Thanks guys - I'm obviously without the bike - I had to take the car this morning [>:]I will try to diagnose the problem with the info everyone has given me tonight and I'll let y'all know how I make out!

 

Try drying the coils/plug leads etc with a hairdryer, and spraying with anti-moisture spray.
The tank vents through two (?) hoses under the filler cap area. If they're blocked, even partially, the fuel pump won't get enough gas, and will run dry, perhaps causing the noise you referred to, and the motor will splutter and die under load.
One of your coils may also be on the way out, although they generally only exhibit signs of failure when they get hot.

 

Not trying to hijack a thread, but what you're saying is that removing the fuel pump is not a good idea? I thought that I had read somewhere that you could bypass the fuel pump. I hope mine never goes out.

 

The question is really - would Honda fit a pump and incur costs if it wasn't neccessary ?
I'd refit the pump if it was my bike.

 

point taken. I haven't taken mine off. I thought that I was going to have to when I was working on it the first time. It turns out that the battery was strong enough to turn the motor but not run the pump. I was just curious. I read a lot and have come across some threads concerning that.

Thanks.

 

OK - so one of the other things we have recently done is replace the battery. I noticed whn I tried to start the bike tonight, the battery is bubbling? Two of the cells wer elow, so I topped them off, and now it's still bubbling and won't start. Now it needs to be jumped...could I do damage by jumping it with the battery acting like that?

 

If you're jumping it off a car you can damage it yeah. Bike batteries only tend to last about 2 years anyway, although my last one lasted 3yrs and 5 mnths. Have you adjusted your valve clearances? You really should do them before balancing your carbs.

 

One other thing to try if you're still having problems would be the ecu. If you have a friend with the same model bike just swap his for yours and see if the problems are solved. Let's not forget the ecu could be the original 20 yr old. When they start dying they give all sorts of strange symptoms. Good luck.

 

The battery is only 5 months old - I have pulled it and will be taking back to the shop I purchased it from. I called last night and they will test it and make sure everything is OK and we will have to take it from there. So I have been unable to test any of the other theories posted here yesterday - I will have to wait until I have a battery that works.

 

Here's a really stupid question...could the battery have been causing all of the problems with the bike?