imported post
MDKramer responded:
I'm not 100% sure on STP carb and injector cleaner, but I can't help but think it's pretty much the same stuff as Gumout...And just as abrasive to the rubber inside the carbs.
If you bought an '81 with 13,800 miles on it, you bought someone's garage queen, for that, I'm going to recommend giving this thread:
Resurrecting An Old Goldwing
A good read, and checking deeply into some of the things I've mentioned there. Those things were written from my experiences after leaving my poor 1100 sitting for 5 years unattended, and my labors in getting her back to roadworthy again.
I do know this much. Old Goldwings have pretty fragile egos. If you leave them unattended for a few years, they get all depressed, and then they start self-harming (as in eating their own gaskets and whatnot), once that starts, stopping it will be frustrating for awhile, because it will seem like you just got one thing fixed, and another cropped up...But once you get it all worked out, you won't find a better motorcycle out there for longevity, endurance, and ride-ability...As long as you stroke her ego for at least a thousand or so miles every season
Reintroducing gas to the system...my recommendation here would be replace the fuel filter (I'll bet it's full of rust and crap), then drop the fuel line from the tank to the fuel filter into a clean 5 gallon gas can full of clean gas, pull the choke full, and crank on her until she fires...she will...it'll just take some time.
Why the gas can? Simple, I have a $20 bill in my wallet that says the inside of your tank has a nice coating of rust on it that you'll need to contend with, and until that is taken care of, any gas you put in the tank will be contaminated, and will pick up flecks of rust and jam them into the filter, particles smaller than 2 microns will pass through the filter, and clot up in the smaller passages of all 4 carbs.
col_freecycle (thats me) responded with below - my biggest problem (right now) is that I can't get to the carb bowl drain screws:
I appreciate all the responses and apologize for the multiple posts. I'll stick to this one thread. The good news is that the previous owner seems to have done all the resurrection work (I have the receipt for the work done to include the carb re-build.) The bad news is he let it sit for a year. The bike was starting immediately prior to my introducing the seafoam - and running stronger all the time with the fule injector cleaner, just not idling well. The direct injection of the seafoam was a last ditch effort to get the idle jets cleaned without going to a mechanic.
I expected to have to work the starter to get the gas back into the carbs to get the bike to start once I re-hooked up the gas, I just wanted to be sure barring the unforseen that I hadn't done something that absoutely/certainly made things worse. It seems to want to start but hasn't fired yet.
I haven't ignored the excellent advice about draining the carb bowls. I tried to drain thems but could not get to the screws (only regular normal screwdrivers plus no garage - live in a townhouse.) Here is what defeated me from getting to the drain screws (excuse me while I mangle nomenclature.) There are what look like 90 degree elbow joints coming off each carb that connect to the cylinder heads? I pulled the three bolts and screw on one and loosened the clamp around the rubber hose connecting the elbow to the carb but I could not remove the elbow. I was worried I would break something and put it all back together and went back to hoping I can cycle fuel into the carbs by working the starter. I'm hoping to see it start as soon as the battery is recharged. Should it still not start, is starter fluid a good option or a bad idea? I saw one post that recommended WD-40 (I didn't know that would act as starter fluid.) I believe once I have cycled the seafoam out and the engine fires and starts drawing gas that I may be through this particular set of woods.
If anyone thinks I am dreaming and can provide hints on getting at the drain bowl screws/removing the elbow joints I' appreciate it. If I can determine that this will run well enough to keep I'll post a request for suggestions on basic motorcycle tools and opionions on helpful manuals.
