bad gas

[vmaxbx]

my stock '89 has been sitting in a garage for years. the gas is all separated and smells like varnish. tried to install a new battery and start it; gas is pumping out of those vent lines that route to the air intake scoops on top of the air box {not the fake ones; the ones under the faux tank}. the starter seems to be cranking slow, too {unrelated, but needs fixing}.
any solutions?

 

[one2dmax]

Disassemble and clean the carbs to start with. Sounds like float needles are stuck and likely other circuits are clogged. We can do it for you or you can do it yourself with pics that are in the sticky section of the carb forum. We can also sell you the parts needed for the clean up job.

Sean

 

[vmaxbx]

thanks. is there a step by step video for removal of the carbs? i have 2 bikes that need carb rebuilds: my stock "big red" '89, and my "blackie" '85 w/'97 engine & stage-7. and what about the starter? i heard that vmaxs' have starter issues.

 

[one2dmax]

Look in the carbs section.

 

[SpecOps13]

Welcome to the Forum vmaxbx. I've been fighting with an 89 for about 4 months now... Hope yours is an Easier Reserection... Mine needs a valve adjustment, an oil leak fix finished and clutch fluid changed. It should be GTG for a long time. PO's did some things right and lots of things wrong.
OBVIOUSLY THEY WEREN'T REGULARS HERE ON THIS FORUM...:rofl_200:

 

[vmaxbx]

my red '89 has 11k, and came w/an awesome sounding hindle pipe; i don't know if they worked on the carbs too. i'm thinking "probably". they're coming off soon {the carbs}, so stay tuned...
what about the slow cranking-and pausing-issue? any info?

 

[DakRatFink]

Related, but unrelated. My old Suzuki GS had similar problems from an extended sit. Once I cleaned them them out they it ran a little better ( then a LOT better after I reinstalled the stock air box in favor of the individual K&N's). I agree with what Morley says about the spitting fuel def sounding like gummed up internals though.

Actually with the title of this thread, I thought it was going to be about eating chili. ( ok not really. Too early for fart jokes? )
Good luck with carb venture, though. Keep your progress posted.

 

[4gasem]

my red '89 has 11k, and came w/an awesome sounding hindle pipe; i don't know if they worked on the carbs too. i'm thinking "probably". they're coming off soon {the carbs}, so stay tuned...
what about the slow cranking-and pausing-issue? any info?

The slow crank is somewhat normal for the older maxes. Do a search on it here. Taking the starter apart and cleaning it helps a ton, but what needs to happen is the "crimp" mod and make sure your R&R is putting around 13.5V into your battery at idle.

Chris

 

[vmaxbx]

thanks.

 

[ninjaneer]

welcome the site!
listen to morley, he is one of our resident gurus. the man knows his $h!7.

based on all of the recent posts elsewhere in other threads (i guess it's b/c there's a lot of folks waking their bikes up from their winter's hibernation), your situation sounds exactly as their woes--stuck floats, gunked up jets, etc etc. all attributed to letting the gas stale instead of burn.

don't sweat the carbs. cake really. the only prob i had was trying to pop them off the intake manifold. but that was quickly remedied by completely loosening the boot clamps--i had only partially relieved the tension. once the boot clamps were completely loosed and with little elbow grease, the carbs gave way.

and if you are intimidated about cleaning them out, just take your time with the first one and being OCD with laying out the parts as you dismantle. take lots of pics. i am by far not the most mechanically-inclined and i found that the whole process was very straightforward

good luck.

 

[SpecOps13]

Hope this all goes well. I installed an Odyssey Battery and did all the connection soldering. Even changed out a going bad R&R. Mine now turns over reliably even when hot... I just charged the old battery that's been sitting for several months and it went to a stable 12.73 volts. So, even a standard battery will do well with the solder work done....

Good Luck, we 89 owners have to stick together...:rofl_200:

 

[likembikem]

I also did the carb removal/cleaning with instructions and pictures from here. It was not anywhere near the difficulty I had expected. I even called the dealer, about 1 month and $750! I did have to remove and refrence pitures again but this was all in 2 evenings. I too did the solder on the charging system, I had slow cranking at high engine temps. The connectors were corroded some, but I just removed them. Everything was done as per this forum. One last thing in carb disassembly; I had to use an impact driver to break some of the phillips loose.

 

[tonyg-5386]

I took the "easy" way out. I drained the carbs, removed them, boxed them and shipped them to Sean. 2 weeks later I got them back, installed and synched them and had a vmax that ran like a completely different bike. Unbelievable acceleration, no stumbles in any range and a steady idle. Best money I've ever spent on the bike!!

 

[99 MAX]

If you pull the 4 K&Ns and reinstall the stock air box, do you have to rejet again? performance exhaust would still be on the bike.

 

[mr.maxx]

unk: