Triumphrat

jimmyj900 · 05-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by schilzy

Last summer I loosened the fuel cap as I was riding...thinking that it could be a vacuum issue. It didn't work. I'm wondering ...if it it's a fuel vent valve why that valve doesn't affect the performance when the shut off valve is on the reserve position?

Exactly. There's no difference in tank venting between the run and reserve settings.

Quote:

Forgive my ignorance, but the ignition pick up is that tied into staring the bike? The bike starts up fine on both the reserve and main tank settings on the shut off valve. It starts to act up after the bike is warmed up...usually about 15 to 25 minutes into the ride only on the main setting on the shut off valve.

The failure mode for the ignition pickup is that it stops working when it gets hot and usually takes 15 - 30 minutes to cool down and start working again.

If your bike is starting up instantly after switching to reserve and continues to run without further shutdowns, then it's not the ignition pickup.

It still comes back to the petcock.

Jim

Bbogie · 05-11-2008

So, will the thing run until you run out of fuel if you just leave it on reserve? I have a truck that was giving me fits with the same sort of thing. Went through all the electrical, and finally found it was the baffle in the tank that had broken loose and was crimping the fuel pump line when it slid into it. Maybe check inside the tank for something floating around that would block the main fuel tube. A piece of plastic bag or something like that could do it. A long shot, but maybe worth a look.

Bbogie · 05-11-2008

And wouldn't the vent line with the tipover valve veent the tank even if the cap was clogged? I haven't really looked at how they are vented.

cafetbird · 05-11-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bbogie

...found it was the baffle in the tank that had broken loose and was crimping the fuel pump line when it slid into it. Maybe check inside the tank for something floating around that would block the main fuel tube. A piece of plastic bag or something like that could do it. A long shot, but maybe worth a look.

Right. The petcock has two separate tubes rising up into the tank - one for normal and one for reserve. I'd drain the tank, take the petcock apart and clean it thoroughly.

schilzy · 05-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by cafetbird

Right. The petcock has two separate tubes rising up into the tank - one for normal and one for reserve. I'd drain the tank, take the petcock apart and clean it thoroughly.

...I had the tank sand blasted and resealed last summer...thought process was maybe there was debris in the tank plugging the filters attached to the petcock. It didn't solve the problem. I ordered a petcock (shut off valve?) ...I'm hoping that does the trick. Although , after inspecting the old one there seems to be nothing wrong with it...it looks like a pretty simple device. The two stems that go up into the fuel tank both have a small filter attached to them. Those filters looked fine. Anyways, I will give you an update, hopefully this week. The part is taking forever and a day to get to the dealership. Thanks again for taking the time to reply. Because of your efforts, these forums are a great resource for guys like myself who are mechanically challenged!!

schilzy · 05-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyj900

Exactly. There's no difference in tank venting between the run and reserve settings.

The failure mode for the ignition pickup is that it stops working when it gets hot and usually takes 15 - 30 minutes to cool down and start working again.

If your bike is starting up instantly after switching to reserve and continues to run without further shutdowns, then it's not the ignition pickup.

It still comes back to the petcock.

Jim

After the bike stalls on the "main position"...it starts up right away on the reserve position. It will run until out of gas on the reserve position.

jimmyj900 · 05-12-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by schilzy

...I had the tank sand blasted and resealed last summer...thought process was maybe there was debris in the tank plugging the filters attached to the petcock. It didn't solve the problem.

Had the tank previously been sealed with something like Kreem in the time you've been having the problem?

Jim

Darien · 05-14-2008

Sound to me that there could be some micro-fiber clogging going on in the petcock fuel filter.

Let me explain: I had a Yamaha Midnight Maxim that the previous owner had run gas-a-hol (the modern equivalent is E-85) in a couple of times.... The coating in the tank reacted and formed ultra-fine threads that clogged the filter. The only way I could see them is to put the entire filter/petcock into a dish of isopropyl alcohol to soak for a few minutes. I could then see the 'threads' start to fan out from the mesh of the filter.

In the end the only real fix for me was a new fuel filter petcock, though I guess I could have stripped off the mesh and put an inline filter in after the petcock. Hmmmmm that would have been cheaper....

Darien

jimmyj900 · 05-14-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Darien

...the previous owner had run gas-a-hol (the modern equivalent is E-85) in a couple of times.... The coating in the tank reacted ...

That's pretty much what I was thinking. Minnesota has oxygenated fuel in the winter months (most of the year!) and that evil witch's brew could dissolve any previous fuel tank coating into something nasty that's plugging up the fuel tap.

The epoxy coatings have turned out to be very susceptible to predation by ethanol.

It's too bad we're not bright enough to figure out that alcohol and all the boutique fuel mixtures are a scam and doing more environmental damage than normal gasoline.

Jim

cafetbird · 05-15-2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimmyj900

It's too bad we're not bright enough to figure out that alcohol and all the boutique fuel mixtures are a scam and doing more environmental damage than normal gasoline.

Jim

How's that? Alcohol burns cleaner and cooler than than gasoline, and has a higher octane rating. It is a much better fuel. Sure, there is a little less energy potential in alcohol, and it has issues with it eating fuel systems that were not designed to run on it, but that can be corrected through better engineering....