Just got back from Afghanistan. The bike has been sitting for about 8 months. The bike was running crappy when I stored it. When I got home the battery could not be charged. Got a new battery "wow bike batteries are expensive". The bike started but missed a lot and would not come close to idle. I pulled the choke. It started easier but soon after it ran for a minutes I noticed the bottom exhaust pipe was getting hot as usual but the top pipe was only luke warm. A second later fuel started pouring out between the cylinder head/carb area. It was a little difficult to keep the engine running and get my head down to problem area to see the fuel leak. I saw it was coming from a fuel line on the right side of the bike. The line was laying smack dab in the middle of the two carbs. The line originates from the right side so I assume it goes to the carb on the right. I can not see were it goes to. I can't figure out were the fuel line is on the left side. Guess it would be easier is I dismantle the top of the bike but I'm too lazy. Hope it is an easy fix. I took some pics. They are taken from the right side of the bike with the air box removed. I put a white zip tie inside the fuel line so you can pick out the fuel line in question.
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Need help for my 02 Honda Shadow 750 spirit
- Thread starter Ryan
- Start date
I believe that's an overflow tube. If the bike has been sitting awhile with gas in it then the carbs are probably varnished (or better term junk build up). If one exhaust is glowing hot and the other is cold the the hot one is toooo lean and the cold one is not even firing. Check to make sure you have spark on all cylinders, if so then time to dig into the carbs...
The overflow tube is designed as a place for fuel to go (safely) if the float sticks. What happens is the float does not shut the needle valve and seat and allows fuel to just pour into the bowl. The bowl fills up and the excess fuel comes out the overflow tube. If everything is correct no fuel should come out of the overflow tube.
Just charged the plugs. I called the bike shop. They said, unless parts are broken, a rebuilt kit is useless, a cleaning is just the same. I found a guy online that comes to your house and will do the job. He said a rebuild kit is the way to go. He will not charge extra for a rebuild but I supply the kit.
I have a 05 VLX... LOVE it, only had it for 2k miles... but it's been great. I'll say, that I learned yesterday that bikes don't like the blended gas... especially if it sits for a while. That's known to form residue in the carb, gumming things up. Friend at work here, just had his carb cleaned on his Yamaha.... Shop said it's cause it sat with that ethanol blended crap in it.... It only sat for 3 months!
Is there such a thing as a gas station that has non-ethanol gas? I would hate to rebuild the carbs and have them gum up again after my next trip. What is the "best" way to store it? Last time I filled the tank and put in some fuel stabilizer.
Yes.. there's a website devoted to listing gas stations without ethanol... I literally just learned of it yesterday, it's on the work puter so I can post it once I get there... but a google search for non ethanol gas stations should find it.
as for storage, I haven't been riding long enough to know... sorry.
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