[Gilles]

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:?Just had to try the new forum so I'll ask the following question. It seems carburators are indeed my downfall. What would cause the bike to run very shitty at low rpms with no power when taking off. Almost feels like it is starving but it could be flooding. Once I am doing 100khr and over 3000rpm it goes like stink and has lots of power. I have done all I can think of to the carbs...new kits etc...Floats set. Timing has been checked rechecked and checked again. Coils have been changed and rechanged as the condenser and the points. There is very little backfire and hardly any popping upon decelleration.All this with a set of 1000 carbs.

Question #2. With a set of 1100 carbs, it idles really good, starts right up but floods like heck as soon as I give it throttle as evidenced by the plugs. Would a stuck or sticky needle and seat (float valve) cause this? When I turn the carbs upside down after setting the floats, two of the floats sit quite a bit lower in the body. I suspect those two valves are sticky.

That is enough for now and thanks for any advice.

 

[Skooter]

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Re the 1100 carbs, the floats should drop freely without any sticking at all so this may be a problem on your bike. I'm not familiar with the characteristics of the 1000 Goldwing but it does really sound like carb trouble. On loads of occasions I have spent countless hours overhauling carbs (all new insides etc) only to fing the particular bike still running like a pig. There comes a point when a carburrettor body just wears out (the inner chambers etc just wear out) an the flow of fuel doesn't go the way it should, no matter what bits you replace.

 

[Jason]

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Paul has some good points. If a carb body wears out you can get some major problems. One is air leaks at the spindles etc and another more common one is that the petrol doesn't vaporise properly when being squirted into the throat. If it just pours in it can't mix propely with the air.

 

[Gilles]

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Jason, is there a way that I could tell if this is the situation? I have two other partial sets of 1100 carbs that I could build up providing that I can interchange the tops from one carb to another. I could switch over all the jets and stuff. None of these have actually been seperated from the plenum. Oh, the joys of older bikes!!! One place I did not clean is under thebright metalpucks. I was not able to remove them without damaging them.

 

[J M Wolfe]

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I can address the lean running symptoms to some extent:

Having rebuilt the carbs on my 81 GL1100 and putting them on and taking them off 5 times before getting it right I discovered that - in addition to everything else - it is imperative that the pilot jets and circuits be completely clean or you will experience the problems you describe here - poor performance at low speeds etc..

Unfortunately, this can be tricky as the pilot jets do not easily com out of the carb body - the tube next to the main jet. It took me 3 days of on and off soaking with Yamaha carb cleaner, a small wire from a twistie, and 125 PSI to get them cleared out. And it still took riding thru a tank of gas before it ran correctly.

Make certain that you remove and clean the pilot screws - they are the screws with the limiter caps on top. Make certain that you make a note of how many turns out they are so you can put them back to the same position.

Once you get the bike running put half a bottle of Techron in the gas tank.

Another area to check that is often overlooked are the 4 pistons that fit into the cylinders on the tops of the carbs. If these do not move freely you will get fuel starvation. Also, you will hear a "air backfiring sound" from the air box if they are sticking. Polish them up nice with crocus cloth to ensure free movement.

Point is - they gotta be pretty squeaky clean to work correctly. Once you get them this way keep on ridin or make certain that you add Stabil to the gas to prevent gumming up. It does not take long for old gas to gum these carbs up.

I can probably answer additional specifics if necessary

JM

 

[HeloJock]

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1000 Carbs.

OK Guys a little experience from the States.

I'm in Colorado and it's about 5:00AM. If you have a GL 1000, I run a 1977 that is a SUPER scoot, and the carbs are giving you problems, you REALLY have a problem. It seems that all carbs are made powdered aluminum that is then anodized, an oxide layer grown on the surface, for hardness and durability and resistance to the corrosive effects of gasoline.After all, gasoline IS a volatile that leaves residue when it evaporates. The residue tends to "eat" aluminum that is unprotected thus the anodizing layer. This knowledge is so basic to the process that most people never think about it. Older carb guys ( I guess I'm in that category now, LOL!) remember Zenith, Tillotson and Linkert carbs used on older scoots. I guess you Irish guys would know Amals and SU's better but the carb manufacturers THEN knew and used this process to the correct spec, depth of anodized layer, and it lasted MANY years. Read at least 50 here. I've got a set of Stromberg 97's on my old flathead Ford (Yes girls, it’s a "Hot Rod"!) that are still rebuildable and in terrific shape after more than 50 years. Well Honda doesn’t agree!!!



After a number of years, about 20, the anodizing, which was not applied to the proper depth (Yes, I used an Auger analysis on it) becomes penetrated and the carb starts to come apart. You will find a fine gray dust in the fuel bowls and the carb is suffering from disintegration-itis. I've called America Honda on this and gotten surly answers ranging from "Your just looking for a free set of carbs " to "Well, isn’t 25 years enough?"

Buy new carburetors? LOL! Sure! Right away.

The process got better in the"80 and I initially solved the problem by going to a boneyard and putting on a set of 1100 carbs. They DON'T seem to suffer from this problem once again proving, at least to me, that Honda discovered the problem but won't talk about it OR replace the defectively manufactured parts. The accelerator pump also made starting the cold scoot a LOT easier. Wings are a notorious "cold pig" with carburetion.

BUT being an engineer I like SIMPLICITY and 4 carbs are WAY too much problem. The balancing alone takes away from my beer drinking and riding time! Ergo, AWAY with them. I bought the Cycle Innovations kit about 3 years ago and have been EXTREMELY satisfied with it. It replaces the 4 carbs with a single Holley built for Cycle Innovations. In response to any and all "bad mouthing" you may have heard about this conversion. IT AINT SO! Seems all these rumors of uneven fuel distribution, burnt valves, poor mileage, poor performance and such are traceable back to (surprise!!) American Honda Reps!! LOL! (Whose bull is being gored NOW !) If you can find one, I HIGHLY recommend that you dump the old 4 carb system and go to the Cycle Innovations System. UNFORTUNATELY, as happens to MANY small market segments, Holley would supply no more carbs to CI so they are now out of that business. You may check them out at http://www.cycleinnovations.com/index.shtml

 

[HeloJock]

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Part II

Who knew there was a limit on size?



This is the last posting of new information on the site.

 

[HeloJock]

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Well that was fun. If you wish the REST of the post. Email me. Adios!!

 

[FitzAl]

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That's interesting stuff about the anodising. I've seen the inside of a couple of GL1000 carbs and they were so badly furred up that they could never be entirely free and clean of the stuff. Jets seized in so bad that you would be afraid that the carb body would break taking them out. Haven't seen this a sbad on even early GL1100s so you may have something there about Honda getting their act together.

It's 1.49pm in Ireland at the moment. I'm off for a run on the bike as I've just finished work for the day!

 

[pj_oldwing]

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Hey that was interesting reading! I purchased probably one of the last kits from Cycle Innovations last febuary, and finally installed it in april. It ran flawlessly the first night. It adjusted just as the book said. My wife was impressd with how the bike ran so much better than with the stock carbs! Coming home, the bike backfired once when I quickly backed off the throttle to make an abrupt stop. I didn't think anything of it, (as it ran fine the next mile to home,) and parked it untill the next morning. The next morning when I tried to start it,it it only started after changing the spark plugs and turning the idle screw in all the way.

TheCycle Inov.tech support talked me thru changing the float level and then another call to them helped me find some "factory installed" thread seal that had made it past the float and into the bowl. I then took the carb back off and rechecked and clearedall passages. I did find a casting flaw in the base of the carb thatI suspected could cause a possible vacuum leak.

I reinstalled the carb with new gaskets and a hope I had the problem cured. NOT SO.

Looks like I will have to snd another e-mail, I,m out of space. Thanks for the time.

 

[FitzAl]

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Let us know how you get on PJ. I had been thinking about the CI conversion for my 1100, but now they are out of business I guess thats paid put to thet idea.

 

[axelwik]

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Might want to check out the following website:

http://www.randakks.com/Carb%20Parts.htm

This Randakk guy seems to know what he's doing when it comes to GL1000 carbs. I just rebuilt the carbs on my '77 using some of his suggestions and it runs great now. The early Goldwings had a problem with lack of power at the low end and this is due to a mixture that's too lean. A little re-jetting will fix this. The re-jetting is simply using a smaller slow air jet (the one in the brass elbow on the side of the carb) and raising the vacuum-operated secondary needle a bit. Thesetwo things willbring the carbs to their proper mixture (especially for the '77). Read the Randakk website - he has step-by-step instructions on the carbs and other things.

Important: If you're using the popular "Clymer" repair manual, there's some bad information published on the placement of two of the jets... they have it backwards. The bike will run like crap iftheClymermanual is followed. The factory manual is correct; it's just the Clymer manual that's wrong. They are the two jets covered by the kidney-shaped plate. The #120 jet needs to be outboard (toward the intake on the head... output side of the carb), not inboard.

As for the floats, they need to be perfectly set. On the GL1000 carbs they need to be set EXACTLY at 21mm measured from the ridge on the carb body. This is with the float valves closed, but not enough pressure to push in on the spring-loaded portion of the float valve pins.

Hope this helps.

Marco,

Ashland, OR

 

[BRowan]

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Randakk knows his GL1000s. He seems to be sure that his carb setup will do the business. Worth a try if yours are running bad.

 

[stkelly2]

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HE I have just purchased a 77 GL1000 with the single Holley 1940 carb. The bike would start and not stay running. Plugs are covered in gas and gas is coming out of the exhaust pipe on one side.



I have pulled the carb out and torn it apart. I have a rebuild kit on order. I am wondering if you can give me any tips on making sure that everything is set right when I put it back together and reinstall it.



Thanks

Shaun

 

[exavid]

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If you set the floats in the way we used to do on old auto carbs, ie turning them upside down to set the level, it will be way off for the bike. You need to hang the carbs vertically, check Randakk's site he's the expert on these carburetors. If you see one or two floats higher than the others when they are upside down it's possible the little plunger in the top of the needle valve is stuck and not working up and down on its spring.