Oldfeller--FSO
Serious Thumper ModSquad
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Hobby is now "concentrated neuropany"
Posts: 12673
Fayetteville, NC
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Old carbs do get cranky. It is a fact.
I had an XV535 a year or so back that would start and run like clockwork, provided you rode it at least once a week.
My theory was that the gas evaporated in the bowls, causing "bad gas" syndrome and the resulting symptoms when you tried to start it were about like flooding.
(the bike didn't fire the bad gas, the bad gas vapor mist accumulated in the cylinders and fuel fouled out the plugs)
My solution was a can of ether "quick starting fluid" and a small hole in the intake manifold that was plugged up normally with a small cork.
If it had been a while since I had ridden it, I'd shoot some either into the hole, pop the cork back in and fire it up with no choke and no great amount of throttle. The bike would crank over on the ether and fire up, then it would take some coaxing with the throttle (no choke) to stay running until the bowls got themselves regulated again with good gas.
Yeah, sounds kinda jack leg, right? Compare the time to pop the cork, squirt a blast of ether into the hole, put the cork back and crank her on up to TEARING THE CARBS APART OR FIGHTING IT FOR 2-3 HOURS TO GET IT TO JUST FIRE UP AND RUN FOR THE FIRST TIME WITHOUT DYING OUT AND "FLOODING" AGAIN.
No contest in my eyes, that there quick starting fluid stuff exists for a reason, so you can use it when you need to use it. Just remember, the engine will crank up fine off the ether alone, you don't need choke and you don't need any more throttle than will still keep it running when the ether mist runs out. (not much throttle)
And yes, you could fix the multiple old carbs right, if you had unlimited money and time and spare parts, but on the 20 year old Yammie the spare parts had been dropped ten years ago by Yamaha so that wasn't even a possibility. A careful disassembly and cleaning and bowl level adjustment was all that was in the cards for that particular old "V" twin engine and its dual carb set up.
Many of our younger riders with cranky starting bikes might pay attention to this little trick. Eventually you will figure out what is really wrong and fix it, but until then this little trick can keep you going with a minimum of hassles.
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