- Joined
- Jan 6, 2013
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- 101
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- Location
- Leander
- First Name
- Steve
- Last Name
- Wallace
There are of course, lots of similar threads all over the Internet about similar sounding fueling problems, but I still want to air my particular issue here since there's a bunch of smart guys here and I need help thinking this through since the bike is new to me and I haven't ridden in a VERY long time. SUPER excited getting back on a bike though, other than this little hiccup in my first week of ownership.
Description of problem
No problem until sometime after the bike comes up to operating temp...
Starts by missing slightly but develops into a very disconcerting stutter/surge under slight deceleration or slightly high RPM cruising (starts around 4k keeps doing it until 5+K (more or less)
I can mitigate the problem when it starts to get bad by "pumping" the throttle or put another way, by multiple quick little increases in throttle. By doing that, I can keep riding. If I don't do that, the problem gets bad enough that I need to stop riding for a little while, which sort of resets the clock on the symptoms.
The first time it happened I though I was out of gas. I switched to reserve and found a gas station right away. Thought it was weird that it only took 4 gallons since it holds 6.x
Since that time, I tried switching to reserve during the stuttering and surging but it didn't help. I had wondered if there was a restriction in the petcock that would clear in the reserve position.
What I've done so far and what I'm thinking
Replaced the spark plug. It was a little white looking... no real difference.
Put in the recommended dose of SeaFoam... at first, (10 minutes of riding) I started to think SeaFoam had worked a miracle but eventually I started to see the problem again. Seemed less severe but I think its more because the throttle fiddling I described above helps keep me going. I've considered that giving the fuel treatment more time might help, or adding more than the recommended amount...
Even though the vacuum line to the petcock seems/looks good to me, I wonder if when the engine gets warm, the line collapses. This would explain why the problem manifests only with a warm engine.
I've only had an opportunity to run with the SeaFoam a couple days for 45 minutes or so each time.
Seems like a fuel delivery problem (as opposed to electrical) since I can sort of fix it by fiddling with the throttle.
At the moment, I'm interested in keeping a vacuum operated petcock, so I would rebuild or replace with a factory one if it turns out to be the cause. I get why people like the gravity fed solution but I kind of like not having to turn the fuel off. I also kind of like the kickstand safety switch, when it's working like it's supposed to.
Or, is it a carb problem...
Once I'm sure SeaFoam isn't going to work a miracle for me, I'll have to make a decision where to start first.
Thanks much for anyone's thoughts on this..
Description of problem
No problem until sometime after the bike comes up to operating temp...
Starts by missing slightly but develops into a very disconcerting stutter/surge under slight deceleration or slightly high RPM cruising (starts around 4k keeps doing it until 5+K (more or less)
I can mitigate the problem when it starts to get bad by "pumping" the throttle or put another way, by multiple quick little increases in throttle. By doing that, I can keep riding. If I don't do that, the problem gets bad enough that I need to stop riding for a little while, which sort of resets the clock on the symptoms.
The first time it happened I though I was out of gas. I switched to reserve and found a gas station right away. Thought it was weird that it only took 4 gallons since it holds 6.x
Since that time, I tried switching to reserve during the stuttering and surging but it didn't help. I had wondered if there was a restriction in the petcock that would clear in the reserve position.
What I've done so far and what I'm thinking
Replaced the spark plug. It was a little white looking... no real difference.
Put in the recommended dose of SeaFoam... at first, (10 minutes of riding) I started to think SeaFoam had worked a miracle but eventually I started to see the problem again. Seemed less severe but I think its more because the throttle fiddling I described above helps keep me going. I've considered that giving the fuel treatment more time might help, or adding more than the recommended amount...
Even though the vacuum line to the petcock seems/looks good to me, I wonder if when the engine gets warm, the line collapses. This would explain why the problem manifests only with a warm engine.
I've only had an opportunity to run with the SeaFoam a couple days for 45 minutes or so each time.
Seems like a fuel delivery problem (as opposed to electrical) since I can sort of fix it by fiddling with the throttle.
At the moment, I'm interested in keeping a vacuum operated petcock, so I would rebuild or replace with a factory one if it turns out to be the cause. I get why people like the gravity fed solution but I kind of like not having to turn the fuel off. I also kind of like the kickstand safety switch, when it's working like it's supposed to.
Or, is it a carb problem...
Once I'm sure SeaFoam isn't going to work a miracle for me, I'll have to make a decision where to start first.
Thanks much for anyone's thoughts on this..