buying a 1200 running on 3 ..help!

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crowesnest3

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Been looking at a 84 Interstate, 54000 miles that appears to be treated pretty well, had been sitting for 14 years prior to current owner who ended up having it gone over by a local shop for carb rebuild ( I think ) at least carb work, but more importantly he ( current owner ) decided to do some work himself and misadjusted the timing belts and bent a valve so the bike shop also had to do some head and valve work. He ran it for about 3000 miles until his local HD friends embarrassed him into buying a "sporty" to "fit in"! So it got parked for another year, starts, runs, stator checks out with meter test, shifts smooth blah blah, but she's only running on 3. He did switch out the plugs since, but says didn't make a difference. He's dropped price down to $1500 ..... new tires, skins good, factory stripping old and faded ( lacquer thinner and a sharp razor pulls em right off!) chrome is all good, headers not showing any rust to speak of. I'm thinking the carb is crudded up, so maybe a load of fresh high octane with some SeaFoam, a little carb shaking and a 30 mile ride might get it to open up ..... or?? Take a chance? What else could it be? bad ignition module. Wainting to hear what the bad cylinder plug looked like, actually, he knows it which cylinder why? I looking for that great feedback I have always found with you guys, so what do you think? .....Crowe :Egyptian:
 
Could just be a dirty carb or it could be no compression in that cylinder.
Is the plug wet? Could be a bad plug wire.
It sounds like it ran good after the bent valves so I don't think there's a problem there.
Either way, if it was local to me I'd come up with the $1500 somehow. Sounds well worth it.
 
skip the seafoam in 1200s unless you want to distroy the carbs and there rubber slides ...i bet its a plug ends or wires id pull all the plugs and ck for spark first on the baad cylinder ...if spark is good then move to carbs or compression ck ....man those belt changes have killed more wings than anything else
 
... thanks for the SeaFoam heads up, maybe a shot of pure non ethanol high octane, my 80 1100 loves it! ..... waiting to hear about plug condition, owner seems pretty open to my messing with his bike, thinking compression test too .. own the tool and would be doing it anyway! The bum wire connection another one, know my 1100 gets temperamental if left out in the rain ... the water seal for the plug valley isn't as good as it should be ..... Crowe
 
If it's isolated to one cylinder then I'd think the drain hole first, then that ignition wire and spark plug. If no go, then that carb. As has been said, the plug condition will tell the story.
 
after a year or more sitting I think it most likely a gummed carb. Check for spark first then if good add atf to fresh fuel. Ride it and run it up in rpm and chop throttle and let it coast. Do this several times to force highest vacuum for extended periods in low speed circuit. This will often clear it if it's not too bad. If that helps but there is a miss at higher rpm . Open the faux tank cover and gain access to the intake cover. Run the rpm up again and cover the intake holes choking it. Only enough to sputter then uncover and regain rpm. This will help clear the high speed circuits. Maybe between the two you'll get the carbs right without removal.
 
... just to be sure "atf" fluid = automatic transmission fluid ? Recall, but not the formula, keep forgetting it, a super duper rust breaker (ie: PBS) using ATF and acetone (?) ..... use as a carb cleaner? ATF in the gas. Love grandma's old receipes, especially if they work! FYI, the plug weephole issue was on my own 1100, which will be checked into, only a problem when it rains.
 
Just the FACS ma'am.

Fuel...Air...Compression...Spark

All are required for combustion. On bikes that have been sitting or otherwise ignored I have found it usually is a combination.
Given the history of this bike I'd check the compression first. If that's ok I'd throw a new spark plug in. I've had more bad plugs in bikes than I want to think about and yes out of the factory worthless. Next would be disassemble the plug end and check for corrosion. I get rid of the resistors in favor of a piece of brass stock the same size and thickness of the resistor. If it's not perfect after that I rebuild the carburetor and I've yet to go into an old bike's carb where there is not usually a deteriorated air cut off valve and some blockage of the low jet. A pin hole in any of the rubber valves will screw things up and guys call themselves cleaning the carbs by spraying all grades of SH*t into the bodies which end up eating away delicate rubber valves over time.

It's time consuming but if I buy a Wing, the carbs come off and get rebuilt with Randaak's excellent kit, new cam belts go on, that wishbone thin main fuse gets replaced with a better fuse block, all plug ends are serviced as I described Just for a beginning. Valves adjusted if needed, all fluids changed and then when it's tuned, balanced and running to my satisfaction I start piddling with the little stuff. This is why when I look at any bike I figure $500 added to whatever price going in. That way I don't get burned. Tires are another issue. I ain't riding nothing with 10 year old tires no matter how good they look. Last thing I want to do is see how good a rider I am at 80 MPH and a blow out.

I would mention all this to the owner and how much it will cost you in time and parts to bring the bike up to standards and offer him a grand ($1,000) and then shut up and see where he goes. The book on a "fair" condition is around $1400 and a dead cyl ain't fair condition. Then again fair is what buyer and seller agree to. Just my two cents worth.
 
I'm all over last post about "fac 's" and is certainly where my head is going, doing a compression test before making the deal is probably the most telling, as long as comp is where it belongs, the prob is most likely gummy carbs, plugs ... but owner just put a new set in and still same issue, thats when he dropped $500 to $1500 .... or plug wire/connections. Bike has brand new Dunlops. WOULD LIKE FORMULA FOR ATF FLUSH[/thinking if I can get it to run on all 4 by flushing some gum, I'd feel better but think I would still go for a rebuild over the winter, and yes, at least open up the covers and inspect the belts and at that point just replace with new and confirm proper positioning, so at that point, flush radiator, change out thermostat and hoses, which gives us a chance to inspect water pump too! ... You all know of the " while we're at it " approach! ... crowe.... :Egyptian: :Egyptian:
 
compression ck could be deceaving if its sat awhile ....sometimes they have to run awhile to get worked back in ...just saying...it cant be to bad id say it is running on three and if the motor not making any bad noises it seems very good sounding so far ....a well kept 84 dresser is a nice bike
 
You can try throttle chopping. With Techron or some other cleaner in the fuel. Run up the rpm without shifting and close the throttle. Let it coast down then repeat.This forces highest vacuum on the low speed jets for extended times. Sometimes this will dislodge the blockage and regain flow. If it doesn't work and you have good spark. You'll probably need to manually clear the jets in at least that carb.
 

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