B6 Won't idle

[clutch7]

Hello guys, wondering if anyone could help me, I'd appreciate any advice

Basically rode my 2K B6 for about 50 miles on a cool CA night, ran fine,

next morning it wouldn't start. I finally started it after 20 minutes with a combination of choke and throttle and pushing the starter a number of times, but it wouldn't idle, just droped and died.

I tried turning up the idle but that had no effect, and I guess at some point I turned the screw to far and the screw started turning without any resistance    I broke it :(  

I replaced the airfilter about 100 miles ago (stock). The plugs were replaced about 2K miles ago, and the ones that were there before were clean, it has a full tank of gas

so for now I can ride it but it's tricky cause I have to keep it from stalling by holding the throttle up.

Feel free to provide any suggestions and ideas,

Thank you  

[Snubnose]

Hello guys, wondering if anyone could help me, I'd appreciate any advice

I'm no expert, but it sounds like shes starving to me! she might not be getting any fuel on idle, does she run any better with the choke partially on?

[clutch7]

Thank you for a reply.

Well I thought of that too. Perhaps it's air deprivation at idle RPMs, since when I am moving RPMs seem steady and there is more air flow. I think I tried the choke to hold the RPMs from dropping and stalling out but that didn't do much. I'll try it again tomorrow, will try to take the air filter out and let her suck in more air to see what happens. As far as fuel supply I don't know how it would affect the idle since at higher RPMs it seems to rev fine.

Thank you for contributing, additional comments are welcomed




Sun bathing by Pacific

[Airmotive]

Woah there....let's not get too drastic.

Let's get one thing straight...she ran fine...no issues at all. Then the next morning she's fussy at idle. Am I reading that correctly?

Whenever something is fine, and the next morning she's not - especially on a cool night- I suspect condensation in the fuel. Aircraft are expensive enough to include a drain on the fuel tanks for just this reason (a quarter million gets you fuel drains....woohoo) Contaminated fuel can be masked at higher RPMs.

Eliminate that probelm first....then get back to more-involved possibilities.
Spark, Idle, Air, Fuel. Start with the basics (and easiest problems to eliminate/fix) then get into more complicated possibilities as required.

Nutin' but a jugsaw puzzle...one piece at a time.

[interfuse]

I tried turning up the idle but that had no effect, and I guess at some point I turned the screw to far and the screw started turning without any resistance    I broke it :(  

Are you sure you weren't turning DOWN the idle and have just unscrewed it completely? Take a a good look... not sure with your bike, but with mine you turn it towards the back wheel to increase the idle speed.

[clutch7]

Whenever something is fine, and the next morning she's not - especially on a cool night- I suspect condensation in the fuel.

Well guys thanks for additional comments.

Today I was gonna take her to the mechanic, went to the garage and tried to start her. Got a sputter, a puff of smoke, a bit of cranking and then nothing. Shut of and wouldn't start. After about 30 minutes of no start I took the gas tank of without disconnecting the hoses tilted it on the side and tried to start. She started, ran for about 30 seconds then dropped and died. Tried to start her again and started again but once again wouldn't idle, put the tank bank on and quickly got her to the mechanic.

Service manager at the shop suggested 3 possibilities before looking inside 1) Valve clearance 2) Fuel overfill 3) Pinched fuel line
As far as valve clearance I don't know whether it has been done before since I am the third owner, but he said compression test would reveal that

Mechanic seemed to lean more towards fuel overfill,  I filled up the night before this happened. He said that if u put to much gas it might seep down in to the charcoal filter (?) and saturate it, and also contaminate oil.  
Pinched fuel line is self-explanatory.
 

Are you sure you weren't turning DOWN the idle and have just unscrewed it completely?

Yes, I am an idiot for that  , but I did unscrew the idle completely eventually, but when the idle problem first started I tried turning the idle screw either way when the bike got warm and that had no effect what so ever, as soon as I would release the throttle the RPMs would drop and she'd shut of. Mechanic will take care of the idle screw.
So for now I have to way til tomorrow to see what the compression test and closer inspection will reveal.
Plugs ----------- replaced 2K miles ago
     Air Filter-------- replaced 200 miles ago
     Oil & Filter------ changed 300 miles ago
     Fuel------------- 91 Shell full tank

Thanks everyone for the help, stay tuned.

[zaphoid42]

How many miles have you personally put on the bike?

How many total miles?


When you filled the tank, did you fill it higher in level than ever before?

I dont care about what the mechanic guy said about overfille and seep down (its BS if the petcock works).  I wonder if some junk in the tank got washed into the carbs, plugged up the low speed and idle jets.

I said petcock


In your picture of the bike, the end of the handle bar angles down.  Is it loose or some after market stuff?

[Airmotive]

In your picture of the bike, the end of the handle bar angles down.  Is it loose or some after market stuff?

Mine does that too from time to time if I rest my hand on it too heavily. Just have to loosen the little hex nut inside, push it back on and retighten. Or you can just give it a push without bothering with the nut,