It was a SAD day today...My Valk left me sitting on the ...

[Stanley Steamer]

side of the road....at least it was a side road and only about 5 miles from my Hometown....I had been up there to see my Mother  for Mother's Day and to watch my Nephew and Niece play ball...made it up there fine, but I was going to ride on up to Tiger to get one of their famous chili burgers when the bike started dying out on me and sputtering as if it weren't getting enough gas....at least I was able to get it off on a side road on a hill...my Nephew brought a trailer and I was able to let the bike roll downhill into the trailer...I had my Wife come pick me up and bring me home and tomorrow I'll go and pick the bike up in my trailer and try to get it back in it's little building....

I talked with a couple of guys on the phone after I tried a couple of things on my own...like cracking the gas cap, no luck...I'm thinking like my buddies told me and think that the vacuum hoses have a crack(s) in them somewhere....it would try to crank at first but would die as though it weren't getting any gas.....I had BigBF replace the petcock last August, but as far as I know, I have never had the vacuum lines replaced...I wasn't about to try to take my pods, tank, and spark plug covers off there on the side of the road... ........

It couldn't have happened in a better spot I guess and at least I wasn't on the road to the Blue/Grey ride when it happened....but I do NOT look forward to trying to replace the vacuum tubing....I know it'd be easier to do if I pulled the air box out, but I think others have said it's a bugger to get back in correctly...and I know a lot of folks have used strings and wire to run new tubes back in...I think there's a guy over on the Delphi VRF that sells a kit of new hoses for the vacuum system....I will post over there and see if he's still got some for sale.....I didn't need this extra aggravation this close to the BG ride... ...what a bummer!!

[Chrisj CMA]

Stanley...if the vacume lines are cracked so bad that it wont even run...it seems wrong that it would have ran just fine on the way up there and then all of a sudden nothing.  It should have been wanting for power, popping, rough idling, hard starting for a while and then die.

I would check the battery and the alternator and ground leads first, then if its getting plenty of juice really look at the fuel.....tank, lines, carb bowls and jets looking for contamination (sand, water, etc)

Just my .02 worth and maybe be worth even less than that........good luck

[Chrisj CMA]

PS its a real easy job to replace the vacume lines with just taking the tank off if thats what it really turns out to be.  email me if you cant find the instructions anywhere, I did it in about 45 min first time and 30 or so the second time


Chrisj

[Stanley Steamer]

Seafoam to a full tank of gas before my ride.....I've never used that stuff in it before, but also never really had any problems with the gas before either...I just thought it'd help make sure everything was clean....and the only other thing I can remember is that the bike backfired a time or two in the last couple of months, but I tightened a couple of acorn exhaust nuts yesterday even though they weren't really all that loose...

I guess the ride up there was about 80 miles with one stop, then the bike sat for a couple of hours, I crunk it up, and only made it about a mile before it started acting up...

The bike is a '99 with ~75,000 miles on it and has the original vacuum lines as far as I know...

[Dogg]

read the bottle, if it s a large bottle of seafoam, 1 can does 25 gallons I think.. best stuff in the world, when used according to label instructions. too much of it will eat away at o-rings and stuff.

[Stanley Steamer]

add 1 oz/gal....I poured less than half a can in it since the tank is about 7 gals...the rest I used here and there in the mowers and such...

[Dogg]

ok, just checkin...

[Stanley Steamer]

does have a bearing on it?....I double checked and it was recommended at 1oz/gal.....

Chris asked me if it had been running rough, popping and etc, but only for that half a mile before it gave out on me...I'm sure that the vacuum lines need replacing regardless, but this is getting a little too close to the BG ride for my liking....

http://www.seafoamsales.com/technical-information/gasoline-engines/index.html

[ptgb]

Half-a-can of Seafoam in a full tank of gas won't hurt a thing...

I would be utterly amazed if that had anything to do with it whatsoever...

First thing I would check (after the obvious, like fuel turned-on, etc.) is to make sure that the vacuum line to the petcock is not pulled-off, cracked, kinked, etc.

Good luck, hope it's something simple.

[Ben]

Might Check fuel filter... the down hill part makes me suspect this
good luck have fun on B&Grun

[Oss]

stan  while squating on the right side of the bike even with the seat look at where the hoses leave the gas tank and go to the petcock

I remember a vacuum hose came off the petcock and thats just what happened to me, but at least on my street

if the little clamp wasnt real nice of the petcock line that hose couldve just come off  No vacuum thats what happens she runs out of gas and wont crank over

I am sure your gas is switched on..........right? maybe one of your friends turned it off on ya

[Stanley Steamer]

reserve even though I know I had about half a tank of gas left....it's going to be harder for me to get to the tubes on the petcock because I have the chrome covers around it....looks good, but makes it harder to reach everything....

I'm about to go hook up my trailer, load the straps, and make the 90 mile one-way trip to get her....Oh the shame to have to put her on a trailer to bring her home...

[Paul Carver]

Article on Seafoam says to watch the color of the oil and not to let it go over 3,000 miles. For the first time, I added this product and am getting ready to go on a 4,000 mile trip. Should I change the oil and filter again before I go or let it go till after the trip? Thanks

[Chrisj CMA]

I would think that 3,000 mile warning would be if you used it in the oil instead of the gas.  I believe it says on the can it can be used for either.

[MP]

You said you had it on reserve?  How long has it been since you used reserve before?  If a long time, it is possible that water and other crud built up near the bottom of the gas tank, and when you switched to reserve, it starts sucking it in?????
One should use reserve once in a while, even if not needed, to help stop that.
Just an idea.
MP

[ArmyValker]

I wouldn't use it in oil though honestly. If you do, use it as a "flush" but definetly don't ride it that way. It makes the oil almost the consistency of gasoline.

[Sixguns (Rob)]

Hate to say it Stanley...but this sounds sort of like an experience I had with my 2001 Interstate a couple of years ago. 

Bike was running great on a long trip when it suddenly coughed and sputtered like it was running out of gas for just under a mile but the tank was almost full.  Ran rough like it was starving for fuel or miss firing, then it stalled, I was able to restart it one time but it was still running rough and cut out again very quickly.

Bike had just under 40,000 miles on her and it turned out to be the alternator.  I bought the one listed for a Goldwing at about half price and did the modifictation.  (think I found that listed on the generic parts page)

The only other symptom I noticed with mine which you did not mention experiencing....is the dash gauges went bezerk for a very brief moment right before it died.

I hope for you that it is just the vacum lines as that is a cheap and simple fix...either way it is a quick fix and as Joe would say "it's only money".   

It's no fun when the trusty Maiden lets us down...they just don't look right sitting on a trailer.  Good luck with it!
Sixguns (Rob)

[hubcapsc]

Hey Stanley...

Let me know if you'd like some help looking at it... I'll probably
be stumped too, but we can always call my buddy Dan...

-Mike

[DeathWishBikerDude]

Try the penny under the fuel cap trick.
If the vent line clogs from the tank,placing a penny under the fuel tank gasket will allow enough air into the tank to fix the problem.
 

[Gilligan]

Hate to say it Stanley...but this sounds sort of like an experience I had with my 2001 Interstate a couple of years ago. 

Bike was running great on a long trip when it suddenly coughed and sputtered like it was running out of gas for just under a mile but the tank was almost full.  Ran rough like it was starving for fuel or miss firing, then it stalled, I was able to restart it one time but it was still running rough and cut out again very quickly.

Bike had just under 40,000 miles on her and it turned out to be the alternator.  I bought the one listed for a Goldwing at about half price and did the modifictation.  (think I found that listed on the generic parts page)

The only other symptom I noticed with mine which you did not mention experiencing....is the dash gauges went bezerk for a very brief moment right before it died.

I hope for you that it is just the vacum lines as that is a cheap and simple fix...either way it is a quick fix and as Joe would say "it's only money".   

It's no fun when the trusty Maiden lets us down...they just don't look right sitting on a trailer.  Good luck with it!
Sixguns (Rob)

We had the exact same thing happen to our '99 IS at 75,000 miles, including the sequential loss of the gauges. We called Honda's Roadside Service and got trailered in by a Ford F-150 Harley Version pick-up.     It was our alternator.  We were lucky we were within 50 miles of home.

[..]

Stanley,

Someone on this board recently posted a link to a guy who rebuilds alternators (if that's the problem). Takes a Valk one and makes it better than OEM.

I don't have the link due to my computer fire.

[Stanley Steamer]

alternator....and don't think it is BECAUSE, I have a couple of 12V plugs in the fairing that I can insert a small check guage into to check the battery status and the status of the alternator WHEN the bike is running(I have a fancier LCD guage to install sometime)...the guage showed the battery was fine yesterday and today, but since it won't run, I can't check the alternator again, BUT wouldn't the battery have been sucked of it's juice and DIED first??....and my display was fine...nothing weird there...I have heard that some alternators windings broke early on before 50,000 miles and anywhere else before and after that...

I very occasionally push myself too far and have to use the reserve on the petcock and only did that yesterday AFTER it had died....and I did crack the gas cap but didn't shut it back before trying to crank it again....

At least it's back home in a level spot where I can put it in my wheel chock to hold it level while I work on it....

Mike, I may just take you up on that offer my Friend...I have checked with Doc in Florida on the Delphi VRF and he is trying to see if he has a vacuum hose kit left...I think he has some other O-rings and such also that go in the bottoms of the tubes??....

I have to get it fixed fast, because I still have to take a day to ride the bike over to my favorite tire guy to get a new front tire....

Thanks for all the help folks...I'll be checking everything out and HOPEFULLY it'll be the "Easy" fix!!...

[Wingman]

Sounds like the petcock to me. This is easy to check, take off the fuel line at the petcock, put vacuum on the petcock and see if it flows fuel.

[Stanley Steamer]

cause BigBF just changed it out for me at Inzane last August...that'd be a record for the shortest run of a diaphram I bet!!

[..]

cause BigBF just changed it out for me at Inzane last August...that'd be a record for the shortest run of a diaphram I bet!!

I dunno, I remember a girl.................................

[Stanley Steamer]

was it lubricated..........properly?..... ....

[..]

was it lubricated..........properly?..... ....

Ye olde Moly if I remember correctly 

[Stanley Steamer]

silicate free??......

[..]

The only way to have silicate free in the old days was to make sure you washed the sand off. Snurr, snurr, snurr

[sheets]

. . . GoldWing that died due to stator failure.  Ran on the battery as long as it could.  When it sucked all the juice from battery she experienced a loss of power for a mile or two before I coasted to a stop along side the road.   Ymmv,