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I did get Goldmember Jr out for a test and it went well and ran great.

On the second ride I started to lose power and I could see that the fuel pump was sucking air. I love clear fuel line!

Fortunately, I had a full tank of gas and was getting enough gravity feed to make it back home. I ordered a K&N electric fuel pump that I'm waiting on now. I always intended on doing that to my 1976, but never did.

Hopefully I'll get her back on the road early next week.

The biggest single reason to never run clear gas lines is so you do not get distracted by air bubbles. Some have chased them for Months and months only to find their issue was something completely different. Air bubbles in the gas lines are completely normal.

Not when air bubbles are all you see

Here's a lesson I learned about "running out of gas".
Trike's engine would run very well until I needed to flip the fuel valve to reserve to keep the engine running. Soon afterwards the engine quits running.
Even though I was seeing gasoline through the filler neck no matter how long I cranked the engine it wouldn't restart and run.
Eventually discovered the rubber valve disc inside the fueĺ petcock assy. had deterìorated and no longer separated the main and reserve fuel supply circuits.
The fuel pump was then trying to pull air through the main fuel supply pickup which now was standing above the remaining fuel level in the fuel tank.
There was no witness of external fuel leakage on the outside of the petcock to alert me to the problem within.
Removed the rubber crumbs inside the petcock, replaced the valve disc and all was well again.

Well it turned out to be a couple issues. I only have about 40 miles and an hour of idle time on the bike since getting her running after who knows how long.

The fuel pump was pumping nearly all air when it happened in the middle of the ride a few days ago. I assumed that was it, and it was but not all.

I replaced the fuel filter and there was some debris in there. The tank was pretty rusted when I got it and I did the power washing and vinegar to clean it out. That worked well, but you’ll never get it all out no matter how long you flush it. There wasn’t much in the filter, but I’ll keep an eye on it. It only takes a small piece to get past the filter to cause problems.

I got about 3/16 to 1/4 turn on all the fuel pump screws. I didn’t really think that would do much but it did stop pulling air and just pumping bubbles. There are still a couple small bubbles in the lines, but nothing like when I had the issue with losing power.

Did a test ride and it started out good, but soon lost power again. No air in the lines, but it was running on half power. I thought I dropped a set of points or a coil, but when I sprayed some water on the exhaust 1 & 3 were hot and 2 & 4 were cold

If it’s is electrical and 2 of the 4 cylinders it would most likely be 1 & 4 or 2 & 3, but not the left bank (2 & 4). So I ruled out points, condensers or coils. Check spark and all 4 had good spark, but the left bank wasn’t getting hardly any fuel.

Pretty sure it was the fuel passenger in the intake plenum. I blew some compressed are into the fuel inlet and then it fired right up and ran good on all cylinders. Did a test ride and so far so good.

Bad part is that whatever was blocking the fuel passage is now in the bowl of one (or both) of the left carbs, just waiting to plug a jet I’m sure it will happen at the most convenient time

I wasn’t planning on getting the bike on the ride yet, just making sure everything worked and figuring out what needed attention, but it all went together so easy I got a little cocky

So I’m going to call this Gold Member the 3rd, or GM III for short.

Since Gold Member Jr went back together so easy I think I might ride that for the summer and start another project. I bought a parts bike when I bought this 1977. It worked out well, used the carbs, gas tank, fuel pump, left side switch assembly, shocks, etc. but there is nearly a whole bike left.

This was the parts bike (another 1977, same color) when I started.
And this is what it looks like today.

I went to the shop this morning to inventory what I have and see if it’s worth building another one. I’ll definitely need more parts and effort than the last one but I think it’s worth while.

The main bike came with 2 sets of carbs, all disassembled in a box.
One set is from a 1978 GL1000 and the other from a 1976 with a carb code of 758A. That’s the one I’ll want to use.

I loosely put that set together to make sure I wasn’t missing anything too significant. I think this will be a good start.
One of the bodies is bad though,
And all of the caps that I have are bad

The gas tank on the bike I’m riding now had been kreemed, stripped and then POR 15. I’m not sure how that will be, but the pickup lines are clear and it look clean other than some pooling near the drain plug.

The lot of parts / bikes came with a separate titled frame that I’m going to use for GM III.

The motor has no compression and the fork tubes are rusted. It only had 24K according to the Speedo, but who knows.

I’ll keep an eye out for a GL1100 motor and rear differential and maybe some inverted forks / brakes.

sos wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:06 pm The lot of parts / bikes came with a separate titled frame that I’m going to use for GM III.

The motor has no compression and the fork tubes are rusted. It only had 24K according to the Speedo, but who knows.

I’ll keep an eye out for a GL1100 motor and rear differential and maybe some inverted forks / brakes.

PM sent.

Since I was fooling with spare carbs I thought it would be a good time for the off-idle pilot air jet mod.

I ended up with a .0385” / .039” drill bit that puts me at about 100 jet size. Not exactly the #98 that Randakk calls for but as close as my micro-drills would allow.

Worked pretty well. I’m running #40 pilots so it can probably handle a bit more air than the stock #35 pilots would anyway.

robin1731 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:15 pm

sos wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:06 pm The lot of parts / bikes came with a separate titled frame that I’m going to use for GM III.

The motor has no compression and the fork tubes are rusted. It only had 24K according to the Speedo, but who knows.

I’ll keep an eye out for a GL1100 motor and rear differential and maybe some inverted forks / brakes.

PM sent.

Tried to send a response but looks like it’s stuck in the outbox.

I’d be interested

sos wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 5:17 pm

robin1731 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:15 pm

sos wrote: ↑Sun Apr 17, 2022 3:06 pm The lot of parts / bikes came with a separate titled frame that I’m going to use for GM III.

The motor has no compression and the fork tubes are rusted. It only had 24K according to the Speedo, but who knows.

I’ll keep an eye out for a GL1100 motor and rear differential and maybe some inverted forks / brakes.

PM sent.

Tried to send a response but looks like it’s stuck in the outbox.

I’d be interested

They stay in the outbox until opened by the addressee.

Ah I C

[quote}
Since I was fooling with spare carbs I thought it would be a good time for the off-idle pilot air jet mod.

I ended up with a .0385” / .039” drill bit that puts me at about 100 jet size. Not exactly the #98 that Randakk calls for but as close as my micro-drills would allow.

Worked pretty well. I’m running #40 pilots so it can probably handle a bit more air than the stock #35 pilots would anyway.
[/quote]

#98 jets available here. I have just put them onto my 76 along with 38 idle jets. Not run it yet due to all the electrics rebuild still ongoing.
https://www.catalyst-findit.co.uk/index ... k10fvsbcra