Fuel misery

[jeaux]

Hey guys, I know it's been a while. Here's an update on me and Max. We got orders a few short months ago to be stationed in Germany ( I re-enlisted for it so I can ride the autobahn again) Max was packed up and sent to movers. He sat with a little gas in tank and probably the whole fuel system. Took about 2 months to get him here in Germany and then he sat for a little while longer while I got my military motorcycle license for europe. 3 weeks ago I connected the battery and took off. He worked great for a tank of gas. When I filled it up it made it back to close to my house and then died (1 mile ). I checked the fuel filter and it was done. Full of rust. Got a new one, put it on expecting just to ride off into the sunset. Wrong. Now I can ride it for about 5 minutes and then the fuel pump kicks on and shortly after the bike dies. Pump clicks like crazy but never pulls gas. If I remove hose to tank and put my finger on it, pump works, sucks all gas, then I can put it back on and it works again for a little while. I removed the air hose to the tank (is it supposed to blow outward?) thinking that it was not building pressure correctly. Still nothing. when it is working it works great, but then the pump does not pump after a while. Any ideas? I understand that there could be gunk in whe carbs, but once it has fuel it runs like a champ for a fair amount of time. Again Once I put my finger behind the fuel filter the pump sucks like a (insert joke here)

 

[4gasem]

My guess is you have rust in the pump and other areas of the bike as well as the carbs. Rust is BAD! I would look into removing the tank, having it cleaned, etched and some sort of coating that works with E10 fuel like we have here or replace the tank altogether. Then make sure to clean out the lines, pump, new filter and it wouldn't hurt to clean the carbs as well. Some of that rust is so small it gets by the filters.

Chris

 

[jfeagins]

Bummer.

There's a great post in the "How To" section on fuel pump section on how to get that fuel pump off, and open for inspection and/or cleaning. Get the rust out of your tank, then go through the lines, filter AND pump. Then do a shotgun on the carbs. I'll bet you'll be fine. I wouldn't be surprised if you find you already need another fuel filter too.

All it takes it TIME to do it all.

 

[jeaux]

I understand that I might have gunk and or rust in the system, what I am confused about is why when I plug the fuel line after the pump, everything works great for several minutes. I can leave it running with choke off for a long time and ride it about half a mile or so until the pump kicks back on and does not cycle fuel.

 

[Blujay]

Maybe the fuel tank vent is clogged and not allowing air in to replace the fuel that was pumped out. I'd check the rollover valve and the vent orafice in the tank. Jay

 

[jeaux]

Thanks Jay, I will look into that. Good advice!