Went for a 4 day tour of our lovely BC province with a very pleasant passenger. Took the '85 LTD of course as I have been working on it to get it so I could tour with it. All went well, bike ran well, and it was lovely weather. Went through Trail, BC then headed up the mountain to Rossland, and on to Strawberry pass that is about a mile up. All was going well but I noticed the bike was staring to run hot.
Started through Strawberry pass and lost power. Bike would start but would then quit. Baffled me and the only thing to do was to let it sit and contemplate a strategy.
I let it sit for some 45 minutes or so, but during this time I was able to start it but it would stall immediately. I noticed the fuel pump sounded different as if it was cavitating.
After letting it sit and cool down, started it up and it sounded not bad and kept running. Made the decision to carry on. Sonya was a bit stressed but not a lot we could do.
Rest of the way into Osoyoos and on to Princeton was uneventful, but I listened very intensely to how the bike was operating. Made it to Princeton for the night.
Left Princeton this morning and the bike ran well, and no more hiccups. There was a noticeable change in the sound of the bike about half way through Manning Park for the better. Ran from Hope to the BC ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. Bike also started to idle where I had set it some time ago.
Now for the mystery. These fuel injected bikes are extremely power sensitive and need a lot. I had noticed that the voltage showing on the dash gauge would reduce as the rpm got higher, but return to 13.8 VDC (14.4 VDC at battery - only look for consistency when it comes to gauges). I noticed today that it was consistently 13.8 VDC and the bike was operating well and the sound of the engine was as I expected.
I have the alt mod on my '85 with a pulley ratio of 1:2 - 4' pulley at crank and 2" pulley on alt. I have read where alternators operate in a range up to approximately 9K RPM. I also know that alternator output is not linear, in that an alternator will go to full output say around 6K to 7K RPM then start to fall off. With the charging systems designed today, if one of the components of the charging system is not keeping up then you can have issues. I'm thinking that the alternator RPM was such that I was actually discharging the battery as I was keeping the RPMs high because I was travelling two up through the mountains.
With this in mind I'm thinking of changing the alternator pulley to a 3" pulley that will drop the alt RPM because I will now have a ratio of 1:1.5. I may even go to a 1:1 with either two 3" pulleys or two three inch pulleys.
The other aspect of this issue is the fuel pump and how it sounded when the bike first quit. It was very peculiar and I had not heard it sound this way before. I will be doing a fuel pressure test and looking at the fuel return/venting system. Have a fuel pump on hand.
I also have a wish list:
Battery to be load tested
Alternator to be taken in and checked
Check to make sure cylinders are firing
Check coil resistance/impedance
New plugs
New plug wires
Check for plug cap availability
Other than this the bike ran well and took the two of us for a good tour of BC.
Question - plug wires - are these resistance type or no and what size. Will find out but thought I'd ask.
Have to get this work done. Have another tour of BC on 19 June with my HD friends.
More to follow. Cheers
Started through Strawberry pass and lost power. Bike would start but would then quit. Baffled me and the only thing to do was to let it sit and contemplate a strategy.
I let it sit for some 45 minutes or so, but during this time I was able to start it but it would stall immediately. I noticed the fuel pump sounded different as if it was cavitating.
After letting it sit and cool down, started it up and it sounded not bad and kept running. Made the decision to carry on. Sonya was a bit stressed but not a lot we could do.
Rest of the way into Osoyoos and on to Princeton was uneventful, but I listened very intensely to how the bike was operating. Made it to Princeton for the night.
Left Princeton this morning and the bike ran well, and no more hiccups. There was a noticeable change in the sound of the bike about half way through Manning Park for the better. Ran from Hope to the BC ferry terminal at Tsawwassen. Bike also started to idle where I had set it some time ago.
Now for the mystery. These fuel injected bikes are extremely power sensitive and need a lot. I had noticed that the voltage showing on the dash gauge would reduce as the rpm got higher, but return to 13.8 VDC (14.4 VDC at battery - only look for consistency when it comes to gauges). I noticed today that it was consistently 13.8 VDC and the bike was operating well and the sound of the engine was as I expected.
I have the alt mod on my '85 with a pulley ratio of 1:2 - 4' pulley at crank and 2" pulley on alt. I have read where alternators operate in a range up to approximately 9K RPM. I also know that alternator output is not linear, in that an alternator will go to full output say around 6K to 7K RPM then start to fall off. With the charging systems designed today, if one of the components of the charging system is not keeping up then you can have issues. I'm thinking that the alternator RPM was such that I was actually discharging the battery as I was keeping the RPMs high because I was travelling two up through the mountains.
With this in mind I'm thinking of changing the alternator pulley to a 3" pulley that will drop the alt RPM because I will now have a ratio of 1:1.5. I may even go to a 1:1 with either two 3" pulleys or two three inch pulleys.
The other aspect of this issue is the fuel pump and how it sounded when the bike first quit. It was very peculiar and I had not heard it sound this way before. I will be doing a fuel pressure test and looking at the fuel return/venting system. Have a fuel pump on hand.
I also have a wish list:
Battery to be load tested
Alternator to be taken in and checked
Check to make sure cylinders are firing
Check coil resistance/impedance
New plugs
New plug wires
Check for plug cap availability
Other than this the bike ran well and took the two of us for a good tour of BC.
Question - plug wires - are these resistance type or no and what size. Will find out but thought I'd ask.
Have to get this work done. Have another tour of BC on 19 June with my HD friends.
More to follow. Cheers