Help :(

[Jean]

But where is original poster??

[ME 109]

But where is original poster??

Another satisfied Boxerworks customer, Jean.

[Ken in Oklahoma]

But where is original poster??

Another satisfied Boxerworks customer, Jean.

It is the Boxerworks way, after all. The customer kick starts us, and that's really all we need. We're fully capable of handling it from there.

Besides, the customer sometimes wants to re-direct us back to his/her question. That can be extremely annoying if you're on a roll.


Ken

[ME 109]

But Ken, The customer is always right.
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[Zombie Master]

But Ken, The customer is always right.
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But there is no warranty.

[disston]

There are problems sometimes with carb diaphragms that we all fear. Tiny pin holes can be hard to spot. But I don't think the current problem is the diaphragms.

Float level is a prime suspect. You have to be into this. It's part of rebuilding the carbs and adjusting them but once set up they float level shouldn't change. Still you need to know how to check it so you can know it is not the problem. With the carbs on the bike, remove the float bowl on either side, turn the gas on and hold the float up with a clean finger. Gas flow should stop when the parting line of the styrofoam float is even with the main body of the carb. Lower finger a little and see the gas drip all over your clean finger? Raise float and see the float needle is working right and the gas flow stops just when the float is parallel with the body edge of the carb. Got it?

If the action is not satisfactory then there is an adjustment covered in any of the manuals but we will cover it for you if needed. Gas not shutting off or only when the float is raised too high is probably not the problem this time. but if the float needle shuts the flow off before the styrofoam, float is very high at all then it is your problem.

The other thing that may be happening and I personally suspect more than float level at the moment is debris in the gas tank. The old red tank liner flakes off and rust or dirt can also clog the filters or screens that is there to prevent this stuff from getting to the carbs. The whole system should be taken apart and rinsed out. I use a garden hose and then air dry the tank before reinstalling. There are screens on the petcock straws in the tank and if the older petcocks there may be screens at the bottom under the nipples. This can cause gas to be severely restricted.

If you are going to clean the tank get some new gas line. The old rubber gas line doesn't last more than a year or two.

[PITAPan]

if it bogs at a particular speed observe the RPMs, then downshift and slow to the same RPM as you were just having trouble with,. See if the problem persists.

Carb problems are often on one side only (unless both are tuned incorrectly). So it can be good to see if the bogging is due to loosing power on one side. This takes some experience to feel. You can take an old spark plug, tap the tip on the ground so there is no gap left, then install on one side of the engine. That side will no longer fire. Start the bike and rev it up running on one side only. You will get a feel for a bike running on one cylinder quickly. Make it a quick test. Don't overheat. When you remove your special plug, wait awhile before putting the good plug back in. The cylinder has been sucking gas and not burning it. It's wet in there. Let it dry some.

Petcocks are rebuildable. It will take you 1/2 hour or so. But that is enough of a mechanics shop time to make just installing a new one a break even---if they don't really install it well. The rebuild kit is inexpensive and the first time you rebuild a leaker you can just replace a single o-ring, turn one seal around, dress the other, clean and grease everything, clean up the tank nicely and you're done. The o-ring costs .15 from an o-ring supplier (+$5 shipping so make a list of all the ones you want and buy many for the shipping cost). Second rebuild you will need the kit with both seals and the new o-ring. Third rebuild (300,000 mi??) It will need parts you cannot get separately.


Get the leaky petcock back from the mechanic (who is gonna rebuild it for his bike!!). It is standard practice to show removed parts to the customer, and let the customer decide if they want to keep them. Failure to do this strongly recommends a different mechanic. If he says he already threw it away, insist he come up with a complete one (must have screen, must have solid feeling detents), leaking OK---yours was.

have to review the work again but the price and the timescale seem silly...

[Jean]

But where is original poster?????


Hah.
You all thought I was dead.
Nope.
Had a runaway TDI and have been wrenching 4-wheels for awhile.

[Pattern14]

It's quite disappointing to keep hearing about bikes being improperly serviced or "repaired" by so called ace mechanics. I do nearly all my own work except for specialist machining, but have still managed to be stuffed around by idiots in the last 3 months. Stopped short of punching some one, but it got ugly. I paid them for the half arsed effort they put in, just to avoid any legal drama's. Hard to believe that you got stung 500 dollars, and are no better off. From what has been described, it does sound like a fuel supply, more than a mechnanical issue. Is there a bike shop with a dyno that you could get to, so it can be seen what happens under load? Hopefully there is someone on this forum who can recommend a competent mechanic in the area that you live, or at least provide a contact point for you.

Who knows, maybe you just had a rough start, and the bike will give you years of great riding once sorted

[Duane Ausherman]

After owning a BMW service shop that did nothing buy BMW, I have come to the conclusion that very few places have a clue as to what they are doing. Nearly 100% of all work that came in from a new customer was screwed up by a previous mechanic. After it got sorted out, it would usually be a good runner. A few were too messed up and some models have a poor design and would never be right, but that wasn't the majority.

Owners that did only the work for which they were qualified and brought it in to us for the rest had very good results.

Today, if you can't find a very good, well known, long time BMW mechanic on your model, don't take it in. Learn how to do it yourself, or you just won't be satisfied and happy. In my day, the majority of customers didn't have the basic skills to do very much on their bike.

It was our standard policy to not charge for jobs that didn't work. We learned how to spot the "losers" quickly and tell the owner ahead of the job. Nothing is worth an unhappy customer from a poor job.

I had unhappy customers, but that was with my personality, not our work. I soon learned that some people can't make good customers and I was better off with them going away.

I ramble, sorry.