1100 Carb Problem 1981

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sonny4jesus":1nd0gbgb said:
Ok, today I went to wal-mart and purchased a can of sea foam and will try running that through the carbs. I have been told this will fix a lot of problems with the carbs, I hope this is true, if any of you know a reason NOT to use sea foam please let me know , I will hold off using it till I get some input.
Thanks for all the replys .

Sonny <///><
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I have used it (and I am using it right now) plus I have used ATF. Both work great. Another thing I have done to clear my carbs a little is to run down the road and wind out 2nd gear real fast up to 7K rpm and let go of the throttle suddenly letting the bike slow itself down and creating a real strong vacuum in the carbs. Clears out the carbs pretty quick for minor things and smooths them right out.
 
mcgovern61":1i0j31xd said:
sonny4jesus":1i0j31xd said:
Ok, today I went to wal-mart and purchased a can of sea foam and will try running that through the carbs. I have been told this will fix a lot of problems with the carbs, I hope this is true, if any of you know a reason NOT to use sea foam please let me know , I will hold off using it till I get some input.
Thanks for all the replys .

Sonny <///><
Click to expand...
I have used it (and I am using it right now) plus I have used ATF. Both work great. Another thing I have done to clear my carbs a little is to run down the road and wind out 2nd gear real fast up to 7K rpm and let go of the throttle suddenly letting the bike slow itself down and creating a real strong vacuum in the carbs. Clears out the carbs pretty quick for minor things and smooths them right out.
Click to expand...
Great for clearing the low speed jets.
 
Well here is an update on the carb problem. After much work on the carbs cleaning and running a can of Seafoam through the gas tank it seemed to be running well in my shop so I took it out for a run and same problem very little power unless you open it up to full and it will jump and spit and grab hold and take off but roll back to normal and it has no power like it's not getting fuel. I am going to change the fuel pump as I have a new one and see how that works.
I'll tell you this bike has been a pain from day one and get this I have an 82 runs the same way and I just picked up a 83 aspencade that does not run in the hope I may get it going but I am getting to the point I would like to sell the whole bunch and get a newer bike with fuel injection,LOL.
I was hoping to get the 83 running but the carbs on it are in real bad shape. I have had 79,80,81,86 Suzuki GS-1000 and 1150 and never had carbs problems with them like I have with the Goldwings,plus the Suzuki carbs are a thrill to work on compaired to the Goldwing carbs. I can do most repairs on the wing but the carbs seem to roll me in the dirt.
Well thats it from here , not sure what I am going to do from here with the wing , if the fuel pump does not work I guess I try to get rid of all the wings as I can not afford to pay the high price for a rebuilt set of carbs. I received the other bike trading my hunting guns off but all out of them now.
I would like to thank you all for your comments and suggestions these past weeks.
Sonny <///><
 
As i suggested earlier it might not be a carb/ fuel problem at all. It might be ignition problems. Stuck advance mechanism. Vacuum advance might have a blown diaphragm. Low voltage to the coils possibly. Might be the valves need adjustment. I've had many iffy carbs perform very well once the ignition and valves are right. Don't throw in the towel yet.
 
Thanks for the pep talk. But as I stated before the bike cranks up, idles , and pulls of the line until you get into mid range and it stumbles badly , but if you roll full gas it comes alive again and will run to full red line. It must be something in the mid range not working. I have the factory manual but it has no help with this problem , I guess this had not come up back then.
I was just hoping some one here on this web site had or has this same problem. I have to other sets of carbs that act the same way. I have gone through one set of carbs , cleaned and set but the problem is still on going. I just do not know what to try from this point. I look at the rebuild kits but they off no info .
Well thanks again for Your help and Info.
Sonny <///><
 
Your ignition system should be checked with a timing light, the stand method is a whole lot easier to see..
 
sonny4jesus":173kyerw said:
Thanks for the pep talk. But as I stated before the bike cranks up, idles , and pulls of the line until you get into mid range and it stumbles badly , but if you roll full gas it comes alive again and will run to full red line. It must be something in the mid range not working. I have the factory manual but it has no help with this problem , I guess this had not come up back then.
I was just hoping some one here on this web site had or has this same problem. I have to other sets of carbs that act the same way. I have gone through one set of carbs , cleaned and set but the problem is still on going. I just do not know what to try from this point. I look at the rebuild kits but they off no info .
Well thanks again for Your help and Info.
Sonny <///><
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It might be ignition, but it could also be the o-rings on the intake manifolds. If the o-rings are not seated right, flattened or just not sealing, you will experience a flat spot in your throttle just as you turn the grip causing a stumble. I had this with my '81 carbs as I was doing work on the engine and pulling the carbs a lot not even paying attention to the o-rings. If I was on an on-ramp to a highway in 2nd gear at about 2500 RPM and twisted the throttle the engine would stumble first, sometimes make a detonation sound and then take off like a rocket.

By accident, I was working on the exhaust system and still had hand grease on the pipes when I started up the bike. As the pipes heated up and the hand grease burned off, the smoke went up and was being sucked in at the intake manifolds! I replaced the o-rings and did not have that problem anymore! :party:
 
Wow.. that means you found it by accident, how cool was that, I'd say the spirit's are watching out for you, ha ha the good spirits :smilie_happy: this could very well be the problem if all is else is well..sure sounds like it could be..I just made a walk around video on youtube 1981 Honda Goldwing..My bike used to sound like a harley...Good luck with your bike but don't you give up on it..Mine was in poor shape but reading and learning stuff helped me alot, it's something simple, easy fix..
 
Good one Gerry, I hadn't thought of a vacuum leak but that would certainly cause all sorts of problems.

I made the dumb mistake of forgetting to tighten the intake clamps after re mounting the carbs which allowed a vacuum leak.
 
Thanks again for all the advice . The problem is still on going and it is not the ignition. or advance problem. Some one suggested sea foam so I put a can of it in a full tank of gas and went out for a ride , after some miles down the road it was a little better but still has the dead spot . now remember this bike was running great and I went to pass some cars and it started this problem I have now. I also did what one of you suggested and put some atf in the fuel and let it run for several hours with a large fan blowing to help cool the bike but still same problem so I guess I will pull the carbs. I have 3 Gl1100 bikes a 81, 82 and a 83 and all have carb problems. i have cleaned them but have problems getting the flots set , first I did not adj the flots and they ran gas all over so I tried to reset them using a clear tube so I can see the fuel level and after that the bike would start but did not run very good. I have been looking for a good set of used carbs but hard to find and when I do find a set at a junk yard they say o ya they ran great when we removed them but they want $350.00 +$25.00 shiping and not promise that they will run.
I can not find anyone around here that knows about the GL1100 carbs and most Honda shops say they were problems and they do not work on them anymore.
So I just wanted to let know whats going on.
If I can I am going to get them running and sell all 3 bikes as this is the 3rd time this has happened and each time I put a different set of carbs on and it corrects the problem till they go bad.
Well thats it , again thanks for the support and help.
Sonny <///><
 
I can suggest something if your removing the carbs again, first, I do things a little different than most to check stuff, I'd remove your cut off valves and check the passages, I use a fishing line or a small copper wire, just push it thru to confirm a clear passage ...
 
Ok , here is the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say.
After trying atf in the gas , sea foam and running the bikes for an hour or more with a fan blowing on it I removed the carbs to see waht the trouble was if I could find it.
They were not very dirty but i was going to clean them any way but I thought I would look at the slides first and guess what I found? 2 slides were stuck and could not move from the caps. I worked for some time getting them free from the caps and no amount of cleaning would free them. I got them free after tugging on them and cleaned the slides (lots of gunk) until they sparkled, but 1 cap was bad because it would let the slide stick, I kept working on it but it never would let the slide move freely, I have a set of carbs from a bike that was under water so I removed the caps from it and worked on cleaning them until I found a cap that would not trap the slide.
With clean carbs back on the bike and the caps problem fixed I took the bike out today (4/2/11) for a nice long ride (135 miles ) and she ran like a new bike.
Just want to tell you all the end of the story. I now know what to look for with the Goldwing carbs . And with this Ethanol in our gas now look for more problems. I have found out that you can find Ethanol free gas at airports and marinas.
Thanks for all the suggestions to try first but some times you just have to get your hands dirty.
Sonny <///><
 
sonny4jesus":wfizwlra said:
I have a set of carbs from a bike that was under water so I removed the caps from it <///><
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Bike under water??? these bikes are antiques not sunken treasures...We rebuild and recondition we don't preserve and stabalize under water :Egyptian: :Egyptian: :Egyptian: :smilie_happy: :smilie_happy:
 
It's no problem to have a Bike under water when a Hurricane came through an dumped 20+ in. of water. The carbs cam off a bike that was in such a problem and I am not sure but I think it had been knocked over by the wind and the biker could not get to his home or his bike for several months and he said when he returned, his bike , home and just about all he owned was distroyed.
Thats how a bike gets under water.
Sonny <///><
 

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