So, something weird happened with my trusty ride.
Bike's been absolutely perfect since this time last year, probably has a few hundred miles on it, HS142 engine with a Q-matic drive and a (actually rather impressive) multi-speed/jackshaft setup. Was really challenging to engineer, but once I got it working it ran like a spotted ape...until now. The other day I went to go up a moderately steep hill, no steeper than the hills I'd been up 50 times around here, and while I could tell the engine was really working hard it buzzed right up and everything was fine.
A few minutes after that I pulled over to look at my phone, and I noticed that the bike was making a squeaking sound - like metal grinding somewhere. Wasn't too loud, but I hadn't heard it before. I thought it might be the spring on the belt tensioner inside the Q-matic, which (on my particular Q-matic) rests really close to the flywheel and in the past when dust has built up inside it rubs against the wheel ever so slightly and makes an audible sound.
I didn't think much of it until the ride home, when my engine started sputtering and bucking around when getting up to speed. It did it even worse when going the not-nearly-as-steep hill near my house, almost to the point where the engine stalled out. Thought maybe it had to do with high humidity, as my bike doesn't like humidity and it was rather humid/foggy at that point.
Well, the problem got worse. Now it will sputter and bog at even the slightest incline - engine will go from buzzing along at ~5k RPM happily to dropping below 2500 (and causing the clutch to half-engage, which can't be good for it). It feels like it's not getting enough gas, but it only does it when going up (now even mild) hills. I've tried thus far:
I think it's still the carb and maybe it needs another cleaning and maybe even replacing... but... the timing just seemed weird, with all of this happening right after tackling a hill. Everyone knows correlation =/= causation, but it's still suspicious.
Anyone hit something like this before?
Bike's been absolutely perfect since this time last year, probably has a few hundred miles on it, HS142 engine with a Q-matic drive and a (actually rather impressive) multi-speed/jackshaft setup. Was really challenging to engineer, but once I got it working it ran like a spotted ape...until now. The other day I went to go up a moderately steep hill, no steeper than the hills I'd been up 50 times around here, and while I could tell the engine was really working hard it buzzed right up and everything was fine.
A few minutes after that I pulled over to look at my phone, and I noticed that the bike was making a squeaking sound - like metal grinding somewhere. Wasn't too loud, but I hadn't heard it before. I thought it might be the spring on the belt tensioner inside the Q-matic, which (on my particular Q-matic) rests really close to the flywheel and in the past when dust has built up inside it rubs against the wheel ever so slightly and makes an audible sound.
I didn't think much of it until the ride home, when my engine started sputtering and bucking around when getting up to speed. It did it even worse when going the not-nearly-as-steep hill near my house, almost to the point where the engine stalled out. Thought maybe it had to do with high humidity, as my bike doesn't like humidity and it was rather humid/foggy at that point.
Well, the problem got worse. Now it will sputter and bog at even the slightest incline - engine will go from buzzing along at ~5k RPM happily to dropping below 2500 (and causing the clutch to half-engage, which can't be good for it). It feels like it's not getting enough gas, but it only does it when going up (now even mild) hills. I've tried thus far:
- Disassembling the carb completely (jet, float, etc), blasting the heck out of it with carb cleaner, re-assembling
- Removing all the chains (this beast has 3!), making sure they're completely free of road grime and old grease, re-greasing, re-installing
- Complete flush of fuel system, fresh gas from the corner gas station (that I've used before without issue)
- Cleaning off the layer of very fine black dust that's accumulated on the Q-matic unit and the inside of the plastic belt cover
- Running through a full tank of fuel with gas + fuel system cleaning additive (slightly more additive than recommended...)
- Played with lots of settings with the mixture screw - from super lean to super rich, performance only gets worse on either end of that spectrum
I think it's still the carb and maybe it needs another cleaning and maybe even replacing... but... the timing just seemed weird, with all of this happening right after tackling a hill. Everyone knows correlation =/= causation, but it's still suspicious.
Anyone hit something like this before?
