourer with ~82K miles. I ride frequently and most times the ride is at least a 100 miles. Last Saturday when I went to start the bike with the usual "tap" of the starter, all I got was a click instead of the bike turning over. I have had the starter relay melt and that gave me just a click sound too but this was different. Thinking battery problem I tapped the start button again with the same "click" result. Not hearing a "clunk" like has been used to describe a hydro locked cylinder I thought about jumping the bike but something told me to pull plugs first. Glad I did. 4 of the 6 plugs were dry and the two rear plugs on the left side looked wet. Hit the start button and the bike turned over with gas coming out of the 2 rear cylinders on the left side. Plugs back in and it turned over and ran fine. I did find the petcock "on" from running the bike the day before. I had warmed the bike to do an oil change and forgot to turn the petcock off. It's a Golan manual one so a leaking stock one is not in play. My question is: would replacing just the needles and seats be a prudent option? The bike runs great and gets around 32mpg with most miles being freeway @ 75-80mph. Pulling the carbs is time consuming but not hard but should I consider cleaning and rebuilding while they're out or just do needles and seats? Thanks for any advice you can provide.

[Ricky-D]

You can simply pull the bowls and clean the specific areas. If that's even necessary. I'd suggest to continue to runs the bike, be sure to shut off the gas, and most importantly, add a good helping of a strong additive to clean up those float needles. It ought to take care of itself over a tank or two.

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[Gryphon Rider]

Because we have had reports of float valves with weak internal springs, and speculation (confirmed?) that this is a contributor to hydro-lock, I would consider replacing them, and possibly also the floats.  After the fuel valve, they are what prevent fuel from getting past the carbs and into the cylinders.  Yes, they might be fine except for being gummed up with stuff a fuel system cleaner will take care of, but I think there is wisdom in replacing these parts in our 12 to 19-year-old bikes.

Even though I haven't had hydro-lock troubles, it's something I want to take care of in the off-season.

[Chrisj CMA]

On the bike I fixed the hydrolock, it was my impression that along with a bad OE fuel valve (youre clear here) the other half of the issue was bad a bad float.  they are just plastic and if they get deformed they can stop putting pressure on the needle valve as fuel rises.  Id replace all the floats and needle valves.

[The emperor has no clothes]

I would add one more thing. If you are going to do all this, why not add a DanMarc valve at the same time ?

[Pete]

Check the carb vent circuit and hoses for crimps.
It "should" have overflowed there first.

[jmann]

Thank you all for good advice. I think I will heed all suggestions. In the short term run some cleaner with the fuel and in the mean time order some floats and needles. I saw a post earlier that included a good outlet for needles that weren't overly expensive. Is there an aftermarket supplier for floats or is OEM the best choice?

[gordonv]

All I can suggest, is find the price online, then go to your local dealer, and see if or how close they are willing to match the price.

I just recently bought a new chock cable, $16 USD online at Procaliber, plus shipping ($27 US = $A LOT $ CAD). In my case, mail house fee and crossing the border to pick it up. Bought from my local dealer for $26 CAD + tax. Had it in 3 days.

[Gavin_Sons]

Thank you all for good advice. I think I will heed all suggestions. In the short term run some cleaner with the fuel and in the mean time order some floats and needles. I saw a post earlier that included a good outlet for needles that weren't overly expensive. Is there an aftermarket supplier for floats or is OEM the best choice?

I get my float needles from amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Supply-18-8955-Float-Needle-K3-Keihin/dp/B001KOD732/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1480257219&sr=8-2&keywords=honda+valkyrie+float+needles

[Buza]

When I saw this thread I just had to register.

I had exactly same issue with my -97 std this summer. If bike stood for some days it had that same problem and didn't start. There's a small downhill where I keep my bike so what I did was to put big gear on and push it backwards and let the engine rotate a bit. That always did the trick.

I noticed that in colder weather (+10 - 15C) that problem appeared much quicker.

About 1,5 months ago I moved the bike to winter storage and it hasn't run since. I'll do complete rework on the carbs and started just last weekend. And guess what I found



edit: And yes, I'm fixing the petcock also.

[Daviddurtschi]

in the picture, what am I looking for?  Just the corrosion?

[Buza]

Cylinder 1 was full of gas.

This weekend I rebuilt carburetors. I couldn't believe the effort Rich is putting in Redeye carb rebuild kits he sells! Every part in it's own ziplock bag with detailed instructions.

[Daviddurtschi]

I see it now!  Scary. I have the highest regard for redeye