Newbie seeking some advice here. I've had a 1978 FXS 1200 Lowrider for a while now. I've got pics but the file size is too large to upload. That's a separate issue and if any linux user wants too pm me as to how to resize the pic that would be welcome.

Anyways, I had a problem with rusty fuel tanks. I used the Por 15 fuel tank sealer system last Tuesday. I remounted the tanks, put 93 octane in them this morning. I think the tanks sealed well. I started it this morning and rode about three miles, got rained on but got home. It ran great. It quit raining so out I went for a longer ride. It ran great for about five miles until it starved for fuel. I watch the new plastic paper filter element slowly refill. It started great and ran a half mile, same thing again. It started raining again. It did this about four more times until it died the last time at the foot of my driveway. During all this, the electric starter began to not work at times. Turn the key on press the button and no noise of any kind. Then it would work again after a while. Until the last stall. I hot wired it and the starter spun great, but it made no effort at all to start. It felt like it was not switched on but it was, at least the lights were on.

Edit: I paid a shop to rebuild the carb among other things. They kept it a long time and charged big bucks. The first time I picked it up it made it one mile. They picked it up, kept it another week and it died in their parking lot. Both times fuel was steadily dripping from the tiny hose attached to the bowl. It still is. A long time ago I made a living as an auto tech and those guys ticked me off so much I demanded that they trailer my bike to me.

Second issue is shifting gears. It pulled a little while in first with the clutch engaged but it shifted well. That was at the beginning. After the first stall on the second ride, it became very difficult to kick it into first. On the first ride, no fourth gear. On the second ride fourth engaged one time before the first stall.

I replaced all fuel lines with new. The one from the filter to the carb before the tank job. The others during the re-install. I pulled the bowl and sprayed it out clean I think with WD 40. I unscrewed that brass nut (under the jet?) and blew things out as well as I could, (no compressor). It looks like maybe the 90 degree barb the fuel line attaches to at the carb might have a crack in it. I think the fuel line is attached properly there, but it was wet.

It sat for 7 years and all a relative of the PO could tell me is that it ran, but that it "kicked out of gear at times".

What do you guys think?

 

WobblyOne,
Does the fuel flow okay if you pull the fuel line at the carb and open the petcock?
If it does, then your stalling problem is probably something in the carb. A piece of dirt floating around in one of the passages of the carburetor or maybe something in the fuel bowl. What kind of carburetor are you using? Did you flush all the carb passages with one of those wands that come with the cleaner spray cans? Too bad you don't have compressed air to blow 'em out but a spray can with a wand might do it.
The starter problem could be a bad connection in the wire to the starter solenoid, bad starter relay, a bad connection in the wiring for the relay, a bad starter switch or bad connection in the wiring for the starter switch. Those are the places I would look first.
The bike pulling a little while in first gear at a stop is, of course, the clutch not releasing fully. Something amiss in its adjustment or perhaps corrosion or dirty/sticky clutch plates. There is other stuff that might cause it but those are the two most likely causes. I say this with an assumption that the clutch worked okay before the bike was parked for 7 years. Other things could include bad bearing for the clutch hub/shell, not enough primary lubrication, broken pieces in the clutch, primary chain not adjusted properly (this would be both slack adjustment and alignment with the engine and clutch shell sprockets).
I hope another, more experienced guy, will offer you help with the transmission shifting problems.

 

Thanks Megawatt. Yes fuel flows freely through the new filter. it shows no debris or discoloration. After the stalls the filter would not be full of fuel though. I sat and watched it slowly refill. Does that sound normal?

 

I had a fuel filter that had a clear glass center section and it often looked almost empty. The bike always got plenty of fuel. I have never figured out why. That's about all I can say.
One test you can try is run the bike around until it stalls, shut the petcock immediately, have a wrench with you to pull the fuel bowl drain plug (if you have one) and see if there is gas in the bowl. You would also need a way to catch the fuel from the bowl as it would not do having gas pour all over a hot engine. If you found a normal amount of gas in the bowl then there must be something wrong in the carb fuel passages. If you don't find fuel then perhaps the float or needle valve is hanging up. When you were in the carb before, were you able to confirm freedom of movement of the float and valve?
If you are sure the engine is not getting fuel, then it must be something in the carb since your fuel line flows okay.
I just had a thought, have you looked inside the fuel tank that has the petcock to ensure there is nothing floating around in there that could wrap around the screen on the petcock, stopping flow. It seems a long shot but I suppose it could happen.

 

You never said what carb you have, I'm assuming stock for your FXS which would be a Keihin. The best hint of what the problem is the fuel coming from the overflow tube attached to the bowl. Evidently you have a problem with the fuel needle that is operated by the float. What is happening is the fuel is not being shut off by the float and it continues to fill the float bowl until it overflows. This will cause eratic running and stalls. It could be a piece of debre on the needle or seat or it could be worn. If you still have the fuel filter attached to the petcock inside the tank, I would remove the inline filter and see if performance improves. For some reason I've had problems with fuel starvation with a number of different inline filters. I removed the filters and the problem went away.

 

Appreciate you working on this Megawatt. I am convinced that the fuel tanks are sort of like new. That Por 15 kit is not cheap. I spent the better part of six hours applying it to one tank and then the other. As a former auto painter, I've a decent understanding of paint. Also, the screen filter inside the tank which is attached to the petcock, is now in great condition. It was kinda nasty before I got my hands on it though.

So you are right, a clean fuel supply means I'm going to have to take the carb off, again, and break it down. There has to be trash in it. Since it is already clean, a spray can of carb cleaner should be pressurized enough to blow out the remaining debris. To answer one of your questions, yes the float seemed to be clean and to operate.

 

And I assume you have the fuel filter going in the right direction. Most of the in-line ones have an arrow showing which direction the filter is to be placed.

 

another thing you might want to think about is your vented gas cap. It isn't that common for one to not work, but if for some reason it decides to not vent, it will create a vacuum in the tank and not allow fuel to flow out. After you clean out the carbs and test drive it, if it dies again, open one of your gas caps and watch if the little trickle into your filter improves. On to the starting issue. Use a 12 volt test lamp (available just about anywhere that sells tools or auto parts if you don't already have one) to see how far your voltage is making it through the starting system. I would venture a guess that your solenoid isn't causing the problem, but start there anyways just to verify. When you hit the button and it doesn't crank, you should get voltage on the small terminal in the middle of your solenoid, but you probably aren't. If so, you may have a bad solenoid. If no power, follow the small wire back to the relay. There should be either 3 or 4 terminals on your relay, depending on what kind of relay was put on it. One terminal should be hooked to power all the time. The one going to the solenoid should energize when you hit the start button. One of the terminals should come from the start button. This should also energize when you hit the start button. If it does and the bike doesn't crank, you may have a bad relay or the relay may not be grounded well enough.

 

Thanks for all the very helpful advice guys. I'm working a LOT of hours as in 72 this week. I will get back to bike next week. The carb has Taiwan stamped on it. The gas caps are probably not stock, nor are they identical with the exception of exterior shape and chrome. I should have given more thought to those caps because they create a really excellent seal after the the tank treatment. I do have a test light and thanks for the correct method of tracing the hot.

 

did you line the insides of the gas caps as well as the tanks? if so, pitch them in the trash and get new ones. You plugged up the vents, and now created a vacuum in your tanks, which is likely the cause of your problems.