Author Topic: Looks Like I Blew My Bat Tree  (Read 15243 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

ace.cafe

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,457
  • Karma: 1
  • World leaders in performance/racing Bullets
Reply #30 on: August 29, 2014, 03:25:18 pm
I hate to sound redundant but did you check the ignition fuse?  I've had mine randomly blow before.  I know it's not likely but might be worth taking a peek.
Could be electrical.
If the carb was working 1-2 kicks before, it should still be close now.
Or maybe water in the gas?
Home of the Fireball 535 !


boggy

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,841
  • Karma: 0
  • Karma Ultra: 7
Reply #31 on: August 29, 2014, 04:50:26 pm
I saw that you said you checked the plug... It's the only thing I can think of as every time my AVL has failed to start, it's been either the plug or my extremely sensitive kill switch.  I'd throw a fresh one in for peace of mind.
2007 AVL
2006 DRZ400SM


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,571
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #32 on: August 29, 2014, 06:43:30 pm
I hate to sound redundant but did you check the ignition fuse?  I've had mine randomly blow before.  I know it's not likely but might be worth taking a peek.

            No. It's not! a spark problem. The plug is firing. I've had it running at various times throughout this whole dialing in process.

             It just will NOT kick start. The only times I've been able to kick start it have been to kick it right after I've had it warmed up after starting it with the @#%$^%^% electric start.

             Later today if I can stand going down there again I'm going back to the #30 Pilot Jet. I've been everywhere from 1/2 turn out to two full turns out on the mixture screw with this #27.5 & trying many different starting techniques at every 1/4 turn & still NG. Maybe with the custom head work that this engine has & the 9.8:1 it just does not WANT the 27.5 pilot.

           If it reverts right back to starting well with the #30 (even at 3 turns out) then I'll know that the #27.5 was just a mistake. It's the 3 turns out with the #30 that made me want to try the smaller pilot.   
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


azcatfan

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 525
  • Karma: 0
  • 2002 Bullet ES
Reply #33 on: August 29, 2014, 10:18:49 pm
2CV, next to my bike, I like yours the most on this forum, I want to see you get it running the way you want!  You are so close, if I could lend you my leg I'd do it.

The jetting can be such a finicky thing.  For what it's worth, on my relatively stock bike with stock Micarb I'm running the 27.5.  I figure with your mods and greater demand for fuel that the 30 might be just what the bike wants.

Good luck!  :D
-2002 Bullet ES Up-Jetted with Ace Air Canister and punched HD Exhaust.

My MotoVlog Channel:  http://tinyurl.com/nnso3av


ERC

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,810
  • Karma: 0
Reply #34 on: August 29, 2014, 11:59:53 pm
You've got to remember that when you modify something, then you have to screw with it a lot sometimes to get it to where you want it.  ERC
2-57 Apaches, 2-57 Trailblazers, 60 Chief, 65 Interceptor, 2004 Bullet, 612 Bullet chopped.


DanB

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 744
  • Karma: 0
Reply #35 on: September 01, 2014, 02:57:26 am
Any luck 2CV?  How's the 30 treating you?
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
2006 AVL Electra


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,571
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #36 on: September 01, 2014, 07:00:00 pm
Any luck 2CV?  How's the 30 treating you?

            It's almost 2 o'clock here & I've just returned from (at last) a 16 mile ride. The first in many, many weeks & (at last) it was totally successful & marvelous. This engine is Sooo nice now.

             I finally solved the problem late yesterday afternoon & spent the rest of the evening (until 10PM) proving to myself that I was right in my analysis (finally). I spent the morning sorting things out, refilling the gas tank & convincing myself that I could trust it to go out among 'em on Labor Day (the traffic is otherworldly) & not leave me dead in a ditch.

              I'm not going to write the saga now because it will kill my neck & I've got to eat something. The English muffin at 6:30 didn't last long. All I'll say for now is it was NOT a jetting problem nor was it an electrical problem.

              And thanks for the support throughout this whole nightmare trouble-shooting process.
« Last Edit: September 01, 2014, 07:02:47 pm by tooseevee »
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


Adrian II

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,120
  • Karma: 1
  • Sharing my ignorance with anyone who needs it
Reply #37 on: September 01, 2014, 08:19:49 pm
The news we all wanted to hear, congratulations for Getting It Fixed!  8)

Look forward to the saga when you're good and ready to tell.

Regards,

A.
Grumpy Brit still seeking 500 AVL Bullet perfection! Will let you know if I get anywhere near...


ace.cafe

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 14,457
  • Karma: 1
  • World leaders in performance/racing Bullets
Reply #38 on: September 01, 2014, 08:21:13 pm
I love it when a plan comes together!
Glad it's sorted!
 ;D
Home of the Fireball 535 !


DanB

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 744
  • Karma: 0
Reply #39 on: September 02, 2014, 01:02:25 am
Excellent news!  Nice work and enjoy the ride.
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
2006 AVL Electra


High On Octane

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,075
  • Karma: 0
Reply #40 on: September 02, 2014, 01:48:57 am
Awesome 2CV!  Glad you got it running again!   :D
2001 Harley Davidson Road King


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,571
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #41 on: September 02, 2014, 02:15:31 am
                        I'm not going to write the saga now because it will kill my neck

               But now here goes nothing.

               First to recap: ACE had my head all winter - totally reshaped combustion chamber, vastly improved flow numbers, supersized Kibblewhite valves, beehive springs, ceramic coatings, 9.8:1 compression (from the reshaping, not from any piston work), aluminum intake manifold.

                While the head was away I bought a Mikuni TM 32 flat slide. Totally new to me. I took it apart at least three times & learned what I could.  Devilish spring. Ordered jets from Jets-R-Us. Ordered a throttle cable.

                 So - got it all together & started on the 2nd kick & the initial ride seemed to point to this being all marvelous. Well, no.

                  From then on it became a stubborn, erratic kick starter. I never could trust if it was going to start or not start & I started on an endless round of beginning at a turn or turn & a half out (with a #30 Pilot) & trying three or four start techniques at each quarter turn out & waiting at least a 1/2 hour or hour between tries. Noticed it would start more often in the morning (that's a hint).

             So then I thought it was a dead battree. Got a new one. It started after sitting another few days (another hint).

             So I replaced the #30 with a #27.5 - thought that might be it. Went through the whole incremental turning out of the mixture screw nightmare again. Nothing. Still unreliable starter. Went back to the #30.

              So finally my lizard brain sez "Something else has GOTTA be amiss here. I am shovelling shit against the tide & killing myself".

               Now to back up a little again. I have always been intrigued by the fact that the fuel line never looks like it has any fuel in it. So I look & see YES there is NO fuel showing just above the float bowl inlet so I sez "Let's dig into this a little".

                So I shut the petcock off, pull the hose off the carb, turn the petcock on - nothing. Barely a dribble. Shift to Reserve. Nothing. So I huff & puff into the tube & I can barely make a bubble into the tank.

                I drain the tank. Pull the petcock. No rust on the long tank filter. Go to the bench, remove the cheezy plastic filter bowl & filter, blow through it - wide open. I put the filter back in & the bowl back on, blow & I can't blow through it! What???

                  I take the tiny filter out, put the bowl back on & Wallah (I know) I can blow through it like it was a toilet paper tube. Don't ask me why. I don't know!

                  Long story short (or is it too late?) I reinstalled the petcock with no filter. Put a gallon of gas in & it started instantly. And it started instantly a 1/2 hour later & an hour later. I checked the plug a couple times during this "I don't believe this" phase & ended up at 3 full turns out (2 gave me a black plug) on the mixture with the #30 Pilot.

             Don't ask me to explain why that little filter was restricting flow, but it WAS. Empirical evidence has proven it to me, but I still don't understand it. Why it was starting more often in the morning is that the bloody float bowl was filling up overnight from the anemic dribble & that's why on the 2nd or 3rd time that I managed to get it running it would die all of a sudden just like I had shut the key off.   

              When I returned from the ride today I had a nice light chocolate brown plug. Not totally accurate, I know, but I'm happy for now.

              I AM going to try the #27.5 Pilot again now that I know it will start & run reliably. I think 3 full turns out just begs me to try the #27.5

              That's my story & I'm stickin' tuit. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to .... modify :) ;)

                       
« Last Edit: September 02, 2014, 02:29:46 am by tooseevee »
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


DanB

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 744
  • Karma: 0
Reply #42 on: September 02, 2014, 04:11:56 am
Quote
I take the tiny filter out, put the bowl back on & Wallah (I know) I can blow through it like it was a toilet paper tube. Don't ask me why. I don't know!

I wonder if the ethanol in the gas leads to the demise of that stupid plastic filter???  Glad you got it sorted! [Note to self - check stupid plastic filter in petcock]...
Suppose I were an idiot, and suppose I were a member of Congress; but I repeat myself. ... Mark Twain
2006 AVL Electra


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,571
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #43 on: September 02, 2014, 12:47:18 pm
I wonder if the ethanol in the gas leads to the demise of that stupid plastic filter???  Glad you got it sorted! [Note to self - check stupid plastic filter in petcock]...

            The only argument against that is that the long filter inside the tank is just a longer version of the tiny one in the bowl & the long one offers no restriction at all to fuel flow.
             
           I admit I'm stumped, but I proved it out to myself that that was my whole problem. It was not the carb. It was not jetting. It was not intake leaks. It was not electrical.

           Perhaps it's something to do with the interior configuration of the petcock/bowl/filter, but then why did I not have this problem prior to the head work & the carburetor change? I can't explain it ....

            PS: I did also look at the filter bowl gasket closely & it showed no sign of distortion. I thought maybe it might be "squeezing over" & closing off an aperture, but no, I don't think so because if that was true it would also do it with the filter NOT in.

   
« Last Edit: September 02, 2014, 12:50:59 pm by tooseevee »
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,571
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #44 on: September 04, 2014, 07:56:04 pm
          Just an update on the "leaving the petcock filter out to get better fuel flow" sitcheeashun.

           Last night I thought of a little filter that I picked up somewhere back in the Dark Ages so I went down & found it in the spider webs this morning. The In & Out were a perfect, very tight fit for the fuel hose size I'm using. No clamps needed. The In & Out are adjustable a full 360 degrees. The filter mesh seems to be brass or bronze. 
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.