After the restoration: 14400-mile service
Saturday, Jan 20, 2007 [13950 miles]
The bike has been running well, save that my gas mileage has been going downhill, until last weekend when it became a real pain to start. It took 10 minutes of kicking to get it started after a gas stop, for example. Today was no better. I rolled it down the hill to start it when going to Joe's. Once there I wound up getting a ride to breakfast with a fellow enthusiast as the bike didn't want to start. After breakfast I looking at a few things.
The spark plugs were a bit black. Joe cleaned them up and I put them back in the bike. I've new plugs here at home. The bike still wouldn't start easily.
Joe noticed the dripping gas from the carbs and remembered my comments of a recent large reduction in gas mileage. Off came the lever tops. He removed the needles and looked at then under a loupe. They were old, solid tip style needles, not the current style with a soft tip. He could see a ridge partially around the tip of one of the needle that just about guaranteed that they wouldn't seal. Some gas would flow regardless of the height of the float. We replaced the needles on both sides. style needles.
Amazing. I'd not have thought that leaky float needles would cause hard starting. I'm curious to see how (if) my gas mileage changes, too. The bike still isn't running exactly right, but it started and got me home without any problem. The carbs are due for a good cleaning. I think I'll do that (and use new spark plugs) now and see if that improves running.
Wednesday, Jan 23, 2007 [13959 miles]
I had time today, so I replace the spark plugs with new plugs and removed both carbs and gave them a good cleaning. Jets and airways seem to be clear. If nothing else, they look better. I'll find out if this helped Saturday.