Hi everyone,

I was told by my mechanic who worked on my old Husqvarna that the bike needs to be ridden to clear it out. It had a very hard time starting when I realized that I flooded the carburetor or the motor. It had plenty of gas in the tank. I had no choice to bump start the bike until it fired up. I changed the spark plug and started on the first kick!! As soon I start riding it up and down the street to stretch the motor, it likes to bog a lot and then shut off.... It does the same thing over and over again.

Would anyone know what the problem is with my bike?? Maybe its a simple fix that I'm not realizing?? I just hate to take it to my mechanic again and spend more money.

Any source of information/advice is appreciated!!

Could it be as simple as the gas tank vent is plugged, and it takes a little run time for it to vapor lock?
Maybe try your next ride with the gas cap loosely in place to allow air.
Make sure you don’t have a full tank for this test!

Schu,

I tried that this morning, nothing changed to be honest. What I will do is drain the 40:1 in it and put 32:1 which I think is why its running lean.


Arin

Schu is correct. The original chrome gas caps on that era Husqvarna do not work with ethanol fuel.

The seals swell up internally blocking the vent. Very common problem

You can find caps with a vent hose or a modern cap with rubber that can handle Ethanol.

Not easy to do i know, but a video with good audio will helps heaps for us to listening to & get a handle on whats going on. I wonder if its just flooded up--loaded up with old fuel & oil & mechanic couldn't let rip at the shop to clear its throat. I guess ya well past that point now having run it a bit. So lets go the other way--is it like a blocked main jet & just gasps & stops on full open throttle. Or is the exhaust tail pipe blocked with a lump of 43 year old carbon & stifling any revs. If its continually fouling plugs with black deposit then sounds like it needs a 'damn good thrashing' to dry it out. But i guess its not that simple. Get out of town & just run it up on the spot bringing revs up & down & see how things progress. We sold Husky's new where i worked back then--in nz. But of course they never played up then, when new. I'll go read you're story fully which i should have already.

MarkT,

The gas cap is brand new but leaking fuel since it doesn't fit snug. Is the gas cap something that I can fix or need to replace?? If replace, where can I find a correct one????

I will be taking the bike to the shop tomorrow to get my mistake fixed. I completely flooded the motor earlier today and started to leak out the header exhaust pipe... In other words, I took the carb bowl off to check the main jet (which is at 430) but never realized to properly check the floats. If I checked the floats earlier, I wouldn't be in this mess. I just hope once its all fixed, the main jet will be ok for Barstow altitudes.


Arin 

Impossible to diagnose an unknown cap over the Internet... need to make sure vent is clear. Original cap had a small vent hole on underside. And of course you can replace it yourself.

Many caps fit... including Yamaha cap... but also automotive caps that might not be vented. Ones I like are the type that have a vent hose... easy to check those.

Not sure what shop you're going to but one of the best... if not the best in the country... is Vintage Husky in San Marcos, CA. John knows those bikes inside and out and probably has more parts than anywhere else in the USA.

Other shops who do not specialize in the original Swedish machines may not know what they are doing with the vintage (and sometimes quirky) Husqvarna race bikes and you may end up spending more and never getting it fixed right.

MarkT,

I'm taking the bike to a shop in Costa Mesa CA called "Provalve MX" where all they specialize in is vintage and modern bikes. If you happen to have John's info, please direct message me in case the shop cannot get the bike dialed in right. They are husky experts but I'm sure John knows my bike from top to bottom. He may have a correct fuel cap for my bike but I'm just assuming. 

If you have John's info or website that I can visit, please forward it to me.


Arin 

www.vintagehusky.com/