I'd alluded to this problem in the ride report, but totally forgot to address it! well, certainly this is better place...
So, it happened 3 times; we road thru some seriously heavy rain storms (fortunately had gotten our rain gear on, just prior to!),
anyhow, it went something like this:
Approximately 5-10 minutes into a very hard downpour, the bike would really lose power. It felt like either running out of gas, or flooding! I knew I had lots of gas, each time, so, what to do? I immediately pulled the choke wide open, & Voila! it solved the problem! well, for about 5-10 more minutes... Then, the same thing; power was going away fast...
I could literally play w/ the throttle (there seemed to be a "sweet spot" up until the very end...) & coax a little more riding in... then, it would do nothing more than "barely" idle.
We cussed & discussed this problem at the roadside, then again in the evening over a cold beer, & couldn't quite agree.... my pals felt certain it was electrical (there's even a 12 pack Fat Tire riding on the outcome - I don't care who's right, I just wanna share in the winnings/losings!).
Here's the Crux: after letting the bike sit for approximately 5 minutes, key off, it would start right back up like nothing ever happened. If the weather was still raining hard, I'd get another 5-10 minutes riding, then have to go to the choke again, then after another 5-10 minutes, no power.... if the weather was dry, she'd run perfectly, no hint of a problem!
We wondered if plug wire, or some other wiring had gotten "moistened" to some degree, then dried out, then ran OK; my thought was no, because if still raining, it wouldn't have dried out to run so quickly again.
My personal feeling was, due to choke & throttle involvement, somehow water was getting into carbs... by choking, I was limiting wet-air from getting in, but eventually, even that couldn't keep the rain-laden air out...
So.... the results so far???
I got the bike in to my favorite wrench (same guy who discovered my jetting problems several years ago). He seemed to know the problem without my going into too much detail (- & I wonder if the Tourer has the same problem?)
Ray immediately went to the drain tube for the airbox, & said "watch the water come out." Yep, there was water/oil mixture; he said I need to uncork that occasionally (I didn't know about it).
((btw, I had changed my filter from foam to paper, a couple hundred miles prior to this trip - Ray said the problem would happen regardless type of filter))
First, he said "it's not electrical, cause even if only moist, it wouldn't have started back up so easily, so quickly."
"The problem is that there's only one major air "intake" for the ACE, & it's nearly at the bottom of the frame, & forward of the rear tire. As the bike runs, it's pretty much a vacuum at that point, sucking everything into the airbox - & if that everything includes wet air, well that's what you get!"
"The solution," he went on to say "is pretty easy. We just drill a few air holes near the top of the airbox, under the seat, which does two things; it stops "the vacuum," and allows additional airflow into the box."
Well, the bike is in the shop now; can't wait to get 'er back, & see how she runs... I don't recall ever hoping for a hard rain to ride in - until now!!!
I actually took the bike to another wrench first (I couldn't get Ray to answer the phone, thought maybe he was outta business!). The other shop said "some bikes aren't meant to ride in the rain." Well, that's not much of a diagnosis, if you ask me. Very Fortunately for me, Ray finally called m, & seemed to immediately & very confidently know what the trouble was.
He was right about my original jetting problem, I hope he's right about this!
Would love to hear if any of you have had the same problem. I'll keep you updated as to what I learn....
Jeffyjak
So, it happened 3 times; we road thru some seriously heavy rain storms (fortunately had gotten our rain gear on, just prior to!),
anyhow, it went something like this:
Approximately 5-10 minutes into a very hard downpour, the bike would really lose power. It felt like either running out of gas, or flooding! I knew I had lots of gas, each time, so, what to do? I immediately pulled the choke wide open, & Voila! it solved the problem! well, for about 5-10 more minutes... Then, the same thing; power was going away fast...
I could literally play w/ the throttle (there seemed to be a "sweet spot" up until the very end...) & coax a little more riding in... then, it would do nothing more than "barely" idle.
We cussed & discussed this problem at the roadside, then again in the evening over a cold beer, & couldn't quite agree.... my pals felt certain it was electrical (there's even a 12 pack Fat Tire riding on the outcome - I don't care who's right, I just wanna share in the winnings/losings!).
Here's the Crux: after letting the bike sit for approximately 5 minutes, key off, it would start right back up like nothing ever happened. If the weather was still raining hard, I'd get another 5-10 minutes riding, then have to go to the choke again, then after another 5-10 minutes, no power.... if the weather was dry, she'd run perfectly, no hint of a problem!
We wondered if plug wire, or some other wiring had gotten "moistened" to some degree, then dried out, then ran OK; my thought was no, because if still raining, it wouldn't have dried out to run so quickly again.
My personal feeling was, due to choke & throttle involvement, somehow water was getting into carbs... by choking, I was limiting wet-air from getting in, but eventually, even that couldn't keep the rain-laden air out...
So.... the results so far???
I got the bike in to my favorite wrench (same guy who discovered my jetting problems several years ago). He seemed to know the problem without my going into too much detail (- & I wonder if the Tourer has the same problem?)
Ray immediately went to the drain tube for the airbox, & said "watch the water come out." Yep, there was water/oil mixture; he said I need to uncork that occasionally (I didn't know about it).
((btw, I had changed my filter from foam to paper, a couple hundred miles prior to this trip - Ray said the problem would happen regardless type of filter))
First, he said "it's not electrical, cause even if only moist, it wouldn't have started back up so easily, so quickly."
"The problem is that there's only one major air "intake" for the ACE, & it's nearly at the bottom of the frame, & forward of the rear tire. As the bike runs, it's pretty much a vacuum at that point, sucking everything into the airbox - & if that everything includes wet air, well that's what you get!"
"The solution," he went on to say "is pretty easy. We just drill a few air holes near the top of the airbox, under the seat, which does two things; it stops "the vacuum," and allows additional airflow into the box."
Well, the bike is in the shop now; can't wait to get 'er back, & see how she runs... I don't recall ever hoping for a hard rain to ride in - until now!!!
I actually took the bike to another wrench first (I couldn't get Ray to answer the phone, thought maybe he was outta business!). The other shop said "some bikes aren't meant to ride in the rain." Well, that's not much of a diagnosis, if you ask me. Very Fortunately for me, Ray finally called m, & seemed to immediately & very confidently know what the trouble was.
He was right about my original jetting problem, I hope he's right about this!
Would love to hear if any of you have had the same problem. I'll keep you updated as to what I learn....
Jeffyjak
