starts, runs, dies, starts, runs, dies..SOLVED!!!!starts, runs, dies, starts, runs, dies..SOLVED!!!!Out of the blue my Dream decided it won't stay running. Everything was fine and no changes were made to the bike. It starts 1st kick on full choke. Warms up in a few minutes and I can head out. Shortly thereafter, she starts bucking for about 20-30 seconds. Then she either dies, or if I pull over, sometimes it will stumble around a bit and then it will clear up. That is short lived, however, as I can only get about a block before she stumbles and dies again. I installed new plus, points, and condenser. As stated - it starts very easily. It just won't stay running. All help is appreciated.
Last edited by nevada72 on Thu Aug 07, 2008 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Did you check the plugs after it dies.If they are black you are too rich and the new plugs are probably shot.Ask me how I know!Did you set your timing after the points were installed?Check carb. for proper adjustment and clean.Check your battery cables and ground.Some on here suggest taking gas cap off while it runs bad too see if it helps then it would indicate bad cap.May want to read old posts on Carbs. or ignition to get more info.Many of us had similar problems with different remedies.let us know what you find.Joe
Like he said - your plugs will tell you loads about what's happening. If it's running lean there will be a white residue on the plugs...then you want to check what your fuel flow is like and perhaps clean the carburetor. So, I'll bite - how do you know? -Franky
'79 Vespa ET3 '73 Lambretta Jet 200 '66 Honda Dream 305 As an electrician by trade, I've been taught to check the easiest, if not most likely, thing first. If the light won't go on - check the bulb! Why I don't apply such things to motorcycle work I'll never know. So....after doing a full tune-up and carb rebuild, it turns out it simply wasn't getting gas fast enough. Granted, the carb rebuild (Keyster rebuild kit SUCKS btw) clued me into the fact that it wasn't getting enough gas. The float bowl seemed very low on gas when I removed it. I adjusted the float to allow for more gas - no worky. Then it dawned on me - simply unplug the gas line and see if it flows. Drip, drip, drip - almost nothing! I took the petcock apart and found that the culprit was the rubber grommet that allows gas to pass through it when the lever is rotated. This is the after pic -
 The rubber had deteriorated a bit and plugged the holes (see yellow arrows). I simply drilled them out, reassembled - Viola! Perfect! The stutter that the bike had all along has dissappeared as well so it was something that simply went from bad to worse until it stopped the gas flow altogether. Another side benefit is that in having to learn about tune-ups and carb rebuilds and adjustment help me diagnose that the bike was running lean. Bill Silver's disk has a carb and tune section which showed me how to adjust the needle jet to make the mixture more rich. The bike now runs better than ever!
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