[dburnash]

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hi everyone, well the " sitting wing" fired today for the first time in a few years. rolled over once and lit right up! Ran REAL slow on full choke for awhile. have new gas , filter and 1 ounce sea foam per gallon. ran real rough till it warmed up and now runs a little rough but wont run on anything less than a little over 1/3 choke. any less and it dies immedietly. has a real lazy pick up when throttled, and the rich fumes will run you out of the garage.when reved up it will pop through the right exhaust on decel. I pulled the gas feed line and let it suck up about 10 oz. of sea foam directly into the bowls. smoked like a leaf fire before I shut it off. How long can I, or should I leave the straight sea foam in the bowls before I start it back up. Do you guys think I,m working in the right direction or do you think I have other problems i should be looking at? I,m not sure which way to go so any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[dburnash]

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Sorry, forgot to mention it a 1984 1200 interstate. thanks again.

 

[AZWinger]

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dburnash,

You can leave the Seafoam in several hours or even overnight if you want. The Seafoam should help loosen up any depositsin the idle circuits andhelp smooth out the idle. I would be tempted to open the throttle up all the way and turn the engine over a couple of times to pump a little Seafoam into the chambers. With luck you may be able to avoid a major carb overhaul.

You might have some problem getting it started with straight Seafoam. It won't burn on it's own. When you go to re-start, it mightbe easierto drain the bowls and feed some gas in first to help it fire up.

It's going to smoke like that for awhile!What you added to the tank shouldn't cause any smoke though. After you get it running good you should (I would anyway) add a few oz of Seafoam to the crank case. Run it 200-300 miles to loosen up deposits on the clutch and valve train, then change the oil and filter.

See how it runs when you get it started again and let us know how it does!

Congrats. on the first fire-up!:clapper: You're onyourway to the road soon!


Bob :11grey:

P.S. If I didn't say it before, welcome to the forum! :waving:

 

[johnmac]

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dburnash, I tried Sea Foam, MMO, and Shevron in my '85 1200 and ended up pulling the carbs. I left them bolted together, and removed one float bowl at a time. What I found was a build up on the needles on the slides, and rusty looking crud on a couple of pilot air screws. I used a spray can of carb cleaner to clean out the passages. The gas additives did help some, but it would never have cleaned up the problems I found. My only regret is that I should have taken the time to do it sooner. Good Luck!

 

[exavid]

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dburnash, if the bike has been sitting for a couple years or more with gas it in, it's most likely you're going to have to take the carbs down and clean them. Odds are pretty high that there's a good bit of varnish in there. The seafoam might clean some of the interior parts but it's not going to get all the crud out.

 

[rcmatt007]

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always a good thought, but if you are going to let a bike sit for any length of time, run the carbs dry and add gas stabilsor to a FULL tank of gas.... or simple go out and run the bike at least once a month all the way until the radiator fan comes on.

never leave a tank partially full.. the expansion/contraction from temp changes will evaporate more fuel and allow moisture into the fuel mix

 

[dburnash]

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Thanks everyone for the replies. let the sea foam sit in the carbs overnight and it will at least idle ( low) on its own now. i dont have a problem with pulling the carbs and tearing them apart, but the riding season is so short here i was really hoping to do that this winter, but i may have no choice. might try to run a couple gallons through and see. I'll let everyone know how it goes. thanks again to everyone for your help. P.S my beighbor has a harley and I,m taking quite a ribbing at this point , but he will get his eventually!!

 

[AZWinger]

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Glad it did some good anyway! See how it runs after a tank or two of gas with a little Seafoam. Might make it through the riding seasonwithout having to pull the carbs yet!

Bob :11grey: