Out of Gas?

[wskbarrett]

Hi All!

Just bought an '89 cb-1 with 25k on it for a cool $1300.  The bike came running, and it is a blast to ride!  Took her to the beach and back as well as to work a couple of times.  Fast forward 2 days and about 100 miles later...I'm on my way home from work, cruising down the highway feeling great, when it started acting like it was out of gas.  I was losing power and rpms even as I downshifted and gave her more gas.  Finally it died and I coasted to a stop.  Could not get her started again, and hasn't started since (Tuesday night).  I had about 1/4 tank in there, and topped it off to at least 1/2 a tank...still no start.

I'm thinking it's the fuel pump, but I don't know enough about bikes to fix it.  Anybody have a similar problem/any advice?

Thanks all the way from Brownsville, TX.

[chingloy]

could be a couple of things. fuel pump not working, clogged fuel lines, or fuel filter. if it were my bike i would remove the gas tank and follow the fuel line from the tank to the carburator and check if gas is getting to the carb. could also be fuse of the fuel pump if the pump is not working.
here is a link to honda's common service manual:

http://www.acrobatplanet.com/ebooks/Honda_Common_Service_Manual.pdf 

here is a link to the CB-1 specific repair manual:

http://pdfdatabase.com/search/honda-cb-1-repair-manual.html

hope it helps

[Falk]

Take the Fuel Tank and the left Sidepanel (here's the Fuel Pump) off, Now give 12V directly to the Fuel Pump. If you hear a ticking noise it's not the Fuel Pump. If the Noise is  very very silent - the Pump should have Fuel (Error after Fuel pump), if it's loud the Pump is empty(Error before Pump).

Disconnect the hose from the Fuel Filter Side of the Fuel Pump. - Does Fuel come out of it when you set the Gas Cock to On ore Res ?

[clarkdw]

Before you go crazy taking it all apart. If you ran 100 miles, you probably did run out of fuel on the main tank. Did you turn the fuel valve to reserve? On is down, off is sideways and reserve is up. When you do run it out of gas it a real b@#ch to get started again because the fuel pump only pumps when the motor is actually generating a spark at the plugs. In other words turning on the key does nothing till the starter is engaged. What Falk says will make it work ie: power the pump directly to make it fill the carbs. I have had it happen a couple of times when I drained the carbs and I just boosted it off my car so as to not kill the battery while I cranked it over and over and over to fill the carbs.

[wskbarrett]

Well I filled up after my first trip to the beach, and I could hear gas sloshing in the tank after it died.  I don't have the tools to take it apart, so I'm gonna have a friend look at it this weekend.  A buddy of mine mentioned it could be a problem with the solenoid.  He said it was a common problem on these bikes.  Anybody heard of that happening?

[wskbarrett]

Quick question, where is the petcock?  I couldn't figure out how to switch it to reserve in the dark.

Thanks

[a_morti]

Quick question, where is the petcock?  I couldn't figure out how to switch it to reserve in the dark.

Thanks

I am with ClarkDW - you probably won't get much more than 100 miles on the main fuel tank, the CB-1 gets about 53 mpg (UK imperial) but it only has about a 14 liter fuel tank! The petcock is (or at least should be) on the LHS in the gap around the seat, side panel and tank.

The other likely culprit given your symptoms is a blocked tank breather.

Just get it to your buddy with these suggestions, if he knows his spanners, he'll fix it for ya

[Drewski]

A buddy of mine mentioned it could be a problem with the solenoid.  He said it was a common problem on these bikes.  Anybody heard of that happening?

Yup, this and about 20 other Hondas with the same pump.  If it isn't a case of just running out of fuel, new solonoids are available as are replacement, (better), pumps from Facet.

[wskbarrett]

Thanks for all the help guys, turns out the petcock switch was broken off so I couldn't even switch it to reserve.  Took the bike to a good local shop and am having that valve replaced, tune up, tank dents repaired as well as full paint job MATTE BLACK!  I'll post pics when I get it back.

[grantasaurus]

I've had the same problem as wskbarrett ('running out of fuel' at around 8l of the tank used and maybe 120km from last fill) .. but I've worked my way through a trouble-shooting exercise, and I'm fairly sure the fuel pump on my bike is knackered.

Firstly I ran the bike as normal, but with the side cover off so I could listen to the fuel pump - heard absolutely nothing. I then took the tank off and disconnected the discharge side of the pump, draining the lines around the pump down. Primed the system with water then ran the bike on the fuel in the float bowls - saw no discharge from the pump, except for one brief squirt as I turned the ignition off.

Am I right in thinking the pump is a dud? Or is it the solenoid (replaceable?)

Drewski, do you happen to know the model of the improved Facet pump?

[Drewski]

Am I right in thinking the pump is a dud? Or is it the solenoid (replaceable?)

Drewski, do you happen to know the model of the improved Facet pump?

I'll see if I can dig it out, I think when I looked it up originaly, quite a while back now, I used the Mitsubishi number to cross reference it on the Facet web site. However, the solonoid is available seperately, cost is about £20 GBP in the UK, an aquantance of mine bought a set recently so should still be available.

[Drewski]

This might help Grant:-

http://www.hondacb1.org/forum/index.php/topic,1221.0.html

[Kai Ju]

Am I the only one that has a properly running CB-1 without a fuel pump ?
Mind you, that's gravity feeding an F3 engine.

[91cb-1]

Rub rub rub let my dampen that cloth so you can rub it in my face some more!

[Kai Ju]

Rub rub rub let my dampen that cloth so you can rub it in my face some more!

That just made me laugh, thanks.
It certainly wasn't meant to rub you the wrong way, but I am truly amazed that not more people have tried running this bike, in stock form, without the fuel pump. The lowest part of the tank is above the float level, that negates the need for a fuel pump.
Even on a high horsepower F3 engine....that was mean, wasn't it ?