Possible Carb Issue?
 

Stored the bike over winter season, then rode it this weekend. It was great until the bike started hesitating when idling. It typically happened when i was cruising at around 6,000 rmp and holding the throttle steady. I would feel a slight decrease in power and then notice the tacometer start to lower in rpm's. The only solution was to wrap the throttle again. Then i noticed while taking off, it would get bogged down and almost die, so i have to now rev upto about 4000 rpms to take off or it will die mid take off. I know all hoses are pluged in properly to the gas tank as i did remove this, Im wondering if the carbs are dirty and if so, im not really sure exactly how to clean it? Any imput would be appreciated.

Well the problem sounds like the pilots and the emulsion tubes are partially clogged.

The proper way to fix the problem is to pull the carbs and clean them.

You can try just removing the tank , draining the bowls (there is a screw on the side of the float bowl for this) and filling the bowls with SeaFoam or Techroline. Then let it sit for a few hours, shaking the bike from time to time.

Then drain the bowls again. Fill the tank with fresh gas with a good dose of whatever cleaner you picked up and see if that cleans it out before pulling the carbs.

Okay ill have to look in the manual for that, but it the seafoam or techroline the mixture that is mostly alcohol?

While there is some alcohol in both of them, neither is mostly or mainly alcohol. No matter what they are made from, those are the two cleaners that actually work IMHO and experience. ;)

Ha ha alright cool. Thank you for the information, i will do some investigating at the local auto store see if i can find some of this healing fluid.

Ive got the Seafoam, though, im looking and dont see where exactly the bowls and screw you are reffering to. Unfortunately my manual is mia.

The gas tank is 4.2 gallons if im not mistaken, this means i would put 3 1/2 oz into a full take once the bowls have been cleaned?

find your service manual. or hunt down the link to the downloadable pdf. there are pictures and diagrams that will guide you to the float-bowl drains. without the manual, you're driving while blind.

SeaFoam and Techroline. neither one i've ever heard of or have. i'm going to add those to my stock of solvents. complements to 8541Hawk. my other bike's carbs have been gradually acting badly and are way overdue for some serious cleaning out, first. maybe i won't have to pull them apart.

--fred

Float bowl drain screw:

Attachment 26118

It's on the bottom of each carb, can be reached through the frame, unscrew and gas pours out the little nub on the bottom... smoking is not recommended

ah ha, i see. Thank you. I'm worried of cleaning the carbs b/c i have never done this before and have also been told that if i touch a certain piece i might as well get a new carb.

Carbs aren't too bad (everything's seems more daunting the first time you do it).

Just don't separate them (there's a frame holding the two together and it sucks putting that back together). When you clean them, you'll have them off the bike, and just go through them slowly and it's no problem. If they haven't been touched in awhile it may be kind of a pain getting the screws out. And do one side at a time so that you don't mix parts.

This may be a good thread to look through:
https://www.superhawkforum.com/forum...-set-up-24769/

It's a good idea to slip a long hose over the drain nipple on the bottom of the bowls before opening the screw. Then direct the other end of the hose into a suitable container. Even a small amount of gas can be nasty.:boom:

thank you very much. I will be ungoing the operation with the next couple of days. More questions to come!

Once you get the bowls drained, then pull the fuel lines off of the petcock and fill them up with the SeaFoam which will now fill the empty bowls with straight cleaner.

Right on, will do. Now in your original response, you had said to put a good dose of seafoam in the tank with some fresh gas, how much would you say is good dose?

Per the instructions.

Well don't go crazy....lol but I would put 4-5 oz in there. You might also want to run a tank full of premium when you do it also as it also has more cleaners in it.

The last thing, Techroline is now Techron.... it's hell when you get old and they change the name of stuff.....lol but it's the stuff Chevron makes..... ;)

I have used Techron on my last 3 bikes and it is good stuff. Never knew it was called something different before!

even better idea than draining and pouring gas all over the place prop up gas tank. Use a midget 8mm wrench to close the petcock. fire her up till she runs dry.

Instructions dont have a ratio chart. "Bottle treats 4-22 Gallons"

Ill add another oz after work today. What im planning on doing is closing the petcock so no gas get out of the tank, then romving that for easier access. Then figure out (using my manual) which hoses i need to pour the fluid into and pour it in after loosening the float bowl drain screw to release the held gasoline.

You don't need to take off your tank if you don't want. It's the two big hoses that go from the petcock to the carbs, and you can just unplug them an pour gas in! There's a smaller vacuum hose on the back of the petcock- unplug that on as well, b/c if your petcock is in the "on" position and it's plugged in, gas will pour out.

Edit: you're pouring seafoam not gas...

Not a bad idea though..

OR.... take the tank off, and ride it around with no tank as you run the carbs dry (you have a couple of minutes)! Fun to see a superhawk riding around with no tank...

HAHA! maybe not, im all for not getting stranded. The last two times ive taken her out she's died on me. Pushing her fat ass around is tiring if you know what i mean.

please. someone post a picture of yourself riding a wheelie with no tank!

Question! ive got the airbox off, not sure where to go from here. The top of the carbs are exposed. If i pour seafoam into the two main gas hoses do i just hold them vertical to get the seafoam into the bowls? When i do this the hoses are just full of the liquid. Do i need to turn the engine?

I don't think you turn the motor. I'd imagine that you want to let it sit for a bit, then drain the bowls again like you did before. I don't think that the motor will run very well if at all on pure seafoam (and I think it starts burning up valves and plugs too). If the hoses are full of liquid, it just means that the bowls are full and backfilling up the hoses...

Okay that is what i figured. The seafoam isnt actually cleaning the carb then is it, just the hoses and the bowl.

Well, the bowl has all of the jets in it, which are the parts that have problems when they get dirty because they have a bunch of small holes in them that can get plugged with gummy gas or debris. Running the seafoam through is kind of a first try at cleaning them out- sometimes they're too dirty for this to work, but it avoids taking them all the way off and apart.

Here's what's inside the bowl:
Attachment 26117

I just read 8541Hawk's first response and he says to do what I was thinking- now that your bowls are full of seafoam, let them soak a couple of hours, and shake the bike back and forth every once in awhile to move some of that grime out of the way like he said.

Btw, the pilot jets' holes are this size :
Attachment 26116

Okay that is a great picture, seems like there is a lot more stuff to unplug and unscrew but this doesnt look too bad. If this soution doesnt work, ill be taking this apart like you have done soon.