Site Content

Fuel systems service really includes a number of separate items.  Such includes carburetors, fuel injectors, fuel tanks, lines, filters, pumps, throttle bodies, petcocks and all parts in motorcycle fuel systems.  We can help with all and I'll try to give some detail on what we do in each area.

FUEL TANKS

First of all would be the gas tank.  It must be clean, no leaks, rust, crud or gunk.  No amount of cleaning or rebuilding carbs or injectors will get your cycle running right if there is dirt or rust in the gas tank.  The tank must be addressed before anything else.  Plastic tanks are quite easy to flush clean, steel tanks are where the problems develop.  Rust must be removed, and usually, the inside of the tank sealed to prevent rust from reforming.  We use an environmentally friendly product to de-rust tanks.  I have the best results sealing tanks with Red Kote, which I first used in about 1986 on a Honda XL250.  

CARBURETORS

Are you having any problems like these: my bike doesn't idle right; it doesn't run right; it won't start when cold; it only runs on choke; it idles fast?  Well, these are almost always carb problems and all boil down to one thing: your carbs are internally dirty (ie:gunked up), out of adjustment, and in major need of not just cleaning but rebuilding.  Especially since most motorcycles built since 2000 or so have fuel injection, if your bike has carbs, its probably about 20 years old, if not much older.  These old carbs need way more than just cleaning.  Soft brass parts are worn, seals, o-rings have deteriorated, cracked or shrunk.  Floats may leak, gaskets cracked and inept shop mechanics may have screwed them up completely.  Many of today's technicians working in the big shops are younger than your motorcycle and may have never worked on a motorcycle with a carburetor.  I've been working on carbs since 1967, starting with the Amal Monobloc.

Additionally, it makes no sense to rebuild the carbs unless the valve shim clearances are checked and corrected, also multiple carbs must be synched on the bike, otherwise don't bother rebuilding them.  However, don't bother with these chores if you're not going to use a colortune plug to correctly tune the carbs after they're rebuilt and re-installed.  

When I  rebuild carbs, first, they are disassembled.  Parts are soaked in carb cleaner to remove the worst of the crud and varnish.  Then all parts are cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner where sound waves loosen and remove any contaminates from deep within tiny passages and inner compartments.  This is followed by pressurized cleaner and compressed air.  New parts like jets, emulsion tubes, float valves and seats are all OEM or equivalent.  All new o=rings and gaskets are installed.  I don't use cheap junk rebuild kits from Ebay, Amazon or the like   These are junk and will fail usually within a year.  Float levels are seat to the specs in your bike's factory service manual.  The carbs are bench synched, then re-installed and adjusted.  At this point, each carb is tuned for the correct 14.7 to 1 air/fuel ratio for proper burn, ensuring a bike that runs like factory new.  After colorplug tuning, multiple carbs are synchronized on the bike.  Your bike will run like a scolded ape.

Of course, new fuel lines should be installed, fuel filters cleaned, or, more likely, replaced.  If your motorcycle uses a fuel pump it will also be checked over to be sure it is clean and working well.

Fuel Injection Systems

The majority of motorcycles built today are fuel injected and we can help if your having issues on a fuel injected bike, too.  Fuel injection systems consist, in the most basic form, of the fuel tank, fuel pump, pump relay, pressure regulator, fuel lines, fuel rails, throttle body, fuel injectors and a multitude of sensors, some of which are throttle position sensor, manifold pressure sensor, oxygen sensor, speed sensor and many others.  Many modern motorcycles have a built in self-diagnosis function for the fuel injectors, which usually just lets you know that an injector isn't functioning properly.  We can save you money by testing the sensors, wiring and injectors.  Many times the problem is just a plugged injector.  

Symptoms of injector problems could be hard starting, stalling, rough running, not starting, sluggish, the normal array of fuel related problems.  Over time, internal injector parts like springs, seals, filters can fail.  Injectors can plug from hydrocarbon combustion, sludge due to water in the gas, varnish from gas left a long time in the bike (like sitting all winter), dirt, debris and crud from service station tanks, poor quality fuel- well, you get the picture.  So, with time and miles, injectors need to be cleaned and refurbished to get your cycle running like new again.  This can be done for a fraction of the cost of new injectors.