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I was just turned on to this forum and have been reviewing your posts. I'm glad I found you.

I'm the new owner of an 82 GL1100 with only 7,000 miles on it. Having sat for 22 years, Cletus was in for a carb rebuild in May of this year. He has been running smoothly except for what feels like retarded acceleration when I give him gas at cruising speed. Recently I noticed a LOT of gas dripping from the weep hole in the right side exhaust. Thinking that perhaps I was not getting spark to one of the cylinders I checked, but found that I am getting spark to both No. 1 and No. 3. With the engine at idle speed I can take the spark plug wire off of the No. 1 plug and the engine continues to idle smoothly; when I disconnect any other plug wire there is an immediate change in the idle. I drained the float bowl on No. 1 and then started Cletus again with the same result. So, Cletus will still idle smoothly, has spark to all cylinders, will continue to idle smoothly even with the No. 1 plug wire pulled off the plug, and is pouring large amounts of gas into the exhaust pipe on the right side.

O.K.,friends, where do I start?

Since I'm new let me say again that I'm glad a friend sent me your way. Let me thank you in advance for your help.

Larry

 

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Good idea. I'll check the compression. I suppose that if a valve was just slightly bent so that it did not seat correctly that it might let the fule through even though the engine still seemed to idle smoothly. I'll check this one out.

Thanks,

Larry

 

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Thanks, exavid. I've checked the plugs and the plug on No. 1 did look different than the others. If the float is stuck does that mean that it should be replaced? If so, what else in that carb should be replaced? It was rebuilt just 1,000 miles ago. I had a lot of junk in my fuel system when I bought the bike and had to clean the fuel tank, so perhaps my carbs didn't get cleaned as well as they should have during the rebuild.

Larry

 

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Twisty, Hawker22, and Paul........thank you very much for taking the time to share your ideas with me. Somehow I've got to find a way to get my lovely wife and the kids away from the house on Saturday so that I can devote the attention to Cletus that he so richly deserves!!

BTW, I've tried a different plug on No. 1 and still had the same problem.

Tonight I'll check compression and do the "finger to the manifold" test.

Larry

 

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Hey, Mike. I actually do not know exactly what was done to each carb. I know that the invoice included four carb kits at about $35 per kit, and a new accelerator pump was installed. I removed my fuel tank, twice, and used muratic acid and an abrasive to remove rust and sludge in the tank. My carbs have not sat with fule since the rebuild. I'veemptied and tapped onthe fuel bowl once but it didn't change things.

I suppose next I'll do a compression check and if that is O.K. then off come the carbs!

Thanks for your help.

Larry

 

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Wendell, thank you very much for the heads up. I'm not sure I would have thought of that. I'm planning to do a compression check (don't want to purchase a guage and haven't found one to borrow yet) and if everything is O.K. then I'll remove the carbs. I definitely will change the oil and filter. Ole' Cletus isn't in any shape to ride so I won't be tempted to damage the motor. The guidance from you all in the forum has been invaluable.

Larry

 

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O.K. all you experts.......I'm trying to elinimate low compression on my No. 1 cylinder as a factor. Bought a compression guage yesterday and went out this morning to check on Cletus. I removed all the spark plugs; pulled out the choke; and ran the compression check on each cylinder. Each tested between 110 - 120. Knowing that this isn't right I went in and read the Honda manual and saw that I should have done the test after getting the engine to normal operating temperature. I didn't have time to reinstall plugs and run the engine before I left for work.

What can I make of these result? Back when Cletus was on the road two weeks ago he seemed to run fine (even though apparently the No. 1 cylinder was not properly combusting) and while there was smoke (or mist) from the right exhaust pipe that smelled strongly of gasoline, there was no smoke at all from the left exhaust.

I'm wondering if the consistency of the compression test, even though I did it with the engine cool, indicates that my problem is more likely to be in the carbs and not in the valves.

Larry

 

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Twisty, thanks. When I do the next compression check, do I pull out the choke as well as open the throttle?

Larry

 

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Twisty, thanks. I'm on my way home and will give er' another try.

Larry

 

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You may remember that my problem on my 82 Interstate is LOTS of gas coming out of the weep hole in my right exhaust. I've determined that my compression is fine; I do have spark to all cylinders; but No. 1 is not combusting properly, in fact, the header on No. 1 stays cool while the other 3 get hot.

I've pulled the carbs and looked at the float on No. 1. It is adjusted so that it is about 16mm at the end of the float near the float arm, but is 19mm at the opposite end!!

So, this leads me to two questions: 1. Is the float being this much out of adjustment likely to be the cause of No. 1 flooding so much that the spark plug can't ignite the fule mixture? I'd love to think that this simple thing might be the cause of my problem.

2. I know that the bottom of the float is supposed to be 15.5mm from the carb body. I'm not quite sure what part of the float mechanism I'm supposed to bend. Am I supposed to remove the float pin and bend each float where its arm attaches to the float; or do I bend in the middle of the "arm assembly" where the tab with the spring is located?

I've got the Honda manual, and I've read Randakk's instructions, but I'm still not sure exactly where to bend.

Thanks,

Larry