carb problems while touring portugal

[steveo]

hi steamers!   firstly , i dont  get on here very much, mainly because my tiger isnt my first bike and is mainly used for touring and  hasnt had any problems ........ until now !

i have just ridden from Bilbao to Lisbon without a problem, but upon firing up the other morning, i knew straight away something wasnt right. the symptoms......running rough at anything below 4000rpm (feels like kangaroo petrol!), belching black smoke at low revs(both exhausts) , not ticking over, not warming up and using a lot more petrol than normal.above 4000rpm , everything smooths out.
hard to tell, but seems cylinders 1 and 2 arnt getting as hot as 3.( it almost seems like a couple of pilot jets have fallen out ?!)
prior to leaving, i gave her a service , including a carb strip and clean , new k and n airfilter, new inlet rubbers,new petrol tap (as it wouldnt turn off fully ).  i did a 1000 miles about england after this and the bike ran perfectly.

so im not STUCK here in lisbon as such, im staying with a friend , i have tools and access to a workshop and there is a triumph dealer here, but before i start tearing apart the bike , i thought i would ask on here if anyone has had similar symptoms and any advice ?

thanks in advance.....Steve

[Mustang]

sounds ike it could be simply debris in one or more carbs , keeping the float valves open and thus flooding bad below 4000 rpm .

and if it aint that .....................look  at the coils .

[steveo]

thanks mustang......i have a spare coil and plugs with me and have tried swapping in various ways. so yes , could be floats, tho its not pissing petrol out of the overflows, even if i leave tap on when not running......cheers

[Mustang]

check your oil level

it usually floods the air box then runs into #1 cylinder........and fills the crankcase

been there many times with 4 different steamers
happens to the ones with mikunis mostly

[Chris Canning]

You haven't put diesel in have you because it sinks to the bottom of the tank sounds just like my mates VFR after it had been standing over night in the hotel car park.

He always denied doing it and we put it down to contaminated petrol and had a helluva game keeping it going but as we were going to Valencia and sat on the motorway for the day it finally cleared after two tanks of fuel.

[steveo]

oil level is ok, but oil is very black , i assume from the over fueling, so that will be changed.
ive taken carbs off and cleaned , also replaced float o rings from an o ring kit that was lent to me (nothing open here over xmas)
tested coils and leads , all ok, put back together and still the same problem.
so now carbs off again and they are being ultra sonically  cleaned , if that dont work then will have to look at buying new float assembly s from triumph lisbon as they dont sell float valves separately  .

defo didnt put diesel in the tank !!

[Sin_Tiger]

Try Steve at Motocarb in Liverpool for parts.

Unless the carbs were really crappy when you had them open I'd concentrate on making sure that the idle jets are clear manually, use some fine copper wire, don't be tempted to use steel wire or drills    Ultrasonic cleaning won't always clear those very small orifices.

[steveo]

cheers......pilot jets have been out and are clear......the problem is over fueling even at (rough) tickover and  below 4000....

[KamikazeKunze]

Have you checked the coils or wires?

[steveo]

hi, yes , a guy here in lisbon tested the coils and leads and said they were ok ( he does car electrics as a job but does nt speak any english !! but i assume he knows his stuff ) i am also carrying a spare coil and plugs and have tried various combinations to no avail....

[Sin_Tiger]

If you don't get any joy tomorrow let me know and I'll ship you my spare set of carbs, you can return them when you get back.

This is just to prove we're not bitter that you're out there enjoying the  weather while we're    our nuts off here

[steveo]

that sir , is a very kind offer  i ll let you know how it goes......i must admit .....its 17 degrees C here and the forecast is for sunshine for at least the next week......

[steveo]

does anyone know why even tho im logged in i still cant access some of the HOW TO subjects ??!!

[Mustang]

the links are broken.........................

they got fubar'd on server updates

[steveo]

SORTED!!     so the ultra sonic cleaning did the trick, apparently loads of varnish came out of the carbs , so he ran them through a few times, threw it back together this afternoon ( that air box is a bitch) and she runs like a dream.

so ultra sonic cleaning is a good place to start when having carb problems...cost 60 euros.....now having several glasses of vino collapso......thanks for all help, advice and offers, the holiday can go on .......