good weekend, strange issue

since i just got the old viffer back on the road this past monday, my friend suggested that we blow off our entire weekend and spend it riding. what better way to REALLY break this bike back in than to blast around the central texas back roads for a whole weekend in 70 degree weather. (if you havent tried it yet, youve GOT to)

naturally, pounding on a 20 year old sportbike just a week out of restoration isnt without its little nuances.

other than figuring out that 30mpg was the absolute best i can get when im riding chill on the freeway, i found that after whailing on the bike (basically riding it like a balls out sportbike) for 117 miles, i got about a half second warning from the fuel light before the bike totally shut down and i was on the side of the road. this leads me to my first question:

what kind of avg miledge are all you other 86-87 guys getting on your bikes (im hoping to hear from plenty of 700 owners, of course)

my second issue was after filling up with gas, we pulled back out onto the road, and for some reason the bike lost all power. i had the throttle wide open, and the bike was doing all it could to keep me upright at 5mph and keep its own motor running. i pulled into a city park that happened to be right there, realizing that if i pulled the clutch in, the motor would die. i finally found a place to stop, put it in neutral, and somehow throttled the motor back to life just idling and revving it right there. without even cutting the motor off, i was able to just pull back out onto the road, the bike ran fine. it seemed like some strange intermittent fuel delivery issue, but i cant confirm this.

has anybody else had any experience with an 86 or 87 losing power like this, and what wound up being the problem?

anyways, past that, 2 lost screws from the bike vibrating a little too much, and that covers the only parts of this whole weekend that didnt just kick ass and take names.

if anybody has any input on these probs, id appreciate the insight.

 

Chris, check your fuel filter.

 

Something is going on, at the worse I recall on my 700f2 was around the low 40s got 50+ real easy, so then theres something going on all right with the fuel system, if she don't run right, just a first thought floats getting stuck causing an over rich condition plus maybe it's also going out the over flow tube, you didn't happen to check for drips anywhere? sounds fishy. that said okay I hate you, 70 degrees, get out of here.. LOL

 

hah, my friend and i collaborated this morning and figured out we'd clicked off at LEAST 700 miles riding around this weekend.

as sore as i am this morning, it was still worth it.

 

When you ran her out of gas, you probably sucked sludge and bubbles down into the fuel system. That takes a while to run through. Good Idea to change the fuel filter now.

 

i ran out of gas close to 120 miles after the whole power loss fiasco. that, and after i ran it out, i didnt get any more trouble out of the bike.

 

Sounds like it's running rich. I'd put stock jets and (especially) stock needles back in if it's jetted up due to the aftermarket pipe. I get 42 mpg on my 800 flogging it mercilessly and high 40's riding normal.
As far as running like ass after filling back up, you can chalk that up to carbs and their wonderful mysteries.

 

Damn dude, thats alot of miles to do in a weekend, I cant wait!!! he he he he

 

sometimes fuel seems mysteriously not to want to flow out of tank and won't even trickle down to filter in quantities sufficent to run properly. When this happens i can hear the fuel pump clicking continuously. My fix is the following: remove sidecover and open fuel filler cap, switch petcock to OFF, remove fuel line before filter and let it drain.....then take in a large breath, put fuel line in your mouth, blow as hard as you can while switching petcock to ON......then quickly switch back to OFF and button things up again.

This (unsanitary) move seems to blow obstructions (crud) away from fuel pick up inside tank and, on my bike restores proper fuel flow......
What causes this is something i've been trying to discover for years.....?????
At home you could use compressed air, but this happens while you're out riding.......

 

Lets see ..... 70 degrees in Texas and 12 degrees here in Ontario (Canada) in February, plus 6" of snow ...hmmmm what's wrong with this picture.

Good on ya mate, wish I could do the same ...:biggrin:

 

I consistantly get 50 MPG under "normal" conditions; 35 ish when flogging her unmercifully in the triple digits & hard corner carving. I did de snorkel the air box, installed a K&N filter & replaced the fuel filter w/ a standard automotive type filter. I would agree w/ whats been stated already; sounds like junk in the tank/carbs.