[mightybhwk]

Hi,

I have a 2000 VN800B Vulcan Classic. I was getting ready to put the bike away for the winter and we got a couple of nice days here in Chicago. So I wanted to take it for a ride. Well I didn't check the gas and about 2 miles away from my home it died. So I switched to RES and it started right away. So I drove back to a gas station by my house a put some gas in. When I when to start it the engine cranked but it wouldn't fire. Finally when the battery was almost dead I decided to push it home. When I got home i put it on charge. It still wouldn't start and it smelled like it was flooded. I noticed gas was coming out from under the breather and down the side of the bike. Also there was a steady drip from the lower left side about in line with the seat. I fully charged it and got it to fire when I opened the throttle a little when starting. So I rode it around the block acouple of times and brought it in. When I stopped it almost died. I leaned over to see if gas was coming from the breather and leaned the bike to the right and it rev'ed back up. Everytime I leaned it to the left it would almost die. Anyone have any idea's why I would be getting so much gas. We are moving in a few weeks and I need to ride it to the new house before snow falls.

Thanks,
Randy

 

[QKENUF4U]

kinda sounds like a needle/seat went bad on ya from sitting. when you lean it you slosh the fuel away from the needle/seat,vent line ports etc. and it stops leaking. make sure all your rubber lines are in good shape and not cracked/pinched etc.

 

[mightybhwk]

Ok I'll check out the rubber lines. I forgot to mention that I did put in some Seafoam in the gas tank about a month ago. I took off the breather and the carb is really clean. I wonder if the seafoam did something inside the carb? Ate away at some gasket? Once I get into the new house I was planning on taking the carb out. Do they make a rebuilt kit that I can order?

 

[wiredgeorge]

Seafoam is a petroleum distillate and won't hurt any gaskets or your carburetor. I think the "B" model 800 has one carb? In any case, the little CV carb's float assembly is acting up. Remove the bowl. Remove the pin that holds the float and the needle will fall out. You might want to put in a NEW float needle after you are done cleaning the seat. Use a q-tip and some brasso (brass cleaner) and polish the seat as best you can. Reinstall the new float needle and then the float itself. Note that the float holds the needle in place and contacts the needle. The contact place is a small bendable square. You will need to check the float height on your carb and to do this, you will need to put the bowl back on and put the bike on a lift to get it LEVEL (level is critical). Connect a clear hose much like the one from your batter overflow to the drain nipple and hold the hose next to the bowl (DON'T MOVE IT AROUND). Open the fuel drain using the screw on the bowl and allow gas to fill your hose. It will rise to the same level as the gas in the bowl. If you MOVE IT DOWN and then UP during this process, you will get a false reading... don't move the hose around; especially raising it UP. The gas should be about 1/8" below where the bowl gasket is as memory serves (check your manual for the exact location... this is called the Service Fuel Level). In any case, if gas is ABOVE this level, you will have to remove the bowl and bend the little contact patch of metal where the float contacts the float needle. This is called the float tang. You will bend the tang up if your test showed too much gas in the bowl and down if too little. Recheck till you get it right.

 

[QKENUF4U]

FLOAT HEIGHT and FUEL LEVEL are two different things. your manual MAY tell you both. more than likely you will only find FLOAT HEIGHT which you measure before putting the float bowl back on.

 

[mightybhwk]

Well I took out the carb and took it apart. You won't believe what I found. Under the float needle was what looked like was 3 small blades of grass and a piece of crud (don't know what it was.) I cleaned it and put it back together and took it for a test run. It ran really good, no more leaking gas. But now it's back firing like crazy on decellaration. I read Clymers and it said that the carb maybe incorrectly adjusted. What adjustment could I do? I didn't bend the needle. The only thing I'm unsure of is the cable adjustments. I was going to take a look today. But I'm not 100% on how to adjust them. There was a small tube under the main jet that came out when I was cleaning the carb. The parts diagram didn't show it. The hole size was different on each end. On one end the face was concaved a little and seemed to fit the bottom of the main jet holder. So I put it back in that way. I hope I'm right. Any ideas why I'm back firing so much?

Thanks
Randy

PS The float needle looked good, no grooves and I didn't find brasso. The seat looked really clean. I'm planning on redoing this over the winter I'll replace the needle and hopefully find that brasso. Do Kaw make a rebuilt kit?

 

[QKENUF4U]

just looked at your carb diagram on www.ronayers.com and you have an AIR CUT VALVE (actually 2 of them according to the diagram) in the float bowl. that piece you put back in may have become dislodged or you put it in upside down. pull it apart again and flip that piece. try again. did you pull anything else apart other than the bowl ? heres the diagram i looked at.
http://www.ronayers.com/fiche/400_0468/carburetor/carburetor.cfm