Topic: Help a water logged girl and her bike get back on the road! pllllleeeease

[sedna]

Howdy!
Hey, so this is my first winter with my '75 CB750 here in the Northwest and I am new to riding & wrenching in general. But I'm learning as I go (on both accounts!). I am also sadly without garage (currently trying to remedy this situation) and my bike sat out in the monsoon the last couple weeks (nearly six inches of rain in ONE DAY!  ) now it doesn't want to start. I've gotten it going a couple times but it just won't keep running. It felt like when you run out of gas, roll on the throttle and don't get anything back.

So, from my reading on the forum I've taken the points cover off to check for moisture. Didn't find anything. I also took the covers off the spark plugs but didn't notice any water in there either. What else should I try? The other bit is that I have about a quarter tank of gas in the tank right now. A guy told me last night that I ought to dump it out and put some sea foam in it. Yes? No?

Would you all mind offering up some tips that I could try? I would really appreciate it.

[phil71]

if it was uncovered and in very heavy rain, you'd be surprised how long it could take for points to dry off. Leave the cover off awhile, and maybe hit it with a hair dryer. Also, look in your oil tank. If you see any milky traces, get your oil changed immediately.. and finally, if you did get water in your tank, it would be great to drain it, but if it's outside your skill set, I'd just add fresh gas and some sta-bil to help evap the water off.
Good luck to you!

[MCRider]

Howdy!
Hey, so this is my first winter with my '75 CB750 here in the Northwest and I am new to riding & wrenching in general. But I'm learning as I go (on both accounts!). I am also sadly without garage (currently trying to remedy this situation) and my bike sat out in the monsoon the last couple weeks (nearly six inches of rain in ONE DAY!  ) now it doesn't want to start. I've gotten it going a couple times but it just won't keep running. It felt like when you run out of gas, roll on the throttle and don't get anything back.

So, from my reading on the forum I've taken the points cover off to check for moisture. Didn't find anything. I also took the covers off the spark plugs but didn't notice any water in there either. What else should I try? The other bit is that I have about a quarter tank of gas in the tank right now. A guy told me last night that I ought to dump it out and put some sea foam in it. Yes? No?

Would you all mind offering up some tips that I could try? I would really appreciate it.

Do you have the petcock set on reserve? 1/4 tank may be awful close to reserve, and if the bike is leaning or has been leaning in the wrong direction, it may be ... out of gas.

I don't know why you would want to dump it. The tank lid should seal it fine from the elements. If anything I'd put some more in. SeaFoam can't hurt, and some stabil as mentioned. If it has water in the tank, more likely from condensation than the rain. You'll want to stir it up and dilute it.

Of course draining it out the petcock and refilling can't hurt anything i guess.

[bollingball]

No pods I hope? WD40 works good on wet electrics I keep a small can in my tool bag on trips has got me going a couple of time they make a small can looks like a sample 3 or 4 oz.

                                  Ken

[chewbacca5000]

After you get her dried out I would pull a spark plug an lay it on top of the valve cover and see if you have spark.  You'll need an deep 18mm socket and a ratchet.  See if it sparks chances are it will since you said you have had it going, but won't stay running.  Also, give it a little choke and let it warm up really good before roll on of throttle.

I'd also take your left side cover off and check out the rest of your electrics for corrosion from the rain.  It's a good think to do anyway make sure all your electrics are clean.  Any green corrosion in the connectors needs to go.  A small amount of rolled up 400 grit sandpaper and electric contact cleaner will make contacts as good as new.

[WarwickE36]

Do you have the petcock set on reserve? 1/4 tank may be awful close to reserve, and if the bike is leaning or has been leaning in the wrong direction, it may be ... out of gas.

+1

[sedna]

Well, thank you all for you ideas! I had to add two gallons of gas to fill it up so it wasn't totally empty but it was getting close-ish. Anyway, I also added some Sea Foam and bam, started right up. Magic! The idle sounds a lot better too. Hmm.

A couple days of good riding weather approach and I'm a happy lady! Thanks again. 

[WarwickE36]

Funny how running it out of gas feels like its running out of gas    ride on

[MCRider]

Ta da!

Glad it was easy.

The gas started it, but the SeaFoam probably cleaned up the idle. Cleans plugs, carbs etc.

Now that you've been introduced to SeaFoam, use it in gas and oil as maintenance per label.

[DavePhipps]

Just in case you're a nutjob like me and ride in the rain all the time using dialetrict grease inside the plug caps helps.

[CoachDoc]

Could be your plug wires are getting close to the end of their useful life insofar as they may be affected by rainwater, increasing the resistance and making starting hard. My bike used to have 1 and 4 die when riding in the rain. If I pulled over and ran it for a few minutes on 2,3 the engine heat would dry the leads out and all 4 would fire for a while. The problem went away when I put new plug leads all around. I'm thinking your wires may have just needed time to dry out.

[mrbreeze]

Sea Foam is the bomb fer sure. Next time (hopefully not) that happens.............drain the carb bowls into a small container and you can see if water is in the gas. They don't run or run real crappy on water. The points is another bad place to have water. Even if it all looks dry........shoot some WD40 into the points plate. Glad ya got it runnin'............ride on!!!

[bryanj]

Honda plug wires were affected by rain straight from the factory, at least here in UK they were! carry some WD 40 or other such water repelant as you can, and liberaly spray the coils, plug wire, plugs and point assembly if it's raining

[Stev-o]

First off welcome!  Glad you ot it running and hope you secured a garage. We love pics here, so post a couple when you get a chance.