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Post by tk1 on Mar 18, 2014 14:50:47 GMT -6
Hey Guys, I'm new to bikes and only had this '85 454 a few weeks. I have the bike running now. It starts right up and will idle pretty well. It seems to do well through about 1/4 throttle 1 and 2nd gear, but when I shift to third gear and get past the 1/4 throttle point, it seems to bog down and does not have any power. I can only get to about 35-40 mph. I put some Seafoam in the carb bowls and let it sit overnight. It seems to have helped some with idle, and low RPM, but didn't help the mid-range RPM. I don't have a working tach, but mid-range is where I have the issue. Not sure about higher RPMs because I've never gotten there. Any help would be appreciated.
I've read all the info about the valve adjustment and hope to do that soon (seems a little overwhelming and may have a shop do this), but was hoping to get it running well enough to ride it some. I need to ride just to get the practice being new to riding!
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Post by tk1 on Mar 18, 2014 14:53:28 GMT -6
By the way, I have a stock airbox and air filters. I believe all my vacuum lines are OK. The boots from my airbox to my carbs are not great, but seems to be sealed around the carb intake pretty well. Thanks.
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Post by Blaine on Mar 18, 2014 15:21:04 GMT -6
By the way, I have a stock airbox and air filters. I believe all my vacuum lines are OK. The boots from my airbox to my carbs are not great, but seems to be sealed around the carb intake pretty well. Thanks. You can check for a vacuum leak by spraying WD-40 around the boots when the bike is running,if the idle increases you have a leak.You need to adjust the valves first.Any adjustments you make are useless if the valves are not in spec.   |
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Post by zekkfett on Mar 18, 2014 22:10:03 GMT -6
+1 to the valves. It will make a HUGE improvement to the way the bike runs.
Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using the ProBoards Mobile App
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Post by mikestorm78 on Mar 18, 2014 22:30:28 GMT -6
+1 to the valves. It will make a HUGE improvement to the way the bike runs. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S3 using the ProBoards Mobile App Agreed. I just did mine last weekend and all the exhaust valves were way out of spec. While it was a bit daunting at first, it made a huge improvement in her performance. Sent from my One using proboards |
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Post by tk1 on Mar 21, 2014 20:35:40 GMT -6
Guys, hope to get a little more advice... First off, I have a motorcycle mechanic friend helping me with a valve adjustment next week. I have been working on the carb issues this week. After reading many posts on this site, I felt like I was running lean, so I tried shimming the needle valve, to add more fuel, but didn't seem to help. So I thought maybe I need to restrict some air flow. I have the stock air box and air filters, but don't have the rear pods which attach behind the air filters. So tonight I clamped a sock over my air filter, went out for a ride, and wow, it ran great! I had power all through the mid range, ran up to 70 and had plenty left. It felt great.
So my question, is it possible that not having the rear pod on the back of the airbox filters would make it run so bad in the mid range throttle, run lean? If so, I'll find some and buy them, as I don't want to have socks on there long term. |
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Post by mikestorm78 on Mar 21, 2014 21:52:42 GMT -6
I realized today I'm having a similar problem once I'm in 3rd gear and above. My bike does not have the covers which go over the air filters on the airbox and I've noticed, according to the fiches and the shop manual I have, the filters are installed backwards; pointing out towards the back of the bike.
I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to restrict the airflow, since that seems to be the overall problem?
Sent from my One using proboards
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Post by zekkfett on Mar 21, 2014 22:18:38 GMT -6
I've noticed, according to the fiches and the shop manual I have, the filters are installed backwards; pointing out towards the back of the bike. I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to restrict the airflow, since that seems to be the overall problem? Sent from my One using proboards The filters actually mount with the rounded end of the filter pointing toward the FRONT of the bike. If you can't find/can't afford the airbox pieces, your best bet would probably be PODS. |
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Post by mikestorm78 on Mar 22, 2014 11:23:01 GMT -6
The filters actually mount with the rounded end of the filter pointing toward the FRONT of the bike. If you can't find/can't afford the airbox pieces, your best bet would probably be PODS. I was afraid of that. Not like I wasn't planning on doing it anyway, but looks like the timetable for that project will get pushed up. Sorry for hijacking the thread and thanks for the input! Sent from my One using proboards |
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Post by carpaltunnel on Mar 22, 2014 20:55:14 GMT -6
I've pretty well got all these same issues on my pods, the bogging in mid-range and such. Once I get over I have power as I've jumped my main jet to 135. Low end seems fine after I raised my floats to 15mm. Shimmed the needles with two 3mm washers each - anyone have experience needing more? Because I feel like I'll need 'em. I also found that restricting my airflow by covering 3/4 of my pods with latex gloves helped my mid-range performance a bit. So making something permanent is in the brainstorming phase.
And, of course, a valve adjustment is on the schedule just as soon as it's not 30 degrees (nice spring weather) outside. The is the only reason I also wish I didn't have a liquid cooled bike - I'm so tired of draining it just for this.
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Post by Blaine on Mar 22, 2014 21:22:02 GMT -6
I've pretty well got all these same issues on my pods, the bogging in mid-range and such. Once I get over I have power as I've jumped my main jet to 135. Low end seems fine after I raised my floats to 15mm. Shimmed the needles with two 3mm washers each - anyone have experience needing more? Because I feel like I'll need 'em. I also found that restricting my airflow by covering 3/4 of my pods with latex gloves helped my mid-range performance a bit. So making something permanent is in the brainstorming phase. And, of course, a valve adjustment is on the schedule just as soon as it's not 30 degrees (nice spring weather) outside. The is the only reason I also wish I didn't have a liquid cooled bike - I'm so tired of draining it just for this. I cut 3 coils out of the diaphram spring & no more mid range bog.Less spring pressure.slide will lift quicker & you get better throttle response also. |
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Post by carpaltunnel on Mar 22, 2014 22:40:49 GMT -6
I believe I cut out two a while back. Perhaps I'll try for that one more....it might make all the difference? o.O
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Post by Blaine on Mar 23, 2014 6:02:34 GMT -6
I believe I cut out two a while back. Perhaps I'll try for that one more....it might make all the difference? o.O Just be careful to leave enough for a little pressure on the slide.Needs very little. |
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Post by mikestorm78 on Mar 24, 2014 12:33:24 GMT -6
The filters actually mount with the rounded end of the filter pointing toward the FRONT of the bike. If you can't find/can't afford the airbox pieces, your best bet would probably be PODS. So after cleaning my carbs, I mounted the air filters properly and fabricated a cover for them out of some spare 1/4" cork board I had. Cut some slits to restrict the air flow a bit, and holy cow. Not sure if it was cleaning the carbs, the air filter mod I did, or a combination of the two, but she's a brand new machine. No more bogging in higher gears at higher rpm's. Sent from my One using proboards |
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Post by Blaine on Mar 24, 2014 15:56:38 GMT -6
The filters actually mount with the rounded end of the filter pointing toward the FRONT of the bike. If you can't find/can't afford the airbox pieces, your best bet would probably be PODS. So after cleaning my carbs, I mounted the air filters properly and fabricated a cover for them out of some spare 1/4" cork board I had. Cut some slits to restrict the air flow a bit, and holy cow. Not sure if it was cleaning the carbs, the air filter mod I did, or a combination of the two, but she's a brand new machine. No more bogging in higher gears at higher rpm's. Sent from my One using proboards Most likely installing the filters properly did the trick.These engines won't run right with the filters not in place! |
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Post by tk1 on Apr 1, 2014 14:32:19 GMT -6
So Mike...any chance you could send me a picture of the cover you fabricated for the back of the airfilter and tell me what size "slits" you made in the cork board? I think I would like to use a similar solution to correct my airflow issues. Thought if you could send me a picture and the size of the slits, I wouldn't have to "reinvent the wheel"...Thanks! The filters actually mount with the rounded end of the filter pointing toward the FRONT of the bike. If you can't find/can't afford the airbox pieces, your best bet would probably be PODS. So after cleaning my carbs, I mounted the air filters properly and fabricated a cover for them out of some spare 1/4" cork board I had. Cut some slits to restrict the air flow a bit, and holy cow. Not sure if it was cleaning the carbs, the air filter mod I did, or a combination of the two, but she's a brand new machine. No more bogging in higher gears at higher rpm's. Sent from my One using proboards |
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Post by carpaltunnel on Apr 1, 2014 17:23:32 GMT -6
Okay, so I cut out another 1-1/2 coils out of the spring but it doesn't seemed to have changed anything. I tried just the spring without shims and I seemed to lose low-end power but gained jumping power in the mid-range. The poor thing is trying hard and then suddenly catches and I take off. It also sounds like I'm backfiring in to the air filters and have noticed a fair amount of gas buildup when I take them off.
At this point I don't know for sure how much of my springs I've removed but I'm happy to get an unpressured-length measurement if anyone else can compare mine with theirs. Hrrmm.
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Post by mikestorm78 on Apr 2, 2014 11:49:05 GMT -6
So Mike...any chance you could send me a picture of the cover you fabricated for the back of the airfilter and tell me what size "slits" you made in the cork board? I think I would like to use a similar solution to correct my airflow issues. Thought if you could send me a picture and the size of the slits, I wouldn't have to "reinvent the wheel"...Thanks! No problem. Got your PM. Sent you a reply. I'll get some pictures to you later this afternoon. |
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Post by mikestorm78 on Apr 3, 2014 11:57:52 GMT -6
So after cleaning my carbs, I mounted the air filters properly and fabricated a cover for them out of some spare 1/4" cork board I had. Cut some slits to restrict the air flow a bit, and holy cow. Just for reference and since I've had a couple of people ask for the cover I fabricated, here's a picture of the end result. The wire used to hold the cover in was fabricated from an old wire coat hanger. The openings were made using a dremel and the cover itself was traced from the filter, cut slightly large, then shaved down to give a very tight fit. The wire holder may not even be necessary, but I would rather be safe than sorry.  |
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Post by buttarz on Apr 22, 2014 20:25:17 GMT -6
I recognize the dota symbol PS if anyone wants the boots behind the filters I have a couple laying about.. Put in pod filters myself after reading a bit here on the forum |
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