45 Rear exhaust pipe glowing red

[fuzzyktu]

Fired up a 1949 45 today that had been sitting since 1968. The carb was rebuilt but is obviously not correct. It is spitting gas out of the carb as it is idling. The bike has a ebeyond 2000 electronic ignition in it. The carb is so rich that it will not start unless the choke is fully opened. Once running it seems to bog down and die. The rear exhaust pipe was glowing red, and you could see fire in the y pipe. I had heard running too lean will do this. The carb seems to be too rich. What do you think??

[Mr. Big]

Sounds like float is stuck open. Trash in the seat maybe. Carb was just recently rebuilt? If it was it should have a new float and new needle and seat. Need to pull the bowl off and make sure float is in good shape and set correctly. What carb is on it?

[c.o.]

Yup... definitely carb issues. There may be some junk holding that needle open or like Mr. Big said your float is likely wedged against the side of the bowl. It wouldn't hurt to do a leak test on the intake either. If it's leaking you'll never get it to run right. You may also want to get your hands on the instructions for that electronic ignition. I only played with one once so I'm no expert but maybe yours wasn't set properly. Check the valves too while your at it... When a bike has sat for a long period of time it gathers all kinds of gremlins to give you headaches. Good luck and keep us posted!!

[Mr. Big]

Still noodling your problem and thinkin some timing issues are in the mix. Just put a ebeyond on my 45 and it was easy to do and fired first kick. Checking the timing is fairly simple. Do you have a manual or the instructions with the ebeyond?

[Sargehere]

Came to me, that I recall that a Flathead has a weirdness in it that doesn't show up in Harley OHV's. They're all 45º v-twins, but for some reason, if you make the error of timing your points (or in this case, your eBeyond2000, perhaps) off the REAR cylinder instead of the FRONT cylinder, and it's easy enuf to do, the engine will start and run, after a fashion, but the tell-tale is that the rear cylinder will fire every time, and the front cylinder will fire every OTHER time. One result of that, besides a funny sounding exhaust tune, is that the rear cylinder is working twice as hard as the front cylinder. And gets real hot.

So I recommend that you pull open the front intake valve cover again, timing hole plug out, and watch the front intake valve rise and fall, then check that THE VERY NEXT TIME that the timing mark comes up, flywheel going around, is where the white lines line up on the eBeyond2000.

Just a thought. I ran my Flathead Big Twin that way, 180º out of time, for about three days, the first time I built the bike, forty years ago. I just thought it sounded funny! Had a 12-over 2-inch narrowed glide, peanut tank and solo seat, and I was too busy profilin' on my "CHOPPAH!" to notice. Har!

[fuzzyktu]

I adjusted the valves and rechecked the timing. It was timed for the front cylinder but on the fat lobe. I thought for sure I found the issue. The marks on the rotor cap and electronic unit line up perfectly. I started it and it runs exactly the same. Not hot in the rear anymore, but no power at all. I put it in gear to make sure clutch and linkage were good. I rode it into the back yard and it did not have enough power to pull it self up the small grade from the backyard. Not sure where o go from here.

[Sargehere]

So with the flywheel timing mark centered in the left side window at front cylinder firing point, you pulled the timer completely out and rotated its gear teeth to fire "by the book," as the narrow lobe is breaking the points (lining up the white marks, in your case), on the front cylinder? Still sounds wildly out of time 2me. Don't know what else to suggest at long distance, Fuzzy.
Next for me to consider would be to pull off the camcase cover and see if the gears in the camcase are somehow mis-timed. There are a lot of timing marks in there that have to mesh perfectly. Do you know WHY the bike was parked 42 years ago? Could it have been a head-scratcher then, for the PO? It MAY be as simple as the rear exhaust cam timed one ot two teeth early, causing it to open while combustion is still going on. We can hope! That would explain the red glowing exhaust pipe. It's a timing problem of some kind, ignition or valves (or both!).
Assuming that you do have a 45 Service Manual, don'cha? It's not hard to do, and on a 45, the cams are right there on the outside of the frame and all.

[Paps]

I think he has a weak ignition system. One or more of the ignition components are failing. Hot spark on one cylinder...weak on another ??? Dead ringer for low power. Paps

[Mr. Big]

Good point Paps. Ed sez to make sure your coil is putting out per his recommendations or the ebeyond won't work properly. A weak coil will work on points but not his stuff.

[fuzzyktu]

Heres what it was. I talked to a friend who knows 45's. He said that a 45 will run with the timing 180 out. I pulled up the valve covers and found that the front cylinder was timed to the fat lobe of the distributor cam. I reset all of the valves and turned the timer 180. When it fired up it still had no power. I slept on it and decided to pull the plugs and clean them up. They were black. I then called Mike Millay and asked him where the M-16 high and low speed needles should be set. (my 45 manual covers only WLA carbs with fixed high speed needle.) I set it properly and fired her up. Runs good now with now wierd noises and when I rode it down the road she shifted through the gears and performed great. Thanks for all the input. Its always the little things.

[Sargehere]

Front cylinder fat lobe, the rear firing point, same thing as having the points firing narrow lobe on the rear. With a 45º twin, there's a lotta ways to do it. And with a Flathead, it seems almost all of um run (sorta!). Glad to hear it's running strong, now. Good luck, Fuzzy!

[Mr. Big]

Making weird noises? 45's be noisy little critters. Does the VIN have a "G" in it? Just wonderin cuz the M16 would be a servi-car carbie.

[fuzzyktu]

It is a servicar. I bought it from a gentleman who purchased it in 64 from a chevy dealer in Kansas. He has owned it ever since. He crashed into the back of a Ford country squire wagon in 66. His dad tore it down in 68 while he was in Vietnam. It remained apart until I bought it a month ago. Here are some pics

[exeric]

What a great trike. I don't know much about Servicars but I'm building a real intrest for them. I recall seeing a picture of the Servicar that Puckett Motors had in Orlando, Fl. It was all black with just the right amount of chrome and on the back of the box was a huge H-D bar and shield logo and Puckett Motors. They used that rig to haul 2 of their racing 45's that they raced at the old beach track in Daytona. The picture I saw, had the Servicar, pulling a small trailer carrying a race bike. The picture was taken in the early 50's. Again, you have a beautiful Servicar there.

[Mr. Big]

Nice. I would not change a thing.