Yellow '76: Getting Some Sun

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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#166

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Same with me. I ended up switching to Zero Sugar Mt. Dew. I figure that way I can lie to myself and pretend like I'm trying to live healthier. lolol

On the Goldwing front... eh. Mixed news. I finally got the sync pretty close (not locked down, though- it was a bunch of back and forth, basically checking mixture screw settings while keeping an eye on the sync the entire time). After a bunch of going around and around, I'm starting to think I have a coil issue (don't say "I told you so"). 4 was still playing up as usual, but 3 starting doing the same.

Essentially what would happen is I could get it running decent at about 2.5k revs, but if the idle dropped much below that (or would gradually drop down as it was running) I would start dropping cylinders. Definitely 4, but like I said 3 started doing it too. I'm getting spark, but it seems pretty weak (at least compared to the spark on the front plugs, or at least best I could tell). And it seemed to get worse as the bike got hotter. Revving the bike seemed to get all 4 cylinders working again, but once it idled down, once it got low enough, dropped cylinder again.

Eh, I still got to check some stuff, but Gilmore is looking more and more unlikely.

EDIT: Double-checked the secondary resistances of the coils while they are still warm, and while they are a bit high (around 16,500 rather than the 14,250 like it says on Randakk's site), they're also fairly close to one another, and cylinders 1 and 2 behave just fine.

I find it hard to believe I have a fuel delivery issue as well. The non-working plugs are wet, so clogged idle passages seem unlikely. I'll probably double-check the coil primary connections, on the off chance they're dirty enough to cause weak spark. Gives me something to do, at least. :IDTS:
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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robin1731
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#167

Post by robin1731 »

Stock coils. Still using a ballast resistor? When it starts acting up push/hold the starter button and see if it runs any different.
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases
Randakk approved Carb Rebuilder
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#168

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Yup, still using the ballast resistor. The bike has electronic ignition (you might have put it on, actually), but the old (stock) coils still had the ballast resistor hooked up, so I just kept things the same with the "new" (more like replacement) set.

Holding the starter button did seem to clear things up a bit. I've got an old ignition tester from like the 70s (a pen-looking thing that you hold up to the plug wire that lights up if it's firing), and while I'm definitely getting spark on all 4, the back two problem ones are noticeably weaker than the front. They seem to perk up if I rev the bike, which makes sense, as she'll run on all 4 with throttle relatively nicely.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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robin1731
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#169

Post by robin1731 »

Lucien Harpress wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 2:59 pm Yup, still using the ballast resistor. The bike has electronic ignition (you might have put it on, actually), but the old (stock) coils still had the ballast resistor hooked up, so I just kept things the same with the "new" (more like replacement) set.

Holding the starter button did seem to clear things up a bit. I've got an old ignition tester from like the 70s (a pen-looking thing that you hold up to the plug wire that lights up if it's firing), and while I'm definitely getting spark on all 4, the back two problem ones are noticeably weaker than the front. They seem to perk up if I rev the bike, which makes sense, as she'll run on all 4 with throttle relatively nicely.
I had one here a few years ago that would be ok till it warmed up. Sort of by accident I found out holding the starter button "fixed" it. That bike had non-stock coils on it. I removed the ballast and it's been fine ever since.

I may have installed that ignition on yours. But I usually talk them in to coils too when I do. ;)
1976 Goldwing Super Sport
1985 Honda Elite
1976 KZ900 Dragbike
1992 ZX7 Dragbike (KZ900 style motor w/NOS)
and a rotation of various purchases
Randakk approved Carb Rebuilder
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#170

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Whelp, chock one up to "didn't double-check the obvious stuff". On a whim I popped a multimeter on the ballast resistor on the stock coils I just put in, and it checked out to 3 ohms, like it should. Later on, just for fun, I did the same to the old coils I pulled out. Imagine my surprise when THAT ballast resistor only ready something like 1.2 ohms.

A bit of google research later, and once I got through the cross-reference list of the three different versions of Dyna ignitions plus stock coils vs Dyna coils, etc., APPARENTLY certain Dyna electronic ignition systems have you replace the stock 3 ohm resistor with a lower resistance one, close to the 1.2 ohms like I had! :IDTS:

Popped in the lower ohm resistor, and while I still have to do the sync/idle drop song and dance, I DID managed to get the bike to idle on all 4 cylinders down to like 500 rpm. Which is a better baseline than I've had in a WHILE.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#171

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Well, at idle at least, the bike is as good as I can get it. She runs on all 4, and settles down to a good tick-over (relatively) quickly when it's warm. Paperwork will all be sorted to make it legal tomorrow, and I'll take the next couple days to get it some longer rides to confirm THAT stuff works well too.

If all that checks out- heck, swing by Kalamazoo this Sunday. You might be able to see it in the flesh (along with my orange CB750). Here's hoping, at least.

OOOOOPS! Spoke too soon. I've definitely got a blockage in the idle circuits of carb 4. Carbs 1-3 are definitely good. Revvings it seems to pick up all 4, but I'm only getting sporadic firings at idle. I've got compression, I've got spark, just no bang. I hate to have to pull the carbs and risk scratching paint, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
User avatar
Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#172

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Um.... I think I found my problem.

Image

Image

For whatever reason, it looks like the plug for the idle jet tower just... disintegrated. Of course this plugged the heck out of the pilot jet, so it's no wonder I wasn't getting any response at idle.

The good news is, I know what's wrong with my bike. The bad news is, this puts a MAJOR damper on getting it to Gilmore. I'm still exploring options, but I honestly don't have many left. We'll see.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
User avatar
Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#173

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Bad news: the Goldwing is definitely not making it to Gilmore. A last minute part run go me a set of good idle jet tower plugs (which the carbs definitely needed- the old ones were all going bad), and that did solve the idle problem.

But a quick run around the block to get gas made some midrange problems manifest. The bike idles good, and runs smooth when I give it the beans, but it feels like I'm dropping cylinders at a steady 3.5k rpm, and in the garage later holding the revs there in neutral got it to start popping like mad (which immediately went away when I ran it up over 5k). It definitely feels like it's leaning out, which probably means I've got blocked transition ports someplace. Regardless, I'm going to have to pull the carb rack again, and that's not going to happen today.

On top of that, I've got a fairly substantial oil leak from behind the timing plate. It's got to be the rear cam seal (which is ANNOYING, because I replaced that one when I put the engine back together), but to fix that I need the seal (which I don't have), and reset the timing (which is a pain with everything in place). So yeah. All that can wait.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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CYBORG
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#174

Post by CYBORG »

I'm sure you did, but did youj check the fuel flow
out of the filter to the pump???
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#175

Post by Lucien Harpress »

No, but I'll give it a look. If flow rate is my issue, though, it seems odd it would only affect that narrow midrange.

Regardless, it can't hurt to check.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
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CYBORG
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#176

Post by CYBORG »

I chased a problem on my 1200 that was simular. Good idle. Would even run on the hwy for a short run, but would start popping, and would only run half well at low speed. Found that the fuel filter, cleanable type, was partially pluged.
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#177

Post by Lucien Harpress »

Okay, I'll give that a look-see next time I'm in the garage. I went ahead and re-ordered a new fuel filter because I probably needed it, and I needed the cam seal anyway, so I just lumped the order together.

I did run a line off the fuel pump outflow, and while the bike ran off the residual fuel in the bowls, I checked the flow. And while there's not much I could compare the flow rate to, it seemed rather aggressive. Maybe 12-16 oz in 30 seconds? Nothing that jumped out at me as being overly anemic.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
User avatar
CYBORG
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#178

Post by CYBORG »

Was just a thought
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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Lucien Harpress
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Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#179

Post by Lucien Harpress »

It was worth checking. And I wouldn't have thought of it, so thanks. And it wouldn't be the first time this bike has had fuel delivery issues...

Weird thing was, the problems didn't show up immediately- the mile-ish ride to the gas station was fine. It's only after I filled up did it start missing. Maybe it had to warm up, maybe I knocked something loose in the carbs. I don't know.
1997 Valkyrie- Light Cutomization, but Too Busy Riding
1980 KZ1300- Bike's Haunted
1976 GL1000 (Yellow)- It Runs (Poorly) and Doesn't Leak (Mostly)
1974 Velosolex 3800- Better Than Walking
1972 CB750- Broke the Chain And Ate the Motor
1969 CT90- The Most Fun You Can Have on 90ccs.
1965 CA77 Dream- Needs a Full Teardown, but Complete

All advice I give is only valid until an expert corrects me.
User avatar
CYBORG
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Posts: 24536
Joined: Mon Jan 14, 2008 12:52 pm
Location: Muskegon mich

Re: Yellow '76 Out Of The Garage

#180

Post by CYBORG »

In my case it was the same. But when I cleaned the filter, I found it had picked up crap from the tank. Not completly plugged, just enough to slow the flow down. Fueling the tank may have stired it up. And the ride to the station ws not at hwy speed. I was plaiming The carbs all along, but could not find a problem with them.
1978 custom GL1000
1977 custom with 1200 engine
1985 gl1200
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