Motorcycle Repair: 86 Honda Shadow VT700C, kawasaki honda, honda shadow

Question
My Shadow sat in storage for 3 years and of course the fuel went bad.  I think I have it clean now but the bike won't idle.  I pulled the fuel line at the carbs and when turning the key on, the fuel pump only pumps once.  Is this normal or am I looking in the wrong place for the problem?

Answer
Ed, what does "I think I have it clean now" mean? Did you remove the carbs and clean all the jets? If the bike doesn't idle, most likely the idle jets are plugged up and/or the air bleed ports in the throat. Some people have had luck with using either Yamaha carb cleaner products or Chevron Techroline fuel conditioner. You have to drain the bowls, inject the cleaner into the bowls with a syringe or whatever and then let it sit overnight, usually. Drain the bowls of this mixture and then start the bike up on clean fuel in the tank. If this doesn't clean the metering passageways, then you have to pull the carbs and do a real carb clean on them.

Yes, the fuel pump system has a relay that runs the pump for a few seconds, to top off the float bowls, then shuts down again. With empty float bowls, you may have to cycle the key on a number of times, to help fill the bowls. Unfortunately, unlike Kawasaki, Honda didn't put a PRIME position on their petcocks, to help fill empty carbs.

Bill Silver