[dlowder]

Purchased my first street bike aug.26, 00 softail deuce. Put over 2000 miles on it w/o the first misfire. At the myrtle b. rally had a stage 1 kit installed and dyno tuned by roadhog m/c out of daytona. The carb. bowl had a lot of rust in it and after the installation and tune up it started misfiring due to the rust. Why didnt it ever misfire before that? BTW the dealer is going to fix my tank at n/c.

[chucktx]

the "rust" was attached and had it not been messed with, it probably wouldnt have given you a problem for awhile.....key word awhile. also you filter needs cleaning. glad the dealer is going to take care of the tank.....have fun
chuck

[AZroaddust]

I am FAR from being a motorcycle expert, but offer you this just for consideration from other experiences I have had on other types of equipment:

Until "rust" breaks loose from the surface, although not a good thing and certainly unwelcome, it is relatively benign.

Once it started breaking loose, your fuel filter should have caught any rust before it got into your cylinders. What shape is your filter in, or does your bike have one? (I really don't know-that's why I pose that as a question)

Is it possible you are mis-firing for some other reason?

[dlowder]

replaced a in line filter at the rally, dont know about the internal filter. The guy that did the dyno said the rust particles were too small for the filter to catch them

[AZroaddust]

Originally Posted by dlowder

replaced a in line filter at the rally, dont know about the internal filter. The guy that did the dyno said the rust particles were too small for the filter to catch them

Interesting. If the "particles are too small for the filter to catch", I will assume that they are =/< than 40 micron in size. Why would this cause a misfire since there is probably numerous paticles that size or greater in "clean" gas? Otherwise, why else would you need a fuel filter?

Pehaps your symptoms (effects) are only coincidental to the assumed cause?

[ironhorse]

Originally Posted by AZroaddust

Interesting. If the "particles are too small for the filter to catch", I will assume that they are =/< than 40 micron in size. Why would this cause a misfire since there is probably numerous paticles that size or greater in "clean" gas? Otherwise, why else would you need a fuel filter?

Pehaps your symptoms (effects) are only coincidental to the assumed cause?

I must second that motion AZ, any particle that fine would most likley pass through the cylinder with out fail adding to carbon deposits and dirty oil and atmosphere the larger particals depends on the quality of the filter should be stopped unless there is a bypass fuel filter that I miss for these scooters.also while they are checking out your tank inspect the lines at any steel area as there was moisture in your system with an introduction of air for some time and you mostlikley don't know how empty the system was.

[dlowder]

hey, i'm totally ignorant on all this stuff, thats why i'm here. going on what the guy with the dyno told me. went back the next day (to dyno) and second reading showed bike was starving for fuel. dyno guy said the rust was probably getting into the small holes of the needle jet,(think thats what he was showing me) the carb bowl had more rust in the bottom of it after 50 miles or so. i'm just bewildered on what is exactly happening, since i didnt have any problem before then. thanks for all the input.

[dlowder]

took the bike to HD shop today to get tank repaired and service mgr. didnt have an explanation. interested to see what happens when i pick it back up. thanks again to everone

[hotroadking]

The fuel petcock (off on reserve) has a filter, unless it's torn it should have simply blocked everything and then at some point clogged from the rust.

The fuel tank should be cleaned and lined to prevent this from happening, did the bike sit for a long time?

My 00 doesn't have an inline filter on the fuel line, didn't stock and doesn't now because the petcock has that screen.

You can pull off the petcock (provided the tanks empty) and check the screen to see if it's torn, that would allow the rust to get through.

A blocked jet could cause power to be down.

I would replace the fuel line hose, and clean out the carb completely with carb cleaner, blow out the jets and the bowl get it squeaky clean.

make sure they put a new petcock screen/filter in. Ask to see the old parts too.

You can get an inline filter cut the fuel line and run one on that line from any auto parts store.

[dlowder]

Originally Posted by hotroadking

The fuel petcock (off on reserve) has a filter, unless it's torn it should have simply blocked everything and then at some point clogged from the rust.

The fuel tank should be cleaned and lined to prevent this from happening, did the bike sit for a long time?

My 00 doesn't have an inline filter on the fuel line, didn't stock and doesn't now because the petcock has that screen.

You can pull off the petcock (provided the tanks empty) and check the screen to see if it's torn, that would allow the rust to get through.

A blocked jet could cause power to be down.

I would replace the fuel line hose, and clean out the carb completely with carb cleaner, blow out the jets and the bowl get it squeaky clean.

make sure they put a new petcock screen/filter in. Ask to see the old parts too.

You can get an inline filter cut the fuel line and run one on that line from any auto parts store.

Only had the bike 2 months dont have a clue about past history. The dealer is gonna get the tank creamed or coated,whatever the term is. I replaced a inline filter, dyno guy said no reason to have a inline filter unless the previous owner knew about the rust. How far does the carb need to be torn down to use the carb cleaner? By dropping bowl and removing needle and main jet gonna do it? Is it just the needle and main jet that could be clogged? Plese bear with me, I have a lot to learn. If anyone needs some tips on catching large king mackeral, flounder or red drum, then I can give some advice.

[duke76]

Really to make sure you have everything clean you are going to have to take the carburetor off and totally apart, blow through all orifices and pull all needles out, when taking out the idle mixture screw, screw it in and count the turns till it bottoms out that way it will be very close when you put it back together. When you blow out the orifices be very careful so you dont lose anything especially on a CV carb on the idle mixture screw there is a little washer and oring that likes to stay in the housing and then when you blow with compressed air it likes to go flying across the shop and you will probably never see it again as it is tiny, also when you put a CV carb together on the needle jet there is a white plastic piece with little fingers like an octopus make sure one of those fingers does not cover the vacuum hole in the diaphragm other than that be very observant with how you take it apart and if your memory is not that good take pictures with a digital camera. Just spray carb clean in all the orifices and any opening in the carb and blow through with compreseed air. Make sure you have your safety glasses on when you are blowing through the carburetor as you never know where the carb cleaner is going to come out and it usually ends up in your eye and that doesn't feel to good also if it does end up on your glasses rinse them off under water I have had a few pair get clouded over with the carb cleaner.

[CD]

If it is not to late I would rather that the dealer rattle clean the tank rather than cream it. Cream is a last resort use when a tank is very rusty and will eventually leak through. Cream eventually lifts off of the tank and becomes...you guessed it small particles that like to plug filters, jets and all sorts of crap.

The dealer (or you) can remove the tank, drop a bunch of 1/4" ball bearings into it and about 1 qt of MEK or Toluene in and shake like hell for a couple of hours. Drain, rinse inspect, repeat until the tank is nice and clean.

Both MEK and Toluene are not nice to paint so do not spill any on it! Also, plug the fuel transfer nipples and use an old petcock without the filter set to the off position and a junk non vented gas cap.

This is the preferred method of cleaning a tank. Creaming is the last ditch effort. Trust me, been there done that and have seen way to many plugged up carbs and petcocks jammed with the crap.

Tanks usually only start rusting if they sit for a long time and they are not full. That is why it is important to always keep the tank full if you are going to let it sit for a while and you should also use Staybil if possible.

[dlowder]

thanks for everyones input. its out of my hands now that the dealer gonna do it at n/c. however i have learned a lot and will keep it stored for future use. hope someone can step foward to host this site, its the only one i've been on so far and really seems to be a great place to spend some time.