It's Alive! IT'S ALIVE!!! MU-A-HAHAHAHA!!!

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Hunching my back and wringing my hands while I utter my fiendish laugh...

It has been 15 months since Hossy breathed her last, but the big girl's bones are full of fire again! I did scads of minor improvements aside from those I mentioned in the truckload of threads I recently opened in the tech section. I need to button up the last of the electrical repairs, do some final leak checks then hit the road this afternoon for a road test. Even if it ends up needing another dozen repairs in the not so distant future, it will be worth it to hit the saddle again for now!

Older pic from two or three years ago attached.

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Had a great test ride for about an hour, hitting city streets and the freeway. The right front brake rotor is squeaking and getting warmer than the left. I suppose caliper removal and cleaning is in order. I replaced all the components back in early 2015, so cleaning makes the most sense at this point. Otherwise, everything appears to be ship-shape!

[The Mindless Philosopher]

...And...the tachometer light is not working. It's endless with this thing. Fun as can be, but the cycle of bugs, glitches, and breaks is unending. At least it gives me something to do...

[The Mindless Philosopher]

The pig wouldn't start this morning. Battery's not holding a charge. At least I got one day of joy out of it before it returned to hibernation!

[knockdolian]

The pig wouldn't start this morning. Battery's not holding a charge. At least I got one day of joy out of it before it returned to hibernation!

Well you know what they say about wheels and tits !!!

[Paul H]

Paul H

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Replaced the battery.

Still won't start.

Still won't hold a charge.

No doubt shorting out somewhere in the rats nest electrical blob.

Need to buy a REALLY BIG sledge hammer then paint the trike with gasoline and a beautiful orange flame.

But first, sell the 9 inch Cobra II headlight on eBay for two bucks...because why not?

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Joking aside, I should probably drain the fuel then strip the trike of every bit of wiring then start over from scratch even if it takes until this time next year for me to find the will to complete it. Even so, it won't stop some bizarre mechanical failure from occurring, so I'm not sure what I'll do at the moment. Selling it for scrap doesn't sound like a bad idea right now.

[The Mindless Philosopher]

For the record, I am owner #8, and this Hoss has lived in 6 states over the past 17 years, so I'm not really surprised it gives me endless grief. As far as a I've seen, only three previous owners actually took care of it.

Anyway, that's enough of my belly-aching.

[knockdolian]

Well may not know much about carbs but lectriks is my thing !!
when you say, wont start do you mean it wont fire or wont spin. Im guessing its wont spin as you say the battery wont hold a charge so,
If the battery is new you have a short. make sure you have nothing permanently live like a clock or stereo memory. with the ignition off, dis connect the battery live and in a dark area tap the live lead to the post. if you have a short it will spark. then start taking fuses out one at a time until the spark stops. that will be the problem circuit.
See how that pans out.
If that fails. I’ll have the headlight !!!

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Well may not know much about carbs but lectriks is my thing !!
when you say, wont start do you mean it wont fire or wont spin. Im guessing its wont spin as you say the battery wont hold a charge so,
If the battery is new you have a short. make sure you have nothing permanently live like a clock or stereo memory. with the ignition off, dis connect the battery live and in a dark area tap the live lead to the post. if you have a short it will spark. then start taking fuses out one at a time until the spark stops. that will be the problem circuit.
See how that pans out.
If that fails. I’ll have the headlight !!!

I'll take a whack at it! Thank you for the info! Who knows? You might just end up with a headlight anyway!

[knockdolian]

Also check your battery leads are tight and you have a good birth. Have you checked your battery voltage to make sure that it is draining and not just giving you a weak cranking voltage

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Also check your battery leads are tight and you have a good birth. Have you checked your battery voltage to make sure that it is draining and not just giving you a weak cranking voltage

Tight leads. Haven't tested with a hand held voltmeter yet. Been relying on the Hoss' analog gauge. It stays between 10-11 volts cold and sinks down to 10 after a few turns of the starter. I can hear it slow down a hair, too. The battery is rated for 910 cranking amps.

I pulled the fuel line from the carburetor to ensure the electronic fuel pump is delivering to the carburetor thinking perhaps fuel delivery is actually the culrpit, but it's doing its job.

[The Mindless Philosopher]

On the bright side, the whole process counting back four years teaches me life lessons. There's more to the big picture than just the irritation associated with failed pieces-parts. But that's just some Mindless Philospher speak...

[knockdolian]

On the bright side, the whole process counting back four years teaches me life lessons. There's more to the big picture than just the irritation associated with failed pieces-parts. But that's just some Mindless Philospher speak...

Sorry, if you think the problem is fuel delivery is it cranking over or not ?

[The Mindless Philosopher]

On the bright side, the whole process counting back four years teaches me life lessons. There's more to the big picture than just the irritation associated with failed pieces-parts. But that's just some Mindless Philospher speak...

Sorry, if you think the problem is fuel delivery is it cranking over or not ?

It cranks strong enough, but it doesn't "catch." Saturday I had to pour a wee bit of fuel into the carburetor to get it to fire up then all was well even after turning it off at various points throughout an hour ride including a fuel stop. The voltmeter on the trike lingers around 10V cold. It ran up to near 14V and remained steady while I was out riding. I let it sit on Sunday and Monday then went to fire it up for work on Tuesday but it wouldn't catch again. Tempted to feed the carb a little more fuel by hand again to see what happens.

[knockdolian]

On the bright side, the whole process counting back four years teaches me life lessons. There's more to the big picture than just the irritation associated with failed pieces-parts. But that's just some Mindless Philospher speak...

Sorry, if you think the problem is fuel delivery is it cranking over or not ?

It cranks strong enough, but it doesn't "catch." Saturday I had to pour a wee bit of fuel into the carburetor to get it to fire up then all was well even after turning it off at various points throughout an hour ride including a fuel stop. The voltmeter on the trike lingers around 10V cold. It ran up to near 14V and remained steady while I was out riding. I let it sit on Sunday and Monday then went to fire it up for work on Tuesday but it wouldn't catch again. Tempted to feed the carb a little more fuel by hand again to see what happens.

Then you need to ignore all I said about a power draw. If it’s spinning over there’s nothing wrong with the battery. If putting fuel in the carb got it to run I would agree. If your carb is like mine operating the throttle will pump some fuel in the carb. Can you see it pumping .

[The Mindless Philosopher]

On the bright side, the whole process counting back four years teaches me life lessons. There's more to the big picture than just the irritation associated with failed pieces-parts. But that's just some Mindless Philospher speak...

Sorry, if you think the problem is fuel delivery is it cranking over or not ?

It cranks strong enough, but it doesn't "catch." Saturday I had to pour a wee bit of fuel into the carburetor to get it to fire up then all was well even after turning it off at various points throughout an hour ride including a fuel stop. The voltmeter on the trike lingers around 10V cold. It ran up to near 14V and remained steady while I was out riding. I let it sit on Sunday and Monday then went to fire it up for work on Tuesday but it wouldn't catch again. Tempted to feed the carb a little more fuel by hand again to see what happens.

Then you need to ignore all I said about a power draw. If it’s spinning over there’s nothing wrong with the battery. If putting fuel in the carb got it to run I would agree. If your carb is like mine operating the throttle will pump some fuel in the carb. Can you see it pumping .

No, not while I'm trying to start it. I used to, though.

Do I need to pour some kind of fuel line cleaning additive into the tank, or is the fuel pump dying? I put a Carter P4070 in it about 2 or 3 years ago.

[knockdolian]

Then definitely a fuel issue. Have you checked your fuel filter ?

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Then definitely a fuel issue. Have you checked your fuel filter ?

Crud. I was hoping you wouldn't ask that. No, that paper filter is a booger to get out of the carburetor body. Grumble, grumble, grumble. I'll yank it out tonight.

[Paul H]

Why don't you have a inline filter in the line
between the fuel pump and carb??? It would
be easier change??? I wouldn't depend on the
in carb filter to do all the filtering of the gas
to the carb. IMHO.

Paul H

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Why don't you have a inline filter in the line
between the fuel pump and carb??? It would
be easier change??? I wouldn't depend on the
in carb filter to do all the filtering of the gas
to the carb. IMHO.

Paul H

I have one. It's possible I killed it with the overkill?

[knockdolian]

Pull the fuel line off the carb and see what flow you have.

[The Mindless Philosopher]

Pull the fuel line off the carb and see what flow you have.

Strong flow all the way up to the filter housing in the carburetor body. I checked that last night. I just didn't take the filter out. Will do that tonight.

[knockdolian]

With the recent bogging down issues I had recently was as a result of not running it enough. A can of carb and throat cleaner in the carb while running did the trick.
On another matter you have a PM
thanks