Stranded, again.

[shawn]

So, the other night, I got stuck on the side of the freeway after my bike died. For those in SoCal, on the 110 between the 10 and the 105, in the car pool late on one of the raised sections where the emergency 'lane' is around 4 ft wide.

It's the same thing that has happened to me many times. I am riding along, and it just loses all power and I coast to a stop. I have tried to figure it out, but hadn't had any luck. Thankfully it doesn't happen very often.

So, I think I have noticed a pattern, it only tends to happen when I am towards the bottom of the tank. So, I will be definitely be filling up more frequently, but I still want to solve it. Unfortunately at the side of the freeway with only 4ft of room is not the time to troubleshoot, so I haven't been able to pull the plugs to see if it is getting spark.

Today, I figured I would replace the fuel lines, since it was on my list of things to do, and I think I found a few possible culprits...



That is the line that goes to the cali evaporator box in the background. That basically goes to the top of the gas tank. If I am not mistaken, isn't the fuel system on the GS a vacuum system? Wouldn't that release all vacuum and then possibly cause the fuel to stop flowing when the tank is low (and doesn't have enough gravity to push it)?

I also had one of the brass fittings from the fuel tank petcock come out when I was loosening the lines to pull the tank...



Does anyone know if that is just a press fit, or do I need to replace the petcock? I have a spare on the parts bike, but both tanks have are almost full (and I don't want to use the fuel in the parts bike, since it's been sitting for who knows how long)

Then, I found a screw sitting between the engine and the frame the other day, turns out it is from, I guess the intake manifold, where the carbs mount to the cylinder head...



Two other screws were loose too, any hints on how to tighten the inside ones?

Hopefully fixing this stuff helps the bike run better, and stops the stalling

shawn

[ben2go]

The GS has a gravity feed fuel system.The petcock uses vacuum to open an internal diaphragm to allow fuel to flow.No vacuum,no flow.That's why we preach about starting a bike on PRI,because it by passes the vacuum part but still restricts flow at higher engine speeds.I am not sure where that hose goes in the first pic.The petcock barb can be gently tapped back in with a soft face hammer.The last pic shows that your intake boot is cracked and missing a screw.Replace the boots,O ring seals,an upgrade to allen cap bolts.Don't for get a small drop of blue loctite.The only way to reach the inner intake boot screws is to remove the tank,air box/filter,and carbs.The intake boots are probably what's causing your running issues.Any vacuum leaks no matter how small mess up the carbs metering of fuel.They are very vacuum sensitive.

[shawn]

Ok, I hammered the tube back into the tank petcock, after draining the tank, man that sucked

That hose in the first pic normally goes to the evaporative canister in the background (this is a cali bike, so more emissions stuff), but it's broken off. The other end goes to the top of the gas tank.  I looked online for a new one, $108, checked eBay... $10.99. Done. It's local, so hopefully it doesn't take too long to get here. Then that will be ruled out.

I checked to see if the same vendor has the carb intake pipe, but they don't. I will keep looking, worst case they are only $23 at the dealer. I am going to put the factory screw back in, maybe that will help in the interim.

Of course, I got called into work for an emergency just after doing that and now it's dark out, so I have to put everything back together in the dark. Thankfully I have a tripod mounted light. Need to pick up one of those headband ones though, especially to keep on the bike.

shawn