off list for a trip! nklr

[Toby Lampson]

Patrick Sprague wrote:

> Weird problem #2: booking home this afternoon I got caught on the > interstate in a frog strangler. Visibility was about 50 feet in this rain. > The bike had been running great at 5k rpm but lost power quickly as the > rain got very heavy. The bike never cut off but wouldn't rev over 2k. > Pulled over, blipping throttle to keep it running, it would catch, run to 5 > or 6k, then back to idle. After rain let off a bit it ran fine. I made it > to a gas station with a roof and played with the throttle a while, afraid > to turn it off. Sat out the rain with a burger and the bike ran fine the > remaining 100 miles home. Doesn't seem electrical (wet coil or wire). > Yes, the side cover is on. Hmmmm..is this a built-in "safety" feature...if > visibility is 50 feet or less engine won't run over 2k? A K&N filter > resides in the stock air box. Never had this happen on any other bike, but > I'm thinking it was sucking more water than air. Anyone else had this > happen?

Patrick, Did the bike sputter, or misfire, or just smoothly evenly loose power? Although this has not happened on my bike I've heard of it happening on others.......and to my recollection no definitive answer was found. I did what made sense, that others have recommended, as solutions to this problem. To my knowledge these are: 1) Turn the ignition coil around. 2)Fill, with silicone, the area around where the ignition wire cap holds the ignition(spark plug) wire into the ignition coil. 3)Replace the stock resistor type spark plug cap(total crap) with a waterproof type cap. G'luck Slide

[Tom Bowman]

Patrick wrote:

> Weird problem #2: booking home this afternoon I got caught on

the

> interstate in a frog strangler. Visibility was about 50 feet in

this rain.

> The bike had been running great at 5k rpm but lost power

quickly as the

> rain got very heavy. The bike never cut off but wouldn't rev

over 2k.

> Pulled over, blipping throttle to keep it running, it would

catch, run to 5

> or 6k, then back to idle. After rain let off a bit it ran

fine. I made it

> to a gas station with a roof and played with the throttle a

while, afraid

> to turn it off. Sat out the rain with a burger and the bike

ran fine the

> remaining 100 miles home. Doesn't seem electrical (wet coil or

wire).

> Yes, the side cover is on. Hmmmm..is this a built-in "safety"

feature...if

> visibility is 50 feet or less engine won't run over 2k? A K&N

filter

> resides in the stock air box. Never had this happen on any

other bike, but

> I'm thinking it was sucking more water than air. Anyone else

had this

> happen? Did you modify the air box? Any other ideas

appreciated. What a

> great, fun machine this is...and a new adventure every day. :^)

This happened to me last week crossing the Kancamagus pass in New Hampshire. Temperatures had dropped into the low fifties with rain; for several minutes the engine wouldn't respond properly to throttle, especially after the downhills. I attributed it to "carb icing", which I've seen on autos as high as the sixty-degree range. The simple test is to stop and shut the engine off and let it 'hot soak' for a few minutes - if it runs normally afterwards, that's the problem. Carb icing can occur when the temperaure, humidity, and intake air velocity all are in a narrow range; at that point, ice may form around the low-pressure side of the needle jet's outlet in the carb venturi and restricts fuel flow, leaning out the mixture. In extreme conditions I've seen engines refuse to run until they're hot-soaked long enough for the carb to warm and melt the ice. Of course there are other possible explanations, but if it's a transient condition that occurs primarily under that narrow set of conditions, good odds it's icing. TomBowman Atlanta A14

[Toby Lampson]

Tom Bowman wrote:

> Patrick wrote: > > > > > Weird problem #2: booking home this afternoon I got caught on > the > > interstate in a frog strangler. Visibility was about 50 feet in > this rain. > > The bike had been running great at 5k rpm but lost power > quickly as the > > rain got very heavy. The bike never cut off but wouldn't rev > over 2k. > > Pulled over, blipping throttle to keep it running, it would > catch, run to 5 > > or 6k, then back to idle. After rain let off a bit it ran > fine. I made it > > to a gas station with a roof and played with the throttle a > while, afraid > > to turn it off. Sat out the rain with a burger and the bike > ran fine the > > remaining 100 miles home. Doesn't seem electrical (wet coil or > wire). > > Yes, the side cover is on. Hmmmm..is this a built-in "safety" > feature...if > > visibility is 50 feet or less engine won't run over 2k? A K&N > filter > > resides in the stock air box. Never had this happen on any > other bike, but > > I'm thinking it was sucking more water than air. Anyone else > had this > > happen? Did you modify the air box? Any other ideas > appreciated. What a > > great, fun machine this is...and a new adventure every day. :^) > > This happened to me last week crossing the Kancamagus pass in New > Hampshire. Temperatures had dropped into the low fifties with > rain; for several minutes the engine wouldn't respond properly to > throttle, especially after the downhills. I attributed it to > "carb icing", which I've seen on autos as high as the > sixty-degree range. The simple test is to stop and shut the > engine off and let it 'hot soak' for a few minutes - if it runs > normally afterwards, that's the problem. Carb icing can occur > when the temperaure, humidity, and intake air velocity all are in > a narrow range; at that point, ice may form around the > low-pressure side of the needle jet's outlet in the carb venturi > and restricts fuel flow, leaning out the mixture. In extreme > conditions I've seen engines refuse to run until they're > hot-soaked long enough for the carb to warm and melt the ice. > > Of course there are other possible explanations, but if it's a > transient condition that occurs primarily under that narrow set > of conditions, good odds it's icing. > > TomBowman > Atlanta > A14

Tom, Very interesting. The air through the carb really is hauling ass at fwy speeds huh? You may just have something here. This would account for those 'smooth' or 'even' power losses I think. Wouldn't it? Maybe even some 'sputtery' ones usually typical of water in 'spark system' sort of failures. If this turns out to be 'IT', I hope somehow, someone knows how to look under 'wierd problem #2' in the archives. So recycling warm air, or some sort of carb warming device would sort this possiblity eh? Slide

[Mark McCoy]

Gonna unsub until after the Fourth. Going to the Honda Sport Touring Association STAR rally in Avon, CO. NKLR content here because I am taking the VFR. Have it rigged up to haul Jane & our gear for about 12 days. Looks like Jed Clampit bought a sportbike... Will scan some picks when we get back. C-Ya, Mark McCoy