QuestionI have an '85 Honda VF500F Interceptor that I'm having trouble with on cold starts. Once the bike warms up, it runs great and if I take a short break it starts back up without the slightest issue. However, in the morning (after it's sat all night) or after taking a 4-5+ hour break, it has quite some difficulty in starting up. With full choke, it takes about 60 seconds or even up to 2 minutes sometimes just to get it to start and idle with the choke. At that point, it has to sit anywhere from 5-15 minutes idling before I can let up on the choke and start giving it some throttle. Once it's going it's great, rides smooth and fast without hesitation. So here's all the work that's been done over the last few weeks:
New: battery, rear tire, plugs, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter, oil(10W40), chain, turn signals, paint job, gas tank
The carbs were also cleaned last week. It's been in the low 60's(F) recently where I live.
The gas tank was the last thing to go on, and I think that may have something to do with it. I wasn't there during all the work (I'm at school and my brother was working on it), but from the sounds of it, this didn't start happening till the new tank was installed. The old tank had a broken petcock, so that was new as well. From what I was reading, the only thing someone mentioned that might correlate to the new tank is a dirty petcock. I'm going to buy some SeaFoam today and add that to my tank and hope that it'll clean the petcock as it runs through. However, any additional suggestions are appreciated! Keep in mind I'm a poor college student with few tools and only a novice with mechanical work, so suggest the easy and cheap stuff first please :-p Thanks!
AnswerThere are so many variables on this problem. Its possible to have a fuel problem as well as an electrical prblem. On the spark plugs take the stock number it calls for and go down 1 number as this will be a hotter plug. Next make sure the mixture screws have the brass plugs that cover them removed so the can be adjusted. Also you may need to rig up a fuel take and hose to let in fresh fuel. Adjust the mixture screws to get the best idle 2 1/2 to 3 turns out from bottoming then syncronize the carbs. The poor quality gas we get nowadays has alcohol in it and breaks down the rubber components in the fuel system. If you get the beast to run better dont use Seafoam in it as you"ll just waste money. Try some Lucas fuel injector cleaner as it break down the gunk in the carbs so it can be burnt and pass throught the jets. Not carb cleaner or fuel conditioner. Also just check the spark plug resistor boots they unscrew out of the ignition wires ans have 5 ohms of restatnce built in and do short out.
