Start issues

New oregon goldwing owner · Oct 20, 2022

1978 goldwing gl 1000
Thought I had a kill switch issue but not now. Starting it this morning after not for three days. It starts and idles briefly with choke on. Smell gas straight away but making sure I don’t flood in back of my mind. When I throttle slightly with choke on it dies. My point being it smells like it’s flooded but how so so quick ? Spark plugs are fine? Thxs
the bike has been barely ridden in the last ten years and carbs were replaced two years ago?

mcgovern61 · Oct 20, 2022

Choke makes a rich mixture. Dying while on choke indicates too much gas. Even though the carbs were rebuilt/replaced 2 years ago, if they sat unused for more than 6 months with gas in them, they could be mucked up again. No bad, just enough for the float needle to not seat. Could also have clogged idle circuits now. A good cleaning of the carbs might be all you need!

New oregon goldwing owner · Oct 20, 2022

mcgovern61 said:
Choke makes a rich mixture. Dying while on choke indicates too much gas. Even though the carbs were rebuilt/replaced 2 years ago, if they sat unused for more than 6 months with gas in them, they could be mucked up again. No bad, just enough for the float needle to not seat. Could also have clogged idle circuits now. A good cleaning of the carbs might be all you need!

Thxs for reply
Could I get away with in fuel cleaners or do I have to completely take out carbs?

D-50Dave · Oct 21, 2022

If you can get it to run enough to go ride it, I would add ATF ( high detergency) to the gas. I do 1 oz. per gallon every fill-up as maintainence. You might want to do 2 oz. per. Couldn't hurt. Good luck, Dave

mcgovern61 · Oct 21, 2022

Dave is correct. Adding ATF (automatic transmission fluid) to the gas (1 oz per gallon) will help clean the carbs (and will cause a bit of smoke as you ride). ATF smooths out the engine too. In the end though, I am a fan of pulling the carbs and doing a mechanical cleaning. Every time I cleaned a set of carbs, all gasoline related issues are done with and the engine always starts instantly. It is a chore to pull the carbs, but I found it to actually be a time saving a frustration saving task.

mcgovern61 · Oct 21, 2022

Follow up to the previous video. That was 1st start directly after mechanical cleaning and no adjustments yet. Here is the 1st video after adjusting idle and syncing the carbs. Last adjustment was the pilot air screws.