| Author | Message | ||
     Kauai1800 |
Aloha Everyone, Full on newbie here. Considering getting my first motorcycle and think the Blast I see on Craigslist might be the way to go. ' Been going over lots of the threads here and learning as much as I can. Seems like a 2001 yellow with 11K on it for $1400 is a pretty decent deal, based on what I've read here and elsewhere. The owner claims it's never been laid down, no scratches on the bodywork, it has aftermarket exhaust and new tires - so that's all good. He says that it's been stored for the past 11 months and when he's tried restarting it, it backfires. Not sure if he means at idle, on acceleration, or what. Said "maybe the carb needs re-jetting or a good cleaning". Any thoughts on what that might be? I tried to find a "pre-purchase" checklist for things to look for in a used Blast, but I never found it. If there's a thread like this, please share. Thanks for any help and tips you guys can slide me way.. (Side note: I live on Kauai and so there's not a lot of Blasts here to chose from on any given day..but there is a HD dealer and repair place, and I'm pretty handy with a wrench) | ||
| Ezblast |
Das Boot! Get two, they are cheap, and enjoy! EZ | ||
| Swampy |
If the Blast has been sitting for 11 months especially in warmer climates, I would suggest a carburetor cleaning. The fuel tends to evaporate and leave a varnish that will plug the carburetor jets. I would also recommend getting a 46 primary jet and 170 main jet if you are going to remove the float bowl to clean the carburetor. Then, start, warm, ride, repeat! | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
"maybe the carb needs re-jetting or a good cleaning"LOL! They'll be putting this one on my tombstone: "Do not take the carb apart 'just to give it a good cleaning'." This is rarely necessary and often just leads to more problems. Gasoline is a solvent and usually its just the slow jet that gets clogged which you'll be replacing anyway with a #45 anyway (and the main with a 170). If the owner did things right the jets should already be changed with the exhaust. Ask for all the old parts, etc. Concur with EZ. Unfortunately (as you wrote) you have a very limited selection of Blasts, so this sounds as good a deal as any. If you've read this website you'll know I've said it a hundred times. "Just give the carb a good cleaning" translates to: I have no idea whats wrong with your bike, but why not do this and see if it helps. It usually does more harm than good.  | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
PS: Welcome! | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Mahalo to all for these tidbits. Here in Hawaii we just dump in SeafoamŪ into the gas of any engine that's having a problem. Stuff fixes almost any kind of fuel-related problem if it's related to water in the gas, dirty venturi, jets, etc. If you've never used it, I recommend it highly. And I concur, "carb cleaning" = the great unknown. Nice thing about Seafoam is nothing gets taken apart. The owner is gonna drive it over in the morning and we'll have a look. Just might nab it. It's all up-to-date with safety check, registration..so that's a good sign it was working well when parked. So great to have a forum like this for us complete greenhorns....thanks guys!  (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 10, 2010) | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Seafoam is a common suggestion here too! Good luck! | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Well...I pulled the trigger. $1400 including a nice helmet and trickle charger. Test ride went off with no hitches; frame was straight, and back-firing issue seems to have gone away.  Has a Vance Hines exhaust and I see the CA emissions canister under the seat and I've seen the threads about removing that and rerouting the hoses. (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 11, 2010) (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 11, 2010) | ||
| Ezblast |
Sweet - did that Blast originally come from Dudley Perkins dealership in SF? EZ | ||
| Milt |
That is one good looking Blast. Enjoy. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Glad you've seen the 49 state threads! Just to reiterate: ditch he canister ASAP! It very well may have been the cause of the backfiring! http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/201 64/76349.html Yellow: that must be one fast Blast  | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Thanks! Ez: not sure where it came from originally; just somewhere in CA. Why did you think of this specific dealer? And what's the deal about yellow? Is it the goofiest color or what? I kinda like it and here on Kauai it'll look great..of course we do have rather unusual taste.  lol The Blast is a perfect bike for this island since the maximum speed limit is 50 MPH...and there's no freeways and basically only 59 miles of road! But there's some really nice twisties up in the mountains and along the ocean - so that's where I'll be. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Kind of an inside Badweb joke. Milt and I own yellow Blasts (see my profile) and it used to be said that black was fastest partly because its the most popular colour. | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Here's the reason I want to learn to ride..Waimea Canyon Road..and I've never ever seen a police up there. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCTVx7WopHU (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 13, 2010) | ||
| Ezblast |
Because I sold a number of Blasts - to people shipping them from DP to the islands - a couple where yellow - all while picking up parts for projects - lol - that was always the funny thing about DP - they did not know how to sell Buells, but they sold a shit load because of their undeserved reputation, being the oldest dealership in the area, etc. - so I'd walk in to pick up a part, and one of the sales guys would introduce me to the prospective buyer as a Buell Blast fan, we'd talk, then they would almost always buy - lol - especially after kicking the tires on my bike as well, which showed what you could do with one - lol - I've sold a lot of Blasts with out ever trying. Tony/Xgecko probably knows that road well. EZ | ||
| Themagster |
I was thinking that with only 59 miles of road I would have to ride around the island at least 8 times to get my weekend ride in, but with roads like that, I wouldn't mind at all  Welcome Kauai, now time to post your video! | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Yeah the 59 miles is like driving with the background of an old cartoon going over and over behind you! But before I can do that..I am having problems getting the Blastocyst to fire up. I contacted the previous owner and he did what I did and that is spray starter spray into the airbox. But it shouldn't have to be that way. I'm going to check das boot carefully and do the 49-state conversion and try again. That sound about right? And found out there's no MSF Basic Ridercourse offered on my island...drats. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Yes that sounds about right, no it shouldnt have to be that way and continued starter fluid spray use can do damage. Do the 49 state the easy way (2 plugs & leave the tank hose open to vent). 5 minutes and the problem is eliminated! If you have the cover off the airbox you can cover the carb inlet with your hand to create your own choke. Also, since stating is going to be hard and the headlight will be on, disconnect the headlight so it wont additionally drain the battery and rob the ignition of power.If you feel the underside of the headlight bucket you'll feel the wires coming out. The plug is maybe 5 inches along those wires from the entrance into the headlight bucket. | ||
| Rainman |
Replace the boot ASAP. It causes most of my carb problems. Then, once you get it going, ride it everyday, or as near to it as possible, and it will give you at least 14,000 miles of happy service. Then replace the belt, the airfilter, the plug, the boot and go some more. It's worked for me. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
 | ||
| Ezblast |
Concur! | ||
| Milt |
Amen. | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Mahalos Guys! Ok I plugged the lines the easy way. Ironically the hose that went to carb was eroded through by the wheel, so it was open already. but... Bike still won't start/idle without starter spray, so I ordered an OEM boot from HD and once that comes in we'll get in there and replace it. It might be premature to order a new boot before checking the old one, but based on everything I see here, seems like it'll need replacing. OK but here's my new question. How does one remove the CARB canister? I see the some dovetails/rails holding it in, but can't figure out how to get it out of there. Thanks! | ||
| Ezblast |
Its held with clips, use a flat-head to remove/compress clip to slide canister out. EZ | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
PS If the line to the carb was unplugged (or eroded), it will run poorly. You did plug it right? ....and the clip just unbolts so dont worry if you damage it. | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Thanks! I did plug the two lines as per instructions. And figured out how to pull out the canister. Also got in a new carb boot and swapped it out for the old one. I saw no obvious tears or even small holes - only a 'gouge' from being overtightened at some point, but did not seem to penetrate the boot itself. Still, based on everything I've read, I swapped out the boot and clamped everything down well. But..still not able to start w/o a blast of starter fluid and won't idle at all - you have to give it throttle to keep it running. The new boot might have made a small change, but not fixed the problem. I wanted to check the spark plug (and replace it with a 10R12APP I bought), but looks like the gas tank has to come off too? I can't find a thread on changing the spark plug...sorry! Also I want to check the plug that in there. If the gas tank does have to come off, that might not be such a bad thing since it still has the gas it came with when I bought it 2 weeks ago...who knows how old that is? I'll try and find directions on draining and removing the tank. Probably should change fuel filter too ya?..Seafoam it too. | ||
| Crackhead |
You don't have to remove the tank to change the spark plug. You need a socket that fits the plug and has a spot to put an open end wrench on it. Most from sears has what i am talking about. | ||
| Buellriderx |
Hey I'm in Kona... I gots a blast as well. Too bad you're not on the Big Island.. enjoy it! | ||
| Ezblast |
Try the carb cleaner/seafoam - if that doesn't do it, try replacing the pilot jet with a new 45. If that doesn't work, I would check the slide for tares/rips/holes,deformation and check other sources of a vacuum leak, the line cap off the carb, the intake manifold, the exhaust header to head connection. If you put your hand over the carb mouth, will it run? EZ | ||
| Kauai1800 |
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend everyone and again thanks for your help...hope this thread's not getting too long and ungainly.  I'm trying to get as many answers as I can from the forum before I ask more questions. Here's where things stand so far... Well I did pull the tank because I figured I'd need to anyway if I wanted to thoroughly drain the tank, get at the carb and spark plug. I did see that one could awkwardly pull the plug w/o taking the tank off, but it seemed easy enough and it was. What I discovered is that there was a pretty sooty Champion 8809 plug in there; I pulled it and replaced it with a HD iridium plug (10R12APP). I pulled out all the airboxes and cleaned them up with some simple green and Armorall and they look great now. I did twist the crankcase vent spigot tube to drain into the airbox instead of shooting into the carb. I probably should just reassemble it and see if it'll run now with some clean gas and seafoam (that'd probably do it), but instead I just opted to get a new 48 jet and a 175 jet and replace them while everything is opened up. Seems like these 2 jets were the best way to go for my Blast's Vance and Hines SSR2 exhaust. (Do I *have* to shim the needle, or will it be OK as is?) Also I noted that someone before me had drilled out the idle screw and set it almost exactly as you suggest Ez...2 2/3 from all the way in. I *did* reset it anyway though. I do like the way the bike looks with no airbox and open carbs, and might at some point go the Superboot/open carb route. But until then, I was wondering if there's any dyno data (or personal experience) to support the idea that removing the airbox or stock pieces increases HP? I especially would like to compare a completely open carb velocity stack with the factory airbox with the air filter removed. It seems like the factory airbox and venturi might do a better job of scooping up air than a velocity stack pointed kinda sideways. If this has been debated before, please direct me to the thread because I haven't seen this exact information. (did see a couple Blast dyno runs tho..). I've seen a product that is basically real carbon fiber affixed to an adhesive backing..might try covering the black plastic airbox bits with that. I love carbon fiber Also the Blast looks pretty sweet with the gas tank cover off...all gnarly black. Anyway, I'll wait until the jets come in, put them in (using the killer instructions I've gotten here and elsewhere), fresh gas, seafoam (already got fresh boot, plug), and that should get it idling properly. Aloha Buellriderx...thanks for the shout out. I used to work over at the Energy Lab in Kona and I like it over there a lot. Don't see many Blasts on the road here on Kauai - how about over there? (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 26, 2010)  (Message edited by kauai1800 on November 26, 2010) |
