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Posted: Sat May 03, 2008 6:28 pm
by Bob Dale
Sorry about the last few months of absence. I took a little break to focus on some other things and let the frustration with this bike subside a while. I started it every week or so and just recently got back to riding it. It seems to have worked itself out and I put probably 20 miles on it today with no sign of fouling. That's 19 miles further than it has ever gone on one set of plugs before so maybe its ok now. My current attention is on finding new tires. I'm staying away from any engine work as long as it keeps running like it did today.
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 1:44 pm
by Bob Dale
I spoke about 5 miles too soon. The plug on the left side is fouled again. The right is quite a bit better but not perfect. I think I will see if it happens this way again and then reverse to plug wires to see if the problem changes sides. Are there any reasons other than bad wires that could cause one side to foul? I have equal compression on each side and good valve settings I think.
Fouled Plugs
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 4:10 pm
by ggray
Bob, Could be a weak coil.
I have added a relay to my coil wire to pump 12v to the coils.
Can't say at this time if it was worth the effort as I'm working bugs out of other systems.
It might be an option for you. Worth a read anyway.
http://www.wgcarbs.com/index.php?option ... &Itemid=26
Gary
Posted: Fri May 09, 2008 8:31 am
by Bob Dale
I checked my voltage at the black wire connection on the coil. It's 11 volts vs about 12.5 at the battery. Is that enough voltage drop to weaken the spark significantly? Is there a way to test the actual spark? The relay modification is easy enough so maybe I will try it and see what happens.
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:01 pm
by Bob Dale
I have now tried 2 new things to trouble shoot and correct this plug fouling problem with no luck. I switched sides on the plug wires, expecting the problem to swith sides but it did not. I also installed the relay bypass and am now getting a solid 12 volts to the coil. I may check the valve gaps again because that's the only explanation that I can think of for the problem being worse on the left side. Everything else...fuel mixture, timing etc...are shared by both sides so they would seem to be ruled out.
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 10:03 pm
by joeweir1
Bob did you check your carb insulator and orings?I adjusted valve gaps when I had a similar problem and it did not help.Joe
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 11:08 pm
by Bob Dale
I have not checked them recently but the insulator was fine last time I had the carb off and the o'ring was replaced when I rebuilt the carb. I'm pretty sure there's no air getting around it if thats what you are suggesting. I just dont see how that would cause fouling on one side worse than the other unless the air current enters at a sharp angle, sending more air towards 1 side of the engine than the other?