1989 Honda hurricane?

Question

Hello, I have an 89 honda hurricane as a beginner's bike to practice on. My friend and I are stump about a problem with the gas. When we turn on the starter the bike can go idle by itself, but would not last long. The choke helps run it for a little while and then would die. I hope this can explain the problem. Also the bike has not been riden for awhile (6 months). If there is anythign anyone can say to help us out would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

I'm leaning toward fuel supply. Maybe the tank air vent is stuck and not letting air into the tank as the fuel level drops.

Maybe fuel filter?
Swelled fuel lines?

Answer 2

You have a fuel/air mixture issue... Mhhh.. If the bike was brought from sea level into higher than 5000ft, the main jet in the carb must be changed for a smaller one.
If this is not the issue, another guess will be for the fuel to have gotten watter through these 6 months and (again) the jet got dirty...
Another tought (if the bike was outdoors all this time) is for the bike to have an intake air leakage due to cracked hoses... this will make the bike to have more air than fuel... therefore it will die.
I guess you first have to see if, after it dies, when you try to get it to run again, if it is laking fuel (you need to pump the gas for it to start again), or if it is flooded and black smoke is coming from the tail pipes.

Let me site a book here..

*Improper cold start mechanism (choke) operation. A cold engine may not require application of an enriched mixture to start initially but may baulk without choke once firing. Likewise a hot engine may start with an enriched mixture but will stop almost immediately if the choke is inadvertently in operaton.
*Weak spark (spark plugs might be worn and the spark is not as strong as to keep it running in idle)
*Make sure the filter is clean (new is much better) if no filter is used the mixture will be poor and will cause undesired function, if the filter is blocked, it will cause low air introduction to the chamber and therefore a rich mixture will occur.. which is also not good.
*Fuel filler cap air vent blocked

Hope this helps some.. happy riding!