Jump to content
IGNORED

04 RSV Radiator and Flooding Questions


RoadshipVenture

Recommended Posts

Hi all new member and new RSV owner. Picked up an 04 with 6000 miles on it, looks great, carbs were a bit dirty and pissing gas at first. After a few cleaning attempts they opened up and the thing drove great for about 700 miles. Yesterday I started bogging down after I push it up a bit at highway speed. I lose power, stop riding, wait a few minutes then it starts again pretty fine, except it's backfiring out of the right pipe only when I rev it a bit. This leads me to believe that one of the carbs is flooding when I open up on the highway. This is a bike that sat for about 10 years unused, so I can get if something was making it's way through the fuel system. Would the ignition cables have gotten old from sitting and maybe one of them stop firing at speed all of a sudden?

 

My next consideration is that it's all getting pretty hot. I'm not seeing any warning light, and I wouldn't be getting paranoid if I didn't notice how low the coolant was in it after buying. I topped it up with mixable coolant, but it made me realize, I've never heard a radiator fan on this thing. I've only ever had one other liquid cooled bike and that blower came on as soon as I turned the ignition key. I think I read somewhere that this one only kicks in when a sensor tells it that it's hot enough, but even after riding an hour I pull into a gas station and cut the engine, there's no blower running. Is there a chance my cooling system / warning light is not working and the whole thing is just overheating?

 

Currently stuck in a small town on the Wisconsin/Illinois border so any insight is much appreciated. I'll probably have the tank off today in my motel parking lot but any tips or thoughts of something to look for would be a huge help, thanks!

 

- Jesse

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The fan only runs when needed which is not often. There is enough air going through the radiator while running down the road to keep it cool. On the right side follow the hose up from the water pump and you'll see the fan switch plumbed in with the wire plugged to it, you can check it there to see if the switch works. You mentioned topping off the coolant, did you fill the overflow bottle under the seat?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Through some good old fashioned carb cleaner in less than half tank of fuel and let it run for about 10 minutes, let it sit real quiet like for about an hour and then repeat. Now see if it runs better. You might even crank on some choke (actually fuel enrichment valve) during the running process. Things might clear up for you bit then. Now fill the tank with fresh fuel and see what happens.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes I topped it off under the seat to an appropriate level, it was less than low when I first looked, though no noticeable problems. Even now I'm sure with heat I'm just being paranoid because of this problem that's come up and the only thing I've really done or found is low coolant level in the reservoir. My gut says flooding which is annoying.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As far as the running issue I'd wager you'll have to clean the carbs. Before that make sure the fuel tank vent hose isn't stopped up (under the plastic housing around ign switch). Make sure the fuel pump is running and filter is clear. Filter is down at the battery and a bit of a pain to get to. You can try some cleaner such as Berrymans or Seafoam, those can help if the carb isn't stopped completely, I like the Berrymans better but you'll get different opinions on that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cool, I ran about a quarter bottle of seafoam through my last tank, I'll try the other today and just let it keep running low. I'll take a look for the vent hose and filter too I could see some kind of sediment being the problem considering how long it sat. Also the fuel cock it visibly pretty corroded and bad, I could see that letting something flow into the system too. The dealer I bought it from said they had to acid wash the tank but I definitely don't think they touched anything in the fuel system after that until it was clear the carbs needed cleaning.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was definitely the filter, full of literal crap. As soon as it was out it was spewing red powder juice everywhere. So lesson learned to look at that first. Got another one to maybe swap out in a few days. After changing for new and running some more fuel system cleaner through for a bit, it runs better than it did when I took it off the dealer lot.

 

Funny how everywhere you go in the States, nobody wants to work on a non Harley, and every Yamaha service center for miles has a 3 week back log, but going off of advice from this forum cost me 12 bucks and put us back on the road for another couple states. Knowing this site was here is one of the reasons I got a RSV in the first place, thanks guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Glad you're back on the road. If it was mine I would look inside that tank, acid washing scares me. If it's just washed future rusting could be an issue as acid cleans old rust it exposes more raw metal to air. Some of the restoration gurus here talk about sealing the tank, I've never had to do one but if it's sealed it'll stop rusting. They can put a name on the products used.

As far as your comments on this site the $12 a year has saved me untold headaches and $$$$ in repairs and maintenance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've cleaned a few rusty tanks with surface rust (not bad flaky stuff) with white vinegar which is basically an acid. Remove the tank and the petcock, cap off the petcock hole, fill er up with vinegar, it's cheap, and let it sit for a few hours. Slosh it around, dump it, rinse with water thoroughly, and then blow it out well with air from a compressor. Make sure the compressor has a drier/water separator on it so you aren't introducing more water. As soon as you have the water blown out, I dump in some 2 cycle mix I have for my weed eater. You don't need much - maybe a quart - just enough to slosh around and coat all surfaces inside before it starts to surface rust as it can do in minutes. Dump out the mix, reinstall and fill it up with new gas.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...