Most frustrating bike ever

[billythegrape]

1977 GL1000. 52,000 miles. The bike has a horrible time idling and stalls frequently. Not much power when hammering down, either. Here's what I've done just related to running issues:

- carb rebuild
- gas tank derust
- new ballast resistor (had a piggyback for the Dyna III on it)
- valves have been adjusted about 6-8 months ago
- new petcock
- new honda fuel filter
- made sure gas cap was working

The bike takes a long time to warm up, and stalls frequently when cold, too. The reason I rebuilt the carbs was because I had done it before, but with the fuel filter I had on there, the bike got rust from the tank into the carbs. I pulled them apart and there was a lot of fine silty material.

I am at my wits end with this thing. The reason I replaced the ballast was because it tested at 4.3 ohms, and it's supposed to test at 3. The ignition coils test at 32000 ohms with the caps on cold, 31000 ohms with the caps on hot. The caps test at 8.5 ohms. I have read that the caps should test at 5 ohms, and the coils at 17500 ohms, but they test equally so I'm not sure that's the issue.

Please help. I am supposed to go on a trip with my dad in July, and I don't know what to do. Argh.

[ekvh]

Coils are at upper end of acceptable. Try some Gl1500 coils

[raven41951]

Sounds like its starving for fuel. I know you have rebuilt the carbs, but try running some startron starbrite or some seafoam through it. I had a 1100 shadow that did the same thing, just before I gave it to my brother I ran two ounces of startron in a tank of gas through it and at the end of the tank it purred like a kitten. No more stalling at stops, takes forever to warm up, etc. I use it faithfully in my wing. Low hanging fruit, cant hurt to try.

[billythegrape]

I thought about the fuel thing too. I tried choking it, but if anything it made it worse. Also replaced the petcock with no noticeable difference.

Update: on my lunch break today, I pulled the tops of the carbs on a hunch and found the #3 slide to be sticky in its bore. I cleaned the crap out of it. Also, I had installed washers under the needles last time I fooled with the carbs and ended up with like 21 mpg, so I removed those.
I drove it home and the power was back. No more open throttle problems. However, the bike stalled and wouldn't start back on its own. I jumped it off and drove it home, keeping the rps above 2000 to avoid a stall. Mind yoy, this was exactly what it did prior to the carb rebuild.
Brought the battery to the store I bought it from, it tested good but the machine said it had 1/4 the life left. Had it fully charged and will test the charging system for faults tomorrow. Coils and plug caps come on Friday. It's like 96 out and no rain for a month. I have to get this thing running.

[billythegrape]

UPDATE:

Tested the charging system this morning. Getting 11.3V at all RPMs. Something is wrong. Will test more **** this afternoon.

[maintainer]

You're probably not going to want to hear this.
If you have to maintain above 2K rpm to keep it running your idle/slow jets are stopped up. The slides only come into play above idle speed in the power/acceleration circuit.
The idle jets in these things are super tiny and hard but possible to clear.

And if your only getting 11.2 VDC even at idle much less at 3K rpm's you may very well have a bad stator.
Check the terminal block connector for melting or damage under the battery side cover, in front of the battery, inside the rubber boot.
There are three yellow wires coming from the stator to this plug.

This low charging voltage and low battery "could" also affect running and idling.

[billythegrape]

I don't mind hearing anything, I'll take the carbs apart 100000 times if it fixes the bike. I think the charging system needs to be checked and fixed first, then I'll worry about the carbs. If the idle circuits need cleaning, so be it.

[billythegrape]

Also, stupid question, but the idle jets are the ones underneath the "kidney" plate, right?

[raven41951]

I can't reply to the carb question but I can tell you that (one of) the reason(s) the bike won't idle is the battery voltage. If this "new"? battery has only 1/4 of its life left, then it is junk. It could be OK if the charging system is not charging it, which is what it is doing, but this can also kill an otherwise good battery. Replace/rebuild the alternator. There are all kinds of articles here on how to and which ones.
This happened to me, but only because I had the idle turned too low and it was not providing enough juice to keep the battery charged with all the overhead. Luckily for me my charging system was/is working properly and turning the idle up to 850rpm fixed my issue. I get 14.3v throughout the range.
I also found out that low battery voltage cab also make it seem like you are starving for fuel because there is little or no spark.
Fix your charging system first.

[billythegrape]

Found a melted stator connector with a hole in it. I cut it out, soldered and heat shrank the wires. Now the bike is up to 11.83v at idle and 3000 rpm. Went and returned that crappy battery, it's charging overnight and I'll check the voltage on the system tomorrow morning.

[billythegrape]

Tested the wires from ground to stator with bike running and got 86v on all 3. Is this normal?

[sfruechte]

Not charging could be a rectifier problem. There are rectifier checks outlined in the shop manual.

[billythegrape]

I ohm tested the stator and it tested 1.2 ohms on all leads. Infinite resistance as well.

How bout this? Went to test the rectifier and the connector had melted completely. Think that's the issue, haha?

[SnoBrdr]

I ohm tested the stator and it tested 1.2 ohms on all leads. Infinite resistance as well.

How bout this? Went to test the rectifier and the connector had melted completely. Think that's the issue, haha?

Hopefully you have checked/fixed the stator one as well.

[billythegrape]

Yep soldered and heat shrank.

[Clarencechapman]

Rust in the tank...I had that too. Had the carbs off 2 times and then tore the bike apart and had the tank coated. No more issues.

As far as that connector melting...Had that too. Twice. Just found that my patch had burned through again. I was running 50 watt lamps on the front. Have recently converted too LED access lights. By any chance have you been running high watt bulbs? Curious to see if that might be why that wire burns.

[billythegrape]

I have a red led in the rear and a normal headlight up front.

[Clarencechapman]

Well that pretty much puts that idea to rest.

[billythegrape]

Update. Replaced the burned regulator, getting 13.8v. Yay. Increases with RPM. yay. Replaced ignition coils and caps. Yay. Resynced carbs. Idle falls a little lower than I'd like when coming to a stop, and I'm so used to the ******* thing stalling that I'm inadvertently goosing the throttle a wee bit. Changing the idle screw seems to help a tad; I have the mixture screws set at 2 turns. What to fuss with next? If this bike dies on the dragon next week I'm throwing it off a mountain .

[billythegrape]

Drove the bike some more, it works pretty damn well. Idle is a little uneven, but it only stalled once on a 40 mile ride when sitting at a light. Idled down and quit, but it fired right back up and didn't repeat that issue.

[billythegrape]

Just got back from a weekend at the dragon. Bike performed beautifully. Getting 33 mpg.

[raven41951]

Glad to hear it. Looks like you have "rectified" the situation.