Triumphrat

ShikePoke · 08-27-2007

I recently tried to richen up the carbs - going from 128/38 to 135/42, as a ride at 70mph seemed to lean out a bit, and I had pop pop on decel. Already have 955 intakes/pods/wide open TORS. Seems was too rich as the plugs were fouled. Got new plugs, went back to the 128/38 setup, and it still backfires through the carb like it did when I fouled the plugs....have I done any valve damage, etc.? Or do I just need to jump on it and ride it like i stole it..? Was running like a dream before I did the jump up, now seems to backfire and miss on #1 mostly, some on #2.

Poke

Eyun_G · 08-27-2007

When I re-jetted my legend for the TOR's I had a hard time getting it right, later on I found out that the reason my plugs kept fouling, the bike would stall randomly, the tach would jump at highway speeds, and other wonderful fun....turned out that I had two coils going bad, after months of fiddling with the jet kit figuring it was something in the mixture. If your bike has the stock gill coils, that may explain the missing cylinders and fouled plugs. There's a sticky in this forum about common problems, this is one of them. It helped me out a lot. I replaced mine with nologys.

BadMouth · 08-28-2007

This doesn't help you with the backfire, but 70mph is exactly where I had problems with the pods. I never could get them to behave properly over that speed. The bike would go lean when I moved my legs away from them. Going richer helped, but decreased performance the rest of the time. I gave up on them.

Odd that a coil failure would occur when you rejetted, but I had a #1 go completely bad & #2 only working at higher rpm, so it's funny you mention those two. The theory is that those are the two closest to the engine heat, which is the cause of failure. The easiest way to check for spark is to hook up an inductive timing light to the plug wire and make sure you have a consistent pulse.

ShikePoke · 08-28-2007

I'll try the spark test, thanks. What to do if that passes? I have 15K miles on it, with original coils, should they be replaced anyway?

Poke

BadMouth · 08-28-2007

Mine went out around 20,000 miles.
I wouldn't bother with them if they are working properly.
If you have an older bike, it may even already have the PVL coils on it, which were more reliable than the Gills. The Nology coils (which I have) are just the original PVL coils with Nology stickers on them.

Do the timing light test (if you have one).
If you don't have a timing light, you can insert a spare plug in the plug wire, ground the plug, and watch for a consistent spark.
If the coils are suspect, label them with a permanent marker and then swap them around, to make sure they behave the same way (pass or fail), no matter which position they are in. That makes it certain that it's the coil and nothing else.

Before that, you may want to recheck your plug gaps, electrical connections, etc. My truck once had a miss after a tune-up. Much to my surprise, the gap on one plug was nearly closed. I don't remember dropping it, but it must have taken a good bump somewhere.

Keep us posted.

alfacliff · 08-28-2007

I dont know if it is the same as your problem, but last month when I changed my oil, my bonnie went to popping, vibrating and really running bad. I thought that I had over filled the oil and plugged the air filter, but it turned out to be one of the vacuum plugs had decided to go bad. a lot of air leak on one side.
replaced the "squirrel condom) and runs fine now.
cliff

Eyun_G · 08-28-2007

My Legend had about 5,000 miles on it when my coils went bad, like badmouth said, #1 and #2 were the culprits.

jimmyj900 · 08-28-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by BadMouth

This doesn't help you with the backfire, but 70mph is exactly where I had problems with the pods. I never could get them to behave properly over that speed. The bike would go lean when I moved my legs away from them. Going richer helped, but decreased performance the rest of the time. I gave up on them.

Vindication! It's nice to hear somebody finally say that pods are a PITA and sensitive to the wind.

Thanks!

Jim