Aero 80 Heat Controlled Carb/Choke (bystarter)

[PolarIce]

Bear,
You probably know better than anyone else but is there a vacuum between those bypassed hoses? Can I "T" off of that to get my petcock working correctly? I have a new style with vacuum where an old on/off type should be.

[Bear45-70]

"T" it on the manifold side of the valve. It should work.

[PolarIce]

"T" it on the manifold side of the valve. It should work.

Update - for those of you with the Urban Express - this modification worked perfectly and I am now "sucking" down the gas with a modern type petcock instead of the on/off version originally equipped on the UE. Thanks again Bear.

[Bear45-70]

Anytime, glad to be of service.

[goucho]

So I'm bringing this thread back from the dead, since it's got a ton of useful information in it (mostly from Bear, as I understand is no longer active). I picked up an '84 a couple weeks ago and ran into what seems to be the same problem of the wet plug after prolonged driving. I have a feeling the autochoke is no longer functioning and feeding oil in even after the engine is warm. I also believe I may have a vacuum leak somewhere. I think it is on the bottom side of the reed valve since there was some air/fuel bubbles coming out of the side and I need to replace the gasket. Have yet to take it apart.

I just wanted to verify the Bear work around with the manual choke. Here is a picture of the actual carb area vs the KISS drawing from bear:




So essentially it is eliminating the autochoke and cutting off the fuel element filter (2 hose thing)? Therefore no extra fuel will be fed from the bowl?

I'm planning on running to home depot this weekend and finding a ball valve, some 1/4" barbs and some tubing. Hopefully this cures my problem! Any input from anyone would be much appreciated!

[motormike]

Good luck with this goucho...
Apparently a good fix to a system that was far too complicated and unreliable.
We miss the Bear's input here, to be sure.
I experienced the same difficulties with an Urban Express as did Polar Ice.
I could never verify if the OEM system was functioning properly or not.
Let us see your work and tell us of it's results...

[patthesoundguy]

I too will be doing this workaround at some point in the near future. I am always unsure if the system is functional. It doesn't seem to be running rich or have the signs but I'd like to try without the auto system and see what happens. I was just thinking about this very thing yesterday when I started my aero 80 up.

[goucho]

So I got a chance to try it out last night. Turns out a buddy of mine had a valve with 1/4" barbs lying around. I routed it as was described above and turned it on with the valve open. It started right up and I saw the fuel flowing through (a decent amount of fuel was coming through). It sounded healthier than before. I let it warm up for about 2 minutes (it's warm here in Seattle) and closed the valve. Fuel stopped flowing and it idled higher. I adjusted the flow screw and mix screw to get it to idle healthy and it sounded beautiful.

Usually it would die after ~20 minutes of riding. I rode around for rough an hour and a half. IT DID NOT DIE!! I am not declaring this a success yet, since I need at least 3 data points to make a trend. So I'll keep you guys updated. I got some tygon tubing and am going to grab an on/off lever ball valve to replace the valve my friend borrowed me then hard mount it on the body like bear did. I'll take some more picture when I get that done.

Now, I need to figure out why the front blinkers don't blink, and the rear blinks stay solid when on. Relay perhaps?

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Sounds like a burnt bulb filament.

[motormike]

Very nicely done goucho...and thanks for the report.

[goucho]

Greetings:

Sounds like a burnt bulb filament.

I checked one of the front bulbs and it seemed fine, but would another one being out cause the others to act funky?

[Wheelman-111]

Greetings:

Did it seem fine or did it light up with 12 volts applied to each + pin?

Turn signals not flashing is frequently caused by a bad bulb, front or rear.

[goucho]

Greetings:

Did it seem fine or did it light up with 12 volts applied to each + pin?

Turn signals not flashing is frequently caused by a bad bulb, front or rear.

I got 4 new bulbs and replaced them all and still nothing. I will take a look at the grounds again, but I'm leaning again towards the relay since the backs light up but don't blink. Maybe there is a missed connection going from the front blinkers to the relay. I have the wiring diagram so I'm going to piece through it when I have some time (which is never). Plus it's hard to justify time since I just use hand signals anyways.

[motormike]

Last relay I replaced on my Aero 125 was an automotive unit came from O'Reiley auto parts for very few dollars...maybe $4.
Fixed it, done. Blinks a little quickly, but okay.