Sounds like what mine did starting up after the Texas Flood Tour '09

I had the Baron's Big Air kit on mine (with the big triangle filter) and have been caught in several downpours....even started out in a couple.....
I think part of the trick is to have enough K&N oil on the filter. There's a fine line there, because if you get too much oil on it you get oil spraying all over the pipes and transmission.
Another thing I did as a precaution was cover it with a plastic bag or shower cap if it's going to sit in the rain.


I wonder what ever happened to the water injection systems that were popular in the 70's during the gas crisis?

Same as Curt said, I have a k&n I made for the bike....I use a shower cap when I wash it. I ran from W. Vir. to the Ohio/ Mich. Line in a downpour all the way....never failed me.

Some aircraft still have what is known as AWI, or alcohol-water injection. The old Metro 3 uses it, and it makes a huge boost in output at the prop. I was running one in Michigan one time with a marginal (light) fuel load for power runs. We had the main tires chocked and the parking brake set. We went to full power and loaded the prop, then hit the AWI, and it slid the tires and the chocks!

Alcohol injection was used in turbocompound radials to control detonation at extreme boost pressures.

I don't remember it on cars, but I didn't get my first bike till 1978, so wan't paying attention before then.

if the enricher is the choke, i tried that. didnt work.

murshes wrote:
if the enricher is the choke, i tried that. didnt work.

This may be just a wild hare. We had another member who had similar problems that involved water (rain/ car wash)etc., everyone jumped at the obvious, and it turned out to be junk in his carb instead of water in his gas or something else. Like you, he had used a fuel stabilizer in the past, and then quite for a few tanks.

I was just wondering, because you said when you got it going, you were able to get it to eventually clear up on the way home by running the enricher/choke pulled out(with the fuel cleaner/additive in the tank). I was thinking that maybe it wasn't the rain, so much as after arriving where you were and the bike sitting, something might have settled, clogged up or restricted the fuel flow somewhere along the line. There are alot of places where stuff can collect once it starts turning from a liquid to a solid in the fule system.
It's just something else to think about. Keep using the Seafoam on a regular basis. I try to use about two or three ounces in each tank. The ethanol, and these bikes sitting can be a real problem. If 5 or 6 tanks ago was last fall, and it was sitting idle for awhile, it could have been something sneaking up on you.
The restricted fuel, would have made the bike run similar to what you experienced.

I was thinking that if it was the air filter being wet, it should have started right away, or easier when you went back to get it, and then ran fine, once it got going. It could be, that it was the filter, and the plugs were fouled from running rich with the wet filter??? and they burned themselves clean finally??.
A rain cap in the future would stop that...but you said you used the rain cover which although its not a rain cap, it should have done something. The synthetic material in the factory rain bonnet should have shed enough water to protect the filter if the bike was just sitting. After all, it works when the carb is trying to suck air through it when riding in the rain.

It could also be water and electric issues, but I mentioned the horn thread that Rico started, because he was riding around in monsoons, in water deep enough to drown his horn, but didn't suffer any electrical problems running wise. It is possible, that water got into something, and then on the ride home it finally dried up enough so the bike would run fine again. Like someone washing their car engine at the car wash, and it running rough, until it dries out????.

With either a sluggish spark from a voltage leak due to the wet, or the saturated air filter, pulling the enricher, would have created a far richer situation, and flooded or fouled out the plugs....maybe, maybe not.

Anyway, when you went back, finally got it going, after adding some gas treatment(my guess is, the can said it absorbed water, and cleaned injectors or varnish etc.,), and after riding it with the enricher pulled out finally got it to clear itself up. The fuel additive may have helped to open things up a bit by dissolving the blockage, once it got to the problem area.

Anyway, just a thought . Keep the Seafoam in your gas. Carry a shower cap for your filter, and maybe a small poncho, or trash bag to cover the tank and seat area, if the bike is sitting in the rain.
Whats the worst that could happen/...you'd have a dry seat to sit on after the rain, and everybody will see how clever you are with the shower cap, and your carb will stay squeaky clean on the inside by regular use of the Seafoam

Sounds like my brothers trip down for our ride. he got blasted in rain and hail.
Cleaned filter and re-oiled, put fresh plugs in just because, they are old. It ran so good even in the rain we hit, he started to get clutch slippage at higher RPM's. Another project, he has the Barnett with the SR2 and gaskets on order.
Ride Safe

Re: the vent line. On my bike it runs right down to the base of the engine case. I've never had a problem with it since I rode through the deluge that caused my bike's issues. It may be possible to rig up a drainable vent some how, but I think that just stopping every half hour or so in a heavy rain and opening the gas cap to let air into the tank (and the vent line to drain out)would be the easiest.

It may be a weird combination of issues, like starting with a full tank, and driving for a couple of hours in a huge rain. If the tank was half full, you may not get enough vacuum in the system to pull in water.

Anyway, I used a can of Seafoam, as someone else suggested and that cleaned everything up perfectly. I haven't had a problem in three years, and all I did was be very vigilant about removing water from the fuel system. Oh yeah, and changed the fuel filter too there was quite a bit of water in there as well.

After riding several hours in the rain worrying about how much water was sucked into my BAK I made this. I cut a section out of an old tire tube slightly wider than the BAK. I used a 3/4" copper fitting to punch holes down one side. I place this over the BAK and then cover it with the rain cover. I have tested it several times and it works great. The engine runs fine, it seems to get plenty of air and the BAK is dry. I also carry a shower cap to cover the BAK when the bike is parked.

Happened to me on the way to Sturgis. I had the rain sock on and to be honest I think that made it worse as it ran fine once the rain stopped. My theory is the soaked rain sock was actually choking the intake and it probably would have ran better without the sock. But then it would have sucked in a load of water which would be worse in the long run