1500 Wing, low miles, great shape. Last year I got gas and within a half of mile, the bike was running really bad. Dumped about a half of a can of Sea Foam in it and within five minutes, everything was great. Early this year, about half way through a tank of gas and it did the same thing. More Sea Foam and life was good. Last week, about a quarter way into a tank and the same thing. Put in about a third can of Sea Foam, nothing. Added another half can of foam and nothing. The 1500 Wing has to be the most pain to work on because everything is covered with plastic and all the bolts are hidden.
It starts right up but don't sound right (like it running on three cylinders) and idles real low and doesn't have any power. It doesn't pop, or stumble when you rev it. Seems to run better at the very end of the rev range. It feels and sounds just like it did the other two times when Sea Foam fixed it, why doesn't it fix it this time? Any thoughts before I rip into it? Thanks.

Sounds to me like a "chunk" of tarnish has been dislodged and has accumulated somewhere along the fuel line.

Considering the age of the bike, last production year was 2000, carb jets are suspect as well.

I've had a similar experience with cleaners such as Seafoam on fuel injected systems as well and will use a weaker mix in the future.

Too strong and it clogs the injectors.

YMMV


Worth spending the time and money on in MHO.

Nothing quite like the comfort of a Gold Wing for touring.

I'll always' have one.


Jim

Saunders Goldwing Forums

these guy's know it all....when it comes to goldwings

I would check the following in order:

Charging system - simply confirm 14VDC at battery when running 1500 rpm or more

Spark Plugs - inspect, clean, or replace for peace of mind.

Leave all plugs in place, use known good spare 7th plug to test for good blue fire from coils at each plug cap individually while cranking or running at idle

Assuming all above checks good, spend all day Saturday removing plastic and carbs for a complete manual cleaning. Call a Japanese friend with 9" long fingers and incredible dexterity. Invite him over. Drink beer and take your time

Put the giant beast back together Sunday while recovering from all the beer Saturday. Curse your now AWOL Japanese friend and his ancestors repeatedly. Sync the carbs.

Ride it to work Monday...

Good luck!

While you're in there, look for rotten vacuum lines (there's a lot of them) and a blocked tank vent.

Thanks for the ideas. For some reason, I just hate to rip into all that plastic but got to do something.

It's not as bad IMO as it seems at first glance. A slow DIY job sure beats the mugging you would get taking it to a stealership.

On the plus side, I have a pair of Goldwing 1500 intake manifolds if you need them. I was about to embark on a new project on my Valkyrie, but I may have found her a new home instead.

Just as a follow up, I got around to ripping it apart. Removed the bottom plastic and changed to a known good set of plugs, no difference. Ripped the top plastic off and got the air box off(had 4 vac. hoses, a hot air tube like a car and wires). My heart sank, if there is a way to remove the carbs without taking the motor out, I don't know how. They sit way down between the huge frame rails and must have 20 hoses going to them not counting the cables. It is a CA model, don't know if that makes a difference. The thing is that you can not touch most of them. How do you remove something that you can't touch? Anyway, I took a shot and sprayed carb cleaner from the top into every hole I could find. Fired it up and it ran perfect. Thanked the Lord. I sprayed some more with it running and started to put it back together. I hope to never had to replace those carbs.

Congratulations......enjoy the comfort and the ride!