Runs great in town, Boggs down sometimes on hiway.

[PJS]

My Gold wing GL1100 runs good in town. Has decent power, idles well and responsive. But sometimes when I am on the highway, it will lose power and run rough like a couple cylinders aren’t hitting and if I pull over, it won’t idle. It feels a little like fuel starvation or such. What could cause this??

[winguyjo]

you say that when you pull over after the bike starts running poorly, it won't idle. does this mean that it will still rev up if you give it throttle at that point ?

[PJS]

Yes, it will rev out but will die with no throttle. After a minute or so will run good again for an undetermined amount of time.

[winguyjo]

well, my initial thought was "fuel pump", but since it will rev up but not idle, i am doubting that. that would also seem to rule out clogged gas cap.
have you had this bike a while or just got it ? i am wondering about the cleanliness of the gas tank and carbs.

[PJS]

Yes, I acquired it not long ago and it had been sitting for a couple years. I replaced the fuel filter and it seems better on the highway now.

[winguyjo]

sitting for a couple of years usually means gummed up carbs (also, the sellers "couple of years" often turns out to be 5 or 10). if it is running better now it may simply be due to running fresh clean gas through it.
i would try a can of seafoam or similar fuel system treatment to see whether you get some more impovement. if not, carb removal and cleaning will likely be in order.

[dnehasert]

I've used Seafoam on my Wing and solved problems. one time I had trouble over 60 mph. Changed plugs and solved problem. Try new plugs and Seafoam .

[WingAdmin]

First two things to check are:

Fuel filter
Gas cap

When it starts bogging down, loosen off the gas cap. If it springs back to life, then you've found your problem. If that doesn't do it, have a look at changing your fuel filter.

[pablo2020]

I owned a 1976 Honda Gold Wing & had this same problem ,it would sometimes hard start & also @ hi-way speeds would bog down as if starving for fuel ,Well fuel starvation was the cause as I removed the carbs to do an overhaul and on each carb there is a minute fuel filter which sits on the brass fiiting directly above the float valve .O f the four filters three were almost completely covered in debris so @ idle & lower speeds the volume of gas getting through the filter was sufficient but once @ higher speed the larger volume of gas getting through was not sufficient and caused the starvation issue and bogging down .Once the filters were cleaned and carb overhaul completed I also installed a new inline filter ,the bike then started easier and pulled strongly @ all speeds .

[Solo So Long]

A few decades ago, I had a GF whose car wouldn't idle -- it would starve out in a matter of moments after coming off the freeway. She discovered that she could gun the engine and keep it going.

It was the FUEL CAP. It had a spring-loaded vent. With fuel flow high enough, the vent opened. When flow reduced, it closed, and at idle there wasn't enough vacuum to open it.

Since the statute of limitations (even in California) has expired, I will admit that this was cured by simply drilling a vent in the cap.