Weird Smell & Condensation?

[KuruptedOne]

I might be so vague in this explanation that it will be useless, but I will try and I appreciate any ideas you all may have.

I was riding home this morning and when I went to the twist the throttle my bike backfired. I didn't think much of it until I stopped at a stop light and I smelt a horrid smell. It was not electrical smell, or a rich fuel mixture smell. I can;t even explain it because I have never smelt it before. I got the bike home and without getting too close to burn my face which was amazing enough knowing my dumb ass I smelt around and it seems to be emanating from around the air cleaner cover, and the carburetor seems to have what I would call condensation on the top of it and it is too dry and the motor too hot to be water.

Motor is a bit hot to mess with right now and I am drained from a long nights work, but any ideas or things to look at would be greatly appreciated. I figure I will break into it when I wake up and see if I can see anything else that I can come across. Thanks for any advice ahead of time! :2thumbs:

One other thing I thought about is that the bike when you hold a steady throttle say at like 2000 to 2500 rpm's it acts like it is sputtering or cutting out a bit. Not sure if one thing has to do with another...

 

[woodbutcher]

if it backfired through the carb, it could have burned the air filter, just thinkin'. when was the last time you put gas in the tank, same station-different station? E-85 put in the wrong holding tank?

good luck

 

[Mickeetwo]

A couple of questions.......Have you recently changed out the air filter? Do you have the D&M spike air filter? Was it a cough or backfire through the carb? The miss or stumble at a steady speed around 2200 to 2500 rpms sounds like a lean condition when the intermediate jet comes in.

 

[KuruptedOne]

A couple of questions.......Have you recently changed out the air filter? Do you have the D&M spike air filter? Was it a cough or backfire through the carb? The miss or stumble at a steady speed around 2200 to 2500 rpms sounds like a lean condition when the intermediate jet comes in.

The bike has 2,000 miles on it and it has the original stock air filter on it. I believe it was a backfire through the carb. Sounded like a rifle shot when it did it.

 

[narow37]

my carb gets condensation on it that is normal because of the vacuum the engine creates and that it is sucking in a liquid. in this case gas.

 

[V]

Changed pipes? Did you re-jet? Also the note above about old or diff fuel can make a difference. I run Exxon high test but on Sat put in some no name fuel in bumf**k and the bike ran bad, would not idle and I had to reset the idle rpm screw to keep from cuttin out at stop lights. Might try draining the bowl and new fuel. But if pipes have been changed you may be runnin lean if the jets wern't changed.

Oh and I had this happen with my last Girl friend as well, a bath and a couple of shots and she is now good to go no bad smell :2thumbs: ( Sorry just had to do that )

Keep us posted.

 

[PacoPetty]

All of my weird smells come straight from me so I can't help you with this one! lol Good luck!

 

[KuruptedOne]

Changed pipes? Did you re-jet?

Not sure about the re-jetting. The original owner had the big radius put on at the Big Dog Dealer that we used to have. Would they have let him know that it needed to be re-jetted? Is there a way I can look at it to tell if it has been re-jetted? Thanks again for the help. Should be able to break into it tomorrow to take a closer look!

 

[V]

if the dealer did it they should have changed the jets. But ya never know? The stock jets on the new bike may have been
.295 intermediate and .74 main. Typically with new pipes you are in the range of .31 intermediate and .76 or .78 main. You can access the main jet thru the carb bowl drain plug. the intermediate however requires that you remove the backing palte and drop the bowl.

Ya might try just drainin th the bowl and gettin some new gas first before ya go pullin it apart, unless you're like the rest of us" if its not started get out the tools and start wrenchin"

 

[Gas Man]

Jetting is wrong is my bet.

See my how to jet your carb in the how to section... it will put ya on the straight.

 

[surferdude]

I think a skunk was hiding in the exhaust pipes ... I would stick to that story ... lol lmao :up:

 

[BadBrad]

Lot's of threads on here about the same thing you're talking about. Spitting, sputtering, coughing around 2500 rpm when transitioning between jets. I think the majority run a 76 main and 31 intermediate. I'm running a 78/33. Just like you, mine would act up around 2500 rpm and once I corrected the lean condition, no more issues with that. Good luck!

 

[KuruptedOne]

Lot's of threads on here about the same thing you're talking about. Spitting, sputtering, coughing around 2500 rpm when transitioning between jets. I think the majority run a 76 main and 31 intermediate. I'm running a 78/33. Just like you, mine would act up around 2500 rpm and once I corrected the lean condition, no more issues with that. Good luck!

Yeah, I thought the sputtering, popping, and cutting out might be the carb, but just verifying. It's the reeking smell of something burnt on the bike that worries me!!!

 

[KuruptedOne]

Just a quick question since I have never looked at anything like the dog before, but should the back of the air filter cover be black? The filter looks like it may have gotten hot, and it seems like it is a little fuel soaked. Not sure if this was the burnt smell I was smelling or not, but seems a bit rich to me...

 

[Gas Man]

stop the debate and check your jet sizes.

 

[KuruptedOne]

stop the debate and check your jet sizes.

Gas, pulled the bowl today and I have 31/78 jets. When I pulled the bowl plug the little blue o-ring was sitting in the plug before I took the bowl off. Don't know if that would create some problems or not. So what ya think?

 

[Gas Man]

You mean (sorry for not a better pic) the little blue o-ring like the seen in this pic. In the center cut out of the paper gasket

It is suppose to go on top of this nozzle, but as seen in the first pic, it often falls off when you drop the bowl.

However, if you're was already out when you pulled the bowl drain plug then that could be your problem. All of your fuel isn't getting into the ventri nor the motor. Your jet sizes sound decent.

As far as the wierd smell, where are your front and rear breathers ran? Both to the stock locations? Front to the intake and rear to the backing plate?

Front

The rear is the big black hose, however, yours would be ran to your backing plate just behind the carb.

 

[KuruptedOne]

You mean (sorry for not a better pic) the little blue o-ring like the seen in this pic. In the center cut out of the paper gasket

It is suppose to go on top of this nozzle, but as seen in the first pic, it often falls off when you drop the bowl.

However, if you're was already out when you pulled the bowl drain plug then that could be your problem. All of your fuel isn't getting into the ventri nor the motor. Your jet sizes sound decent.

Yes that one. It was sitting in the drain plug before I pulled the bowl.

As far as the wierd smell, where are your front and rear breathers ran? Both to the stock locations? Front to the intake and rear to the backing plate?

Yes, both breathers are ran to their stock locations. I am thinking that the smell came from the backfire from the carb. The air filter looked like it had been partially melted when I pulled the cover off.

I have reassembled the carb with the o-ring installed properly and the bike is running pretty bad compared to what it was before. I am thinking it might have been adjusted to run with the thing assembled wrong. I have printed out your instructions and am going to do a carb adjustment in the morning and see how that goes.

Thanks so much for your help and your how-to's! You have been invaluable in figuring this out!!! :2thumbs:

 

[Gas Man]

No problem... glad I could help.

Did you get it readjusted?

 

[KuruptedOne]

Did you get it readjusted?

Still working on it. I can't seem to get the throttle lag out of it. The bike itself is running a thousand times better now, but if I grab quite a bit of throttle it coughs at the carb and then blasts off... :bang: