Performance Problems continue, new parts didn't fix anything

[dwitgoldwing]

No, I have the stock stator, but I do watch very carefully my power consumption,
(though I don't have a good ammeter on the bike, (yet). I don't run a bunch of extra
lights, (I did add a couple LED strips to the bottom of the saddlebags, though), and I watch
my voltmeter constantly, and listen to my engine and bike, (almost too much).

The Check Seat Heaters I'm installing only pull 1.5 amps, so I think I'm O.K. My bike does run a little high on the voltage when I first start it on a hot day, (14.4 to 15 volts), but then it settles down to 13.8 - 14.3 once I get into traffic. I installed a new voltage regulator and stator harness from Electrical Connection a couple years ago.

Back to the performance stuff, I think I'm going to put some NGK Iridium DPR8EIX-9 spark plugs in today and re-sync and see what happens. I didn't realize I needed to change spark plugs every year, I was doing about 1½ years or so, but more if I thought it might help, (or if I was obsessing on performance).

Riding home yesterday from work, I noticed as long as I just putt along and don't worry about twisting the throttle much, the bike runs decent. The problem comes when I want to pass, (which is a lot), the bike does seem to struggle and fight against itself to get going. I'm sorry guys, but I do like to feel the rush of twisting the grip all the way at least
2 or three times a day, (or maybe an hour). I'm not your typical Goldwing rider, I had the joy of riding a GL1000 back in 1977 when I was a junior in high school. The rush of twisting the grip is still there for me, (as Sammy Hagar said, "I can't drive 55").
I remember passing a semi truck, (I was co-rider behind my Dad, that time), we were doing 70mph at the back of the truck and 110 by the time we pulled around him. I miss that bike, (Dad wrecked it back in 1980 and it's still in the barn in a twisted mess). For me,
my 1200 is a mid-life bike, sport bike, tourer, mental health project, hobby, stereo project,
iPhone project, tech project, etc. Basically, it's a project I fully enjoy working on, more than riding. But I do ride it pretty much every day that I can, (when it's not raining, or there's ice or snow).

I figure, I've invested a whole lot of money in my 1200, and it's not unreasonable for me to expect that when I give it full throttle, I should get everything I paid for. Oh, well, maybe
I just have to accept mediocre performance and ride like an old man... But, I can't

[neoracer]

soemthing you said i your last post lit a lightbulb.

you have a stock exhaust system?

what's the link on the seat heaters?

[dwitgoldwing]

I have the stock exhaust system, I did put in new exhaust seals all way along, but I do have
a slight puff, puff from the joint right in front of the side stand, (never could get it to seal well - may have to weld it shut).

Here is the manufacturer's link for the seat heaters:

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.checkcorp.com/seat-heater/specialized_apps_motorcycle.asp">http://www.checkcorp.com/seat-heater/sp ... rcycle.asp</a><!-- m -->

I actually ordered them from sportsimportsllc, (which I was kind of worried about because
they are terrible about answering phone/email), and their reviews weren't so good. It all worked out fine, though because I ordered the heaters on 11-3-09, (early morning), fought through trying to get someone to actually respond to me, and the heaters were delivered yesterday, 11-5-09, (pretty quick service). I had to add to my order because the heater is for only one seat, (need TWO heaters for our Goldwings).
I got the luxury model, because I liked the automatic shut-off, more consistent control, and hi and lo. I'm going to finish installing them tonight, along with a 12V 30A accessory relay, (you want to make sure you put these on a switched circuit so they are off when the bike is off). I will get back to you as to how well they work.

Here's the link for sportsimportsllc, (buyer beware)...

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.sportsimportsltd.com">http://www.sportsimportsltd.com</a><!-- m -->

I did have O.K. experience, just hope nothing has to be exchanged... They seemed to have the best price. Total for my order, (2 Luxury seat heaters), was: $292.05 including shipping. It will be worth it if my buns stay warm, (and my girlfriend's too...)


I'm going to post this on the board so all can enjoy.
Don W.

[dwitgoldwing]

Back on the topic, I ordered 4) NGK DPR8EIX-9 iridium spark plugs from O'Reilly Auto Parts at 10:25 AM today and they are supposed to be at the store this afternoon, (pretty quick shipping). Got em for $6.99 each. Everybody else had 2 day shipping and prices were all over.
Advance was the same price, but had 2 day shipping. KOI, Car Quest, and Napa were over $9 ea., Autozone told me they couldn't get them.
Oh, well, here goes some more money, but I do love my Goldwing, so it's worth it, I guess...

[neoracer]

using the platimum NGK now but have the iridiums in the bags,platimums made no difference and those shouldn't either except for long life

by any chance did you ever change out the sparkplug wires,running moroso spiral cores for last four years(rejects from my racecar, lol) and running campbell x-pipes ,slightly louder than stock but the probably 30 lbs or more weight savings (87 aspy) is defintely noticeable over the stock system on my sei <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.x-pipe.com/motorcycle.html">http://www.x-pipe.com/motorcycle.html</a><!-- m -->

[dwitgoldwing]

O.K. I guess I took the lazy way out of changing my coils/wires, and just bought
another set off a low mileage bike from ebay. Thinking back, that's probably not the best scenario because the coils and wires are still 22 years old.

Can I buy the moroso spiral core wire, locally? It wouldn't be something I can get at O'Reilly's while I'm there, perhaps? Is there any specific size wire I need to get?
Will the spiral core wire cause intereference with my stereo/cb? I'm a BIG stereo NUT and have to have my stereo, CB, iPhone, etc, etc., I absolutely do want performance, but with a great sounding stereo system, too...

Thanks,

Don W.

[neoracer]

7mm is the right size wire but what you really need to be sure of is that the sparkplug boot is a molded affair (nicer)

not the distributor or coil side that comes on most kits already molded, some of the universal sets come either way

that way you can do away with the standard "noise suppressors" since the wire itself does the work that they once did

[admin]

I do find this incredulous but something to keep in mind.

The recommended replacement of the Spark plugs is 4000 miles.

I usually can get a year out of the NGK's and then performance starts to be affected but it is something I replace EVERY spring.

My bike will misfire on start up if the plugs are not changed prior to about 6000 miles

The reason that spark plug changes took place at such low mileage is that back in the mid 80's gasoline was sold with healthy doses of lead to lubricate the valves and valve seats and this lead collected on the spark plugs and fouled them necessitating frequent plug changes. Today, realistic spark plug change intervals on our GL1200's are in the 10,000 to 20,000 mile range, even more if you run super high quality spark plugs like irridium or platinum. A case in example is my car which has a GM recommended spark plug change interval of 100,000 miles using platinum plugs. But, if money is no object replace your spark plugs every week for best performance, especially if your valve seals are shot or your rings are weak.

[roscoepc]

I got to thinking about Vic's statement about leaded gas and as I remember, back in the middle '80's, leaded gas was kinda hard to find at least down in Florida. Here's a quote from a Wikipedia article about it:

Quote:

" Additives
Main article: Gasoline additive: Lead

The mixture known as gasoline, when used in high compression internal combustion engines, has a tendency to autoignite (detonation) causing a damaging "engine knocking" (also called "pinging" or "pinking") noise. Early research into this effect was led by A.H. Gibson and Harry Ricardo in England and Thomas Midgley and Thomas Boyd in the United States. The discovery that lead additives modified this behavior led to the widespread adoption of their use in the 1920s and therefore more powerful higher compression engines. The most popular additive was tetra-ethyl lead. However, with the discovery of the environmental and health damage caused by the lead, and the incompatibility of lead with catalytic converters found on virtually all newly sold US automobiles since 1975, this practice began to wane (encouraged by many governments introducing differential tax rates) in the 1980s. Most countries are phasing out leaded fuel; different additives have replaced the lead compounds. The most popular additives include aromatic hydrocarbons, ethers and alcohol (usually ethanol or methanol). In the US, where lead had been blended with gasoline (primarily to boost octane levels) since the early 1920s, standards to phase out leaded gasoline were first implemented in 1973 - due in great part to studies conducted by Philip J. Landrigan"

[admin]

Wickipedia is always fun to read but you must remember that anyone can throw info on Wickipedia, even inaccurate or misguided info. Note that our GL1200's have no catalytic convertor therefore owners were free to choose leaded fuel when available.

Leaded gasoline was commonly available up until the mid 90's although the amount of lead per volume was reduced overall.

Table 2-2: Gasoline Lead Content
Year Lead Content
1973 2.0 grams per gallon
1982 1.10 grams per gallon
1986 0.10 grams per gallon
1996 Banned for on-road vehicle use

Taken from: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.epa.gov/OUST/cat/Section_2-Historical_Usage.pdf">http://www.epa.gov/OUST/cat/Section_2-H ... _Usage.pdf</a><!-- m -->

[Ed Z]

Your post about the lack of passing power and thatit runs OK when putting around, lends me to believe you have a carb slide problem... Also, when you rebuilt the carbs, did you use the jets that came with the kit.?? I ask this because when I did mine, I checked the jets that came with the kits (I had several different makes of kits (including the K&L brand)... What I found is that none of the kits had the correct size jets (therfore I did not use them)... The best kit was ones out of Japan (forgoten the brand name)... If I were to do the carbs again, I would be getting kits from Randal (Randakk) as he takes the time to insure his stuff is right...

[admin]

Randakk's carb kits are the only ones I would ever use when rebuilding GL1200 carbs. You can trust them to be correct whereas other kits can cause all kinds of nightmarish problems that are hard to figure out. But, in this case let the guy verify one system at a time until everything has been checked out otherwise he'll never get his problems resolved.

[dwitgoldwing]

O.K., now I have a new development with my engine performance, and something tells me I'm going to have to tear into the heads immediately. I would like some info
from you guys first before I tear into the engine, though.

Here's what's going on: Since last week I've noticed the engine seems to be running
on 3 cylinders, and is not balanced, (I thought it was carb issues, as has been the case in previous years but this time something is different).

Yesterday, on a nice CALM weekend ride with my girlfriend, I noticed something that had never happened before with my engine, a cloud of oil when I start the engine. In all the time I've owned the bike, (over 5 years), I have never had the "puff of smoke" on start up, that some people have with their 1200s, (until yesterday). That tells me something changed in my engine and I'm afraid it's a bent valve or a leaky seal or ?
I had warmed up my engine in the driveway on the bike's sidestand, (like I do everyday before I ride to work), and then we had some last minute stuff to do so I shut the bike off. After it set for a few minutes and then I restarted the bike, a BIG cloud of smoke came out the tail pipe, (filled the area around the bike with smoke). It's never done that before. Immediately, I thought, "Uh, Oh time for a head re-do". I have to admit I've not done any major Goldwing engine work so I get to jump into it, I guess. I've lapped valves and rebuilt a couple car engines, and small lawnmower engines, but I haven't worked on the inside of my 1200's engine.

Any thoughts on how to make sure I need to tear into the heads? I'm guessing I will need to do a compression check. I figure I must have bent a valve and this caused valve seal problems and now I've got smoke. Thing is, I didn't over rev the engine last week, (unless 6500 rpm is too high - in 4th gear).

I was going about 100 mph when one of the cylinders dropped out.

O.K. I'm looking forward to some insights, (and I'm sure I will get yelled at for taking the bike out yesterday in its current condition - but it was probably the last pretty day of the year)...

Don W.

[Ed Z]

Mine smokes on start-up after very short runs... I believe mine is due to valve seals being a bit hard... Also over filling the oil can cause smoke on start-ups... Try removing a bit of the oil and see if the smoke issue continues.. If so, then possibly you too are in need of some valve seals... The task can be done without the removal of the heads... It will require pressurizing the cylinder with compressed air though... Real easy to make a tool for that... Just take an old spark plug and remove all the ceramic from it... Then just fit a 6 inch piece of 1/4' threaded pipe and weld it together... Put a air coupler on the other end and you have yourself the needed tool...

[roscoepc]

I'd start with a compression check and go from there...