Garrett's had a very rough few days working on his Max. I just had to write this story out in an attempt to make him smile. :biglaugh::biglaugh::biglaugh:
The day started out alright. I went out this morning to sync the carbs on my 89. I wanted to do that because of the recent drop in main jet size from 152.5 to 147.5... I hooked the Gauges up to the lead cylinder and set all the fluid levels equal. Went through and set the carbs at 3,000 rpm. I hooked everything back up and decided to verify how the readings were with all tubes hooked up to the same cylinder and at 3,000 rpm. Oops, #4 is reading a little high. Balanced the manometer at 3k and again connected all cylinders. Got them sync'd perfect.
I wanted to check the gas so I could take a ride. Popped the gas cap and Wooooosh. Sounded like about 20 lbs of pressure. Started troubleshooting the tank vent and eventually found that the little P Hole at the tank was totally blocked. Well, I fixed the problem with a pin and this explains a lot of strange things that have been going on like a carb overflowing, out of the blue. I've been fighting with all sorts of fuel problems since I started working on this bike. I should have known something was wrong with the vent. When I fill the 94, I can get the level to the top and wait a few seconds, then put in more gas. I can do this about 10 times. It gives some extra range. That is with the tank vent working the way it should. On this 89, when I filled it, the first full level was all she wrote. I just figured it was a difference between the 2 bikes. Something that had been changed in the 5 years between them. Not.:bang head:
All of this ate up the time I had so I put the ride off until just before supper. I got the bike out about 10 miles and it started running like crap. I'd checked the battery just before going and it read 12.12 Volts. I figured a little spirited riding and it would come right up. When it started missing, I really didn't know what the problem was. Anyway, I started toward home. My phone was on vibrate and it went off about 5 miles out. When I stopped to check the message it was a friend with an emergency. He need some breathing medication that he'd run out of and in desperation had called me to see if I possibly had what he needed. Stupid me, Shut the bike down to hear better rather than walking away and leaving the bike idle. Big mistake.. Turns out I don't use what he needed and when I hit the starter button, it took about 3 seconds for the bike to get over the first compression stroke.
Called a friend, the one who had been at the dealer with me yesterday. But he didn't answer. Called his GF and no answer. So called my Wife, jumper battery is in her truck. When she got there, the jumper battery was also low. I charged it about a month ago and we've had some nights in the 30's. Called another friend who has an enclosed bike trailer. He also lost a leg in a bike wreck years ago. He told me the bike trailer is full of crap but he's on the way. I'm seeing 3 decrepit cripples trying to push start the now very cold engine of a VMax.. Not a Pretty Picture.
When he arrived, he and my wife pushed the bike about 10 feet and yelled at me to do the second gear bump start. The bike farted once. Just happens that a couple teenage boys are walking by so my friend asks them to give us a hand. They were more than willing to help out just to hear the bike running. This time the bike started and I blipped the throttle to keep it that way. It's running like dog crap at a steady speed so I blasted off for home with my wife in her truck and my friend in his way behind. I made it home by keeping the engine above 3,000 rpm. I think below that there wasn't enough voltage to feed the ignition, making it run rough.
Anyway, I made it home and killed the engine in the driveway. Just another verification that I picked the right name for this $%#@* bike, SkullDuggery Lives up to it's name once again....
The day started out alright. I went out this morning to sync the carbs on my 89. I wanted to do that because of the recent drop in main jet size from 152.5 to 147.5... I hooked the Gauges up to the lead cylinder and set all the fluid levels equal. Went through and set the carbs at 3,000 rpm. I hooked everything back up and decided to verify how the readings were with all tubes hooked up to the same cylinder and at 3,000 rpm. Oops, #4 is reading a little high. Balanced the manometer at 3k and again connected all cylinders. Got them sync'd perfect.
I wanted to check the gas so I could take a ride. Popped the gas cap and Wooooosh. Sounded like about 20 lbs of pressure. Started troubleshooting the tank vent and eventually found that the little P Hole at the tank was totally blocked. Well, I fixed the problem with a pin and this explains a lot of strange things that have been going on like a carb overflowing, out of the blue. I've been fighting with all sorts of fuel problems since I started working on this bike. I should have known something was wrong with the vent. When I fill the 94, I can get the level to the top and wait a few seconds, then put in more gas. I can do this about 10 times. It gives some extra range. That is with the tank vent working the way it should. On this 89, when I filled it, the first full level was all she wrote. I just figured it was a difference between the 2 bikes. Something that had been changed in the 5 years between them. Not.:bang head:
All of this ate up the time I had so I put the ride off until just before supper. I got the bike out about 10 miles and it started running like crap. I'd checked the battery just before going and it read 12.12 Volts. I figured a little spirited riding and it would come right up. When it started missing, I really didn't know what the problem was. Anyway, I started toward home. My phone was on vibrate and it went off about 5 miles out. When I stopped to check the message it was a friend with an emergency. He need some breathing medication that he'd run out of and in desperation had called me to see if I possibly had what he needed. Stupid me, Shut the bike down to hear better rather than walking away and leaving the bike idle. Big mistake.. Turns out I don't use what he needed and when I hit the starter button, it took about 3 seconds for the bike to get over the first compression stroke.
Called a friend, the one who had been at the dealer with me yesterday. But he didn't answer. Called his GF and no answer. So called my Wife, jumper battery is in her truck. When she got there, the jumper battery was also low. I charged it about a month ago and we've had some nights in the 30's. Called another friend who has an enclosed bike trailer. He also lost a leg in a bike wreck years ago. He told me the bike trailer is full of crap but he's on the way. I'm seeing 3 decrepit cripples trying to push start the now very cold engine of a VMax.. Not a Pretty Picture.
When he arrived, he and my wife pushed the bike about 10 feet and yelled at me to do the second gear bump start. The bike farted once. Just happens that a couple teenage boys are walking by so my friend asks them to give us a hand. They were more than willing to help out just to hear the bike running. This time the bike started and I blipped the throttle to keep it that way. It's running like dog crap at a steady speed so I blasted off for home with my wife in her truck and my friend in his way behind. I made it home by keeping the engine above 3,000 rpm. I think below that there wasn't enough voltage to feed the ignition, making it run rough.
Anyway, I made it home and killed the engine in the driveway. Just another verification that I picked the right name for this $%#@* bike, SkullDuggery Lives up to it's name once again....
unk:
