Engine issue?
- Thread starter lee
- Start date
lee
Well-Known Member
thank you Sul - I do all of that with the plugs - I had a quick look at one last night and it seemed in good shaped regards the colouring.
When I check for spark on one plug, what do I do with the other one? If I leave in the bike will start on one cylinder, correct? Is that the way to do it?
When I check for spark on one plug, what do I do with the other one? If I leave in the bike will start on one cylinder, correct? Is that the way to do it?
lee
Well-Known Member
I had a look tonight - I checked for spark and there was a nice blue spark on each plug - I did open up the gap a touch to 0.040 on each one although I do not have a wire type gauge so not sure on the accuracy. I also put my finger in a small crack (thanks Sul!
) and the comp releases felt good and tight. I took the air cleaner off and there was some whiteish gunge in there, which appeared to be coming from the rear head breather hose. I removed the fuel filter from the carb and checked to see if the inter jet was clear and it was. I did notice a small bit of the gasket between the two halves of the carb is missing - nothing major though. I'm getting fuel fine. I got the bike running and it wasn't holding idle very well at all - the slightest adjustment to the mixture screw and the engine would cut out. I took the bike for a blast and when I opened it up I almost fucked off the back so it is running strong - the symptoms I had last night seemed to have gone but I thought I could here a ticking / knocking noise when getting on the gas - it may just be me though because now I am listening out for something. Maybe it is simply the ignition adjusting itself as jwoolf says but I wouldn't expect it to get worse before it gets better. I might try to get a decent recording of the sound for Sul's freakish hearing ability to see if he can pick anything out. I started the bike before putting the air cleaner back on and it spat some liquid (only a very small amount) through the breather hose from the rear cylinder - could this be a bit of blow by? I was expecting blow by to be black though? Maybe it is a bit of WD40 that got in somewhere when I was checking for an intake leak.
I got the day off tomorrow so will go for a good run and see how it goes. Thanks for all your suggestions fellas - I'd be lost without you all. Actually, I'm a bit lost anyway so without you lot I'd be well and truly fucked!
) and the comp releases felt good and tight. I took the air cleaner off and there was some whiteish gunge in there, which appeared to be coming from the rear head breather hose. I removed the fuel filter from the carb and checked to see if the inter jet was clear and it was. I did notice a small bit of the gasket between the two halves of the carb is missing - nothing major though. I'm getting fuel fine. I got the bike running and it wasn't holding idle very well at all - the slightest adjustment to the mixture screw and the engine would cut out. I took the bike for a blast and when I opened it up I almost fucked off the back so it is running strong - the symptoms I had last night seemed to have gone but I thought I could here a ticking / knocking noise when getting on the gas - it may just be me though because now I am listening out for something. Maybe it is simply the ignition adjusting itself as jwoolf says but I wouldn't expect it to get worse before it gets better. I might try to get a decent recording of the sound for Sul's freakish hearing ability to see if he can pick anything out. I started the bike before putting the air cleaner back on and it spat some liquid (only a very small amount) through the breather hose from the rear cylinder - could this be a bit of blow by? I was expecting blow by to be black though? Maybe it is a bit of WD40 that got in somewhere when I was checking for an intake leak.I got the day off tomorrow so will go for a good run and see how it goes. Thanks for all your suggestions fellas - I'd be lost without you all. Actually, I'm a bit lost anyway so without you lot I'd be well and truly fucked!
hoat
Well-Known Member
txchopperguy
Well-Known Member
Lee...
The good news is, if you do really have something wrong with the bike, it will not go away...at least not permanently. It will come back and get worse and get worse until eventually you figure out what it is. If this does not happen, then there was nothing really wrong to begin with. Sometimes I catch myself doing the "wow what was that" or "that didnt sound right" until I am not enjoying the ride anymore. Perhaps your ignition is still programming itself, perhaps you got some bad fuel. I do hope that whatever it is, if it is anything, that it isn't serious, and you get back to having fun on your dog soon!
The good news is, if you do really have something wrong with the bike, it will not go away...at least not permanently. It will come back and get worse and get worse until eventually you figure out what it is. If this does not happen, then there was nothing really wrong to begin with. Sometimes I catch myself doing the "wow what was that" or "that didnt sound right" until I am not enjoying the ride anymore. Perhaps your ignition is still programming itself, perhaps you got some bad fuel. I do hope that whatever it is, if it is anything, that it isn't serious, and you get back to having fun on your dog soon!
HDLARRY
Active Member
Having installed the IST ignition a little while back on my 05 Bulldog I can say that it consistently improved from the first start of the engine. Never got worse at any time. My understanding is that it can take up to 500 miles to totally self tune the timing curve.
If you can't find anything obvious by going through the steps that you currently are. My bet is on a bad sensors (MAP, Knock, Temp) or connection to it. You will need some way to read the IST codes which will point directly to the problem if it relates to ignition. These codes are stored even if they are intermittent.
If you can't find anything obvious by going through the steps that you currently are. My bet is on a bad sensors (MAP, Knock, Temp) or connection to it. You will need some way to read the IST codes which will point directly to the problem if it relates to ignition. These codes are stored even if they are intermittent.
lee
Well-Known Member
did 150 miles today - bike ran great - none of the symptoms referred to earlier - the only thing I got now is a lot of popping out the exhaust and I haven't has this on these pipes previously - it started when zipping off the gas to change gear and this more and more noticeable - as the ride went on it started to creep in on decel - odd - any suggestions?? can changing the ignition system cause mixture issues?? it was also quite warm today for the first time.
HDLARRY
Active Member
Lee,
The main reason for popping during decel is not enough back pressure in your exhaust. Do you have a short exhaust with little or no baffeling?
Personally, if I knew that the air/fuel ratio was ok (jetting is good) and had been verified with an analyzer, I wouldn't worry about it. Most people will tune it out by changing there jetting and/or timing but in reality they are detuning there bike and sacrificing performance to get rid of the popping.
Have you ever been to oval track car race where the cars use short little exhaust pipes on each cylinder. These are highly tuned cars and pop like crazy on decel.
lee
Well-Known Member
thanks for the post Larry - interesting points made - I have the Strretwalker RPJeez 2 into one - it doesn't have baffles and Terry Lee at Streetwalker told me it doesn't need them because of the race style merge - the popping doesn't really bother me and I had it on my last set of pipes, I've just never had it with these pipes before - perhaps from what you are saying the bike is now better tuned because of the IST. There are no obvious signs that the jetting is out but I will take a look at my plugs today.
lee
Well-Known Member
well it looks like I've found the problem causing the popping - went to check for an exhaust leak today and found that one of the nuts bolting the exhaust to the rear head was gone! the flange just rattling about loosely. Couldn't test ride because the heavens opened in a big way.
reloaderbmg
OLD DOG
LEE. if you ever want to check for an intake leak, just spray "brake clean" in to that area while engine is running! do it from the carb. side so you don,t load up the air filter & give it a false reading!
if the engine is running lean from an air leak you will get an rpm. increase!!!
donot use this to find exhaust leaks:roll: :roll: :roll: :roll: :roll:
HDLARRY
Active Member
Lee, glad you found the leak. Basicly it was a low back pressure problem and should be much better now.
I've got a new exhaust on order that will have less restriction (LSR 2-1). More than likely I'll end up with a little more popping than I currently have but I'll trade that for performance anytime.