mechdesign2k4
Chop-N-Change
puuuurdy!
Not Really a Bob, Not Cafe, GS300 Suzuki
- Thread starter Mike Lawless
- Start date
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Thanks!
It's alive again! I got fired up this morning after finishing the assembly. As it turns out, even though I had wires marked, several things got wired backwards. Left rear turn signal comes on when the switch is on right side, brake light was running light... easily corrected. Put a little fuel in it to check for leaks as I has changed the petcock to a standard Pingle on-off-reserve. Everything good there. No leaks on the new Mikuni carbs...good to go.
Hit the starter, and she back fires and pops. OK. I got the coils wired backwards too! Switched those around, she fires right up. Let it run for a few seconds, and flip the choke levers (there are two individual choke levers on these carbs) and it settles into a nice idle.
So, I do an easy ride around the block, not going any farther from the house than I'm willing to push. Do a visual check, then go around the bigger block. Without stopping, I made another lap, stretching her legs a little. Runs pretty dang good! Then, a block away from the house it acts like it's starving for fuel and dies. Damn. So, I pop off the fuel cap, put it back on, and it fires right back up. So, I'm suspecting the fuel cap isn't venting. Get back to the house, and I take the cap off, and put some duct tape over the open filler hole, leaving a little area for it to breathe. Do a couple laps around the big block, putting about three miles on it. Everything is OK.
So, I take the cap and remove all the guts. Aside from the locking mechanism, is has a series of check valves. I left the guts out and put it back on.
All things considered, it goes pretty good. The carbs seem to be jetted very close out of the box. It respond crisply to the throttle, and pulls smoothly through the gears. A little blubbery at part throttle in the 2-3000 rpm range. Probably a simple matter of dropping the needle one slot and see how it acts.
I'm thinkin' about putting a short fender on the back. It looks a little chopped off. Then I can move the license plate up and put a light on it.
I think I'm gonna build new footpeg mounts to move them back about 3 or 4 inches. I'm also gonna look into a choke cable arrangement to pull both chokes simultaneously. As it is, it's really only a minor inconvenience.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Even though the wheels are shiny black powdercoat, I'm still not in love with 'em.
But for the time being, I'm gonna ride it!
It's alive again! I got fired up this morning after finishing the assembly. As it turns out, even though I had wires marked, several things got wired backwards. Left rear turn signal comes on when the switch is on right side, brake light was running light... easily corrected. Put a little fuel in it to check for leaks as I has changed the petcock to a standard Pingle on-off-reserve. Everything good there. No leaks on the new Mikuni carbs...good to go.
Hit the starter, and she back fires and pops. OK. I got the coils wired backwards too! Switched those around, she fires right up. Let it run for a few seconds, and flip the choke levers (there are two individual choke levers on these carbs) and it settles into a nice idle.
So, I do an easy ride around the block, not going any farther from the house than I'm willing to push. Do a visual check, then go around the bigger block. Without stopping, I made another lap, stretching her legs a little. Runs pretty dang good! Then, a block away from the house it acts like it's starving for fuel and dies. Damn. So, I pop off the fuel cap, put it back on, and it fires right back up. So, I'm suspecting the fuel cap isn't venting. Get back to the house, and I take the cap off, and put some duct tape over the open filler hole, leaving a little area for it to breathe. Do a couple laps around the big block, putting about three miles on it. Everything is OK.
So, I take the cap and remove all the guts. Aside from the locking mechanism, is has a series of check valves. I left the guts out and put it back on.
All things considered, it goes pretty good. The carbs seem to be jetted very close out of the box. It respond crisply to the throttle, and pulls smoothly through the gears. A little blubbery at part throttle in the 2-3000 rpm range. Probably a simple matter of dropping the needle one slot and see how it acts.
I'm thinkin' about putting a short fender on the back. It looks a little chopped off. Then I can move the license plate up and put a light on it.
I think I'm gonna build new footpeg mounts to move them back about 3 or 4 inches. I'm also gonna look into a choke cable arrangement to pull both chokes simultaneously. As it is, it's really only a minor inconvenience.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Even though the wheels are shiny black powdercoat, I'm still not in love with 'em.
But for the time being, I'm gonna ride it!
Spitfire151
Been Around the Block
You've made yourself a very nice bike Mike! I'm interested to see how the rear fender looks, I could go either way with it. Either way, you got yourself a sweet ride.
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Thanks Spitfire
I took 'er for a ride after removing the guts from the gas cap. After a couple miles, it starts missing and cutting out and dies. Take the cap off, and leave it just sitting on the opening. Seems to run fine.
So, I think I will put some time on it with some sort of scheme for venting to see how it goes. Maybe i shoul put a groove in the cap' sealing gasket. If it does solve the problem, I guess I'll have to explore some options. The cap is a locking deal, and the tank opening seems to be proprietary to that.
If I have to cut out the existing bung and replace it with something generic, I reckon that's what I'll do!
I took 'er for a ride after removing the guts from the gas cap. After a couple miles, it starts missing and cutting out and dies. Take the cap off, and leave it just sitting on the opening. Seems to run fine.
So, I think I will put some time on it with some sort of scheme for venting to see how it goes. Maybe i shoul put a groove in the cap' sealing gasket. If it does solve the problem, I guess I'll have to explore some options. The cap is a locking deal, and the tank opening seems to be proprietary to that.
If I have to cut out the existing bung and replace it with something generic, I reckon that's what I'll do!
Hoosier Daddy
Earache my eye...
Congrats on the first ride!!!
Can you take the cap back apart a drill a small vent hole just above the sealing ring?
Can you take the cap back apart a drill a small vent hole just above the sealing ring?
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Hoosier Daddy said:
Yeah. I'm gonna try that today.
However, I still have a little voice in my head saying it's electrical and has something to do with the electronic ignition module. I have to rule out the tank vent thing first. I'm not gonna chase that until the symptoms occur with a fully vented tank.
Until it is resolved, I'm not gonna ride it any farther away from home than I'm willing to push it!
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Thanks!Floegstad said:Looks sweet Mister 8).
Congrats with the bike "done"!
Pretty satisfying. Got lots of help and inspiration from this site. Mostly just by reading. Some by asking. Very helpful and much appreciated!
However....are they ever really "done?"
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
I drilled the vent hole bigger as Hoosier suggested and took 'er for a ride. Once again, not getting too far. Everything was great till about 5 minutes in. It dropped a hole. So, I headed for home kinda nursing it along. Just about the time I got onto my street, the hole picks back up. I kept going. Started making the circle bigger, and stretching her legs. Everything was great!
Pulled into the driveway after putting about 10-12 miles on 'er, and let 'er cool a bit so I could check the plugs. Then I got to thinkin'....It still has the plugs I bought it with. They could be a year old, or they could be 30 years old. I doubt that they are that old. NGK went from the gold iridite coating to sliver just a few years ago, and these are silver.
Pulled the plugs and they are a bit dark and the gaps were about .040". I closed the gaps down to .028" but I'll go ahead and buy new plugs. They are D8EA. I think I'll go to a 7 and see how it like that before rejetting. After getting results from that, if they are still dark, I'll drop the needle in the carbs down one slot and see how she goes.
Thanks for that cap vent suggestion Hoosier.
BTW I looked as your Suzuki thread. Damned unfortunate about losing all those photos. I would have liked to have seen the progress photos. I really like the style of the finished product!
Pulled into the driveway after putting about 10-12 miles on 'er, and let 'er cool a bit so I could check the plugs. Then I got to thinkin'....It still has the plugs I bought it with. They could be a year old, or they could be 30 years old. I doubt that they are that old. NGK went from the gold iridite coating to sliver just a few years ago, and these are silver.
Pulled the plugs and they are a bit dark and the gaps were about .040". I closed the gaps down to .028" but I'll go ahead and buy new plugs. They are D8EA. I think I'll go to a 7 and see how it like that before rejetting. After getting results from that, if they are still dark, I'll drop the needle in the carbs down one slot and see how she goes.
Thanks for that cap vent suggestion Hoosier.
BTW I looked as your Suzuki thread. Damned unfortunate about losing all those photos. I would have liked to have seen the progress photos. I really like the style of the finished product!
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Decided to risk it and rode the Lil Black Bitch to work this morning. Started out good, and then a few blocks from the house, it drops a hole again. It stayed dropped for about a half mile, and just when I was ready to turn back, it lights back up. So I rode the rest of the way. Pretty funny. Funny in an odd way. I reckon I'll see how new plugs do before trying to look for something that might not be a problem.
Oh the joys of old machinery!
Oh the joys of old machinery!
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
I have no filters Erskine. Just the screen on the petcock and it is new. I really believe this to be an ignition issue. It drops the hole suddenly and just as suddenly, picks it back up. Not at all like a fuel issue where it sputters for a while as it runs out of fuel.Erskine said:
Same routine on the way home from work. A couple minutes into the ride, it drops a cylinder. A couple minutes later, it lights back up and stays lit. It's been pretty consistent. Almost as if it were temp related. I' starting to think it's too consistent to be a plug.
Still, I'll put a new set in, and recheck connections.
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Well, dammit. New plugs didn't help. I was hoping, but had a feeling it wouldn't help. Runs good cold, goes a few minutes, suddenly drop a hole. A few minutes later, it suddenly picks back up. It's as if a switch were being turned on and off.
So...Into the electronic ignition I go. I understand the ignition control is either bad or it it's good. Since it runs most of the time correctly, perhaps a simple connection issue?
Hard to track down intermittent stuff. Every time, by the time I get back to the house, it's past the dropped cylinder and running correctly again.
Oh well. If it were easy, everyone would could figure it out and life would not challenge us.
If anyone has had similar experiences and figured out where to to look, man, I'd appreciate it.
So...Into the electronic ignition I go. I understand the ignition control is either bad or it it's good. Since it runs most of the time correctly, perhaps a simple connection issue?
Hard to track down intermittent stuff. Every time, by the time I get back to the house, it's past the dropped cylinder and running correctly again.
Oh well. If it were easy, everyone would could figure it out and life would not challenge us.
If anyone has had similar experiences and figured out where to to look, man, I'd appreciate it.
Spitfire151
Been Around the Block
Do you know which cylinder is dropping perchance?
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Not yet Spitfire. I checked the magnetic pickups. One has .025" clearance to the reluctor, the other has .045". They are not adjustable. The pickup casings are moulded onto the mount plate. The only thing I can do there is file the mount plate a bit to move it enough to equalize the gaps. I don't think that's it though.
The next opportunity will be to figure out if it is consistently dropping the same hole. I can either use my manual heat checker (fingers) on the pipe when it does it, or bring along an infrared heat gun. I probably won't get to do that till after the holiday.
Edit....
First test, it drops the right side hole. I'll find out if it drops the same hole in a day or so.
The next opportunity will be to figure out if it is consistently dropping the same hole. I can either use my manual heat checker (fingers) on the pipe when it does it, or bring along an infrared heat gun. I probably won't get to do that till after the holiday.
Edit....
First test, it drops the right side hole. I'll find out if it drops the same hole in a day or so.
Mike Lawless
2006 HD Softail Deluxe - 2014 Triumph Bonneville
Alright. Enough is enough. It's not gonna fix itself. It's time for action. Some research led no where to an "off the shelf" solution. There is a DynaTek unit for some Suzuki twins, but not mine. The Pamco unit for honda twins "might" work, but there are lower cost alternatives that would be just as easy.
I have two things I'm gonna try...
The first is to use the existing magnetic pick-ups with GM HEI ignition modules. One for each cylinder, each triggered by the pick-up for the corresponding cylinder and each firing it's own coil. Each has a four wire hook up. The modules are cheap, sometimes free, and very easy to get. This has been done successfully for many years. Since I can use the existing pick-ups, it should be an easy solution.
The other is to adapt a point cam to the end of the crank and a pair of points to a plate and go "old school." Easy for me to do, as I have a lathe and mill in my garage. Again, one set of points for each cylinder, and a one lobe cam. I can modify an old VW distributor shaft by machining off three of the lobes, and use VW points. It's what I have on hand.
The point conversion has appeal because of it's simplicity. But there is a bit more fab work to do. An adapter to mate the VW points cam to the end of the suzuki crank, and a custom breaker plate. Half a day's work.
The GM HEI thing is an easy way to go because it's just wiring. Probably less than an hour once the modules are in hand.
I have two things I'm gonna try...
The first is to use the existing magnetic pick-ups with GM HEI ignition modules. One for each cylinder, each triggered by the pick-up for the corresponding cylinder and each firing it's own coil. Each has a four wire hook up. The modules are cheap, sometimes free, and very easy to get. This has been done successfully for many years. Since I can use the existing pick-ups, it should be an easy solution.
The other is to adapt a point cam to the end of the crank and a pair of points to a plate and go "old school." Easy for me to do, as I have a lathe and mill in my garage. Again, one set of points for each cylinder, and a one lobe cam. I can modify an old VW distributor shaft by machining off three of the lobes, and use VW points. It's what I have on hand.
The point conversion has appeal because of it's simplicity. But there is a bit more fab work to do. An adapter to mate the VW points cam to the end of the suzuki crank, and a custom breaker plate. Half a day's work.
The GM HEI thing is an easy way to go because it's just wiring. Probably less than an hour once the modules are in hand.
Hoosier Daddy
Earache my eye...
I would have sworn you were going to find a loose electrical connection..
