PITA carbs.

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ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

So I thought I may have a good bit of experience with these carbs already, as I had a vz800 a few years ago that I went balls deep on, on several occasions. Motor swap, carb cleaning, rejetting, syncing, etc...

But boy is the vs800 a similar, yet all together different beast...I went into the carbs today to clean the jets out. Front carb was, and still is the only one giving me an issue, as it would, cause the pilot was clogged up, so I took out all the jets, cleaned em out, sprayed out all the air and fuel passages, yada yada. Carbs are clean. I did this all without fully removing the carbs because man is it hard to get a hold in anything on them. I had a huge problem getting the rear carb boot (that goes on the air box) back on. Anyhow, the bike is kind of surging after giving it throttle, like the throttle lingers a little before dropping back down. Idle adjustment isn't really doing anything, and messing with the fuel mixture isn't helping much either (I tune by ear, and feel, which I've gotten pretty good at). The bike will run, and idle, but the front cylinder exhaust note is choppy, like it's missing, and the bike runs rough at 1/4 throttle. Anything above that, and it'll run like a scolded dog, but the front carb will burp, and backfire when i turn the bike off. Not good. I'm not sure if I have a vacuum leak, or if the throttle linkage cables are kind of screwy. I noticed when I put the tank back on the throttle would stick, and when I'd take it off it was fine, so I'm kind of leaning toward that idea. Any tricks or advice on how to resolve this matter would be swell. I plan on doing what I'm gonna dub the "lechy pod-mod" soon, so I'll have to go back into the carbs eventually, so a good walk through for that would be awesome too if anyone could point me in the right direction to find a write up or vid or something.

Lechy
Joined a 1000cc Club
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Joined: Tue Dec 09, 2014 9:58 pm
My Bike: VS800 Honda Phantom 200

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by Lechy »

2 things come to mind.
First you have trapped the cable when you put the tank back on, not much room under the tank when it's in place. You also need a little slack at the grip.
Second,the boots from box to carbs are a real pain to get back on correctly so I would recommend that you have a look there. I made a pick from a bit of brass rod bent and filed almost flat at the pick end, works wonders. If they are not fully seated the carb will draw unrestricted air giving the symptoms you have.
"Lechy's pod mod" Ha, ha, neat.

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Grow old disgracefully young man.

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

All things I've been considering, but I just remembered I DID disconnect the throttle linkage to the rear carb. I only loosened the top nut, or so I thought, enough to get the cable off of the bracket and carb, BUT now I'm thinking that's where I screwed up. I'm thinking I probably did get it out of adjustment from finger banging everything all around. Ill have to go back and check the play in the grip, and try to loosen up the linkage at the rear carb. I think it's tightened to where it's open just enough to bring them out of sync. I really, really, really hate dual carb designs.... Vulcan, vz/vs800, all well engineered, but poorly thought-out. My dual carb shadow is so much easier to deal with. Too bad it's now the most boring bike I've ever had thanks to this intruder.

Lechy
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My Bike: VS800 Honda Phantom 200

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by Lechy »

The throttle cable adjuster on the rear carb lower nut should sit inside the bracket and it will act as a locked nut. Also the idle cable on the rear should be sat snugly in the tube on the bracket.

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Grow old disgracefully young man.

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

I'm gonna go play with it tomorrow. I'm at least 85% sure that's most of my problem....I hope. Would explain a lot actually.

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

Found little fray on the coating on the front throttle cable under the tank. I just kinda pushed it back in it's home and it seems to be doing MUCH better. Even got the carbs pretty dialed in, but the front cylinder is still missing a little under light throttle, but all in all it actually rode great at speed. I'm restricted to the neighborhood roads atm since it's not tagged, so I can only do a couple pulls up to 50 before having to ease off, plus the front tire is in rough shape so I don't wanna push it, but I rode it around for a good minute to let the seafoam circulate. Gonna check the plugs when she cools down and see what they say. Much happier with the progress I made on it today. Now I can sleep tonight.

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

Ok....new problem...

Bike was running good after the initial cleaning, put about 15 miles on it, let it sit a couple days, came back, fired it up, out about 10 more miles on it, and all the sudden it started bogging down when given light throttle....i clean the carbs again, pull the front cylinder plug, as the front carb seems to be the problem, and the plug was dry-fouled. Thick black carbon. Cleaned it off, put it back in, along with brand new ethanol-free gas, fired it up, and began messing with the mixture of the front carb. Seems to still be missing, but idles well enough, and runs well enough when given over 1/4 throttle. I tuned it pretty close, then decided to ride it a little to get a better feel of how it's running, and...still bogging and missing under light throttle. When I'm taking off from 0mph the bike will stutter, and the front carb will burp. Even lost a little bit of power when under heavy throttle. I did find a fuel leak coming from this off looking black thing tucked down by the fuel pump, which I think runs to the front carb. Not really sure what it is, possibly a fuel filter? Looks like a black metal or plastic cylinder, but it's definitely part of the fuel delivery. Anyhow, letting it cool off, gonna check that plug again, and take the black thing off to see why it's leaking all of the sudden.

navigator
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My Bike: VS800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by navigator »

Are you running 87 octane? You should.
Did you sync the carbs after disassembly?

Swcoinguy
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My Bike: Vs800+c90
Location: Ft Myers, Florida

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by Swcoinguy »

I think it sounds like a sync problem too. When my '02 was out of sync it would start and idle fine when started daily. If it sat for 2 or 3 days it would always start fine but spit and sputter a bit for the first minute or so. After a couple minutes I could ride it but it had a real problem leaving from a stop. After it was moving it would run seemingly fine at half or better throttle. When I got to speed it surged a little at steady throttle. Once I synced the carbs it's like a different bike. Smooth as butter now. If you haven't put gauges on it and done a real sync(idle and throttle) then I'd say anything else is a waste of time u till you get the carbs synced. I used a cheap set of analog gauges that I borrowed from a friend and they worked fine. Some people use high end digital or mercury gauges but I was lucky enough to get great results from the analogs. I never had a bike with dual carbs that were out of sync so I didn't realize that they were out of sync. I just thought that the issues I was experiencing were the nature of the beast and that it was a cold blooded bitch. Now that I know how it's supposed to run looking back it's obvious that it was carb related.

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

Yeah...usually I can sync shit by feel, as all of my bikes have been dual carb'd but this one's being kind of a bitch. The black cylinder thing is definitely a fuel filter. Don't know if these bikes come with them, but I ain't seen one quite that high-end. Its a heavy duty, very fine, and thick, brass filter. It runs from the pump to the front carb. I took it off, cleaned it out, seemed a little clogged. Probably not the issue, but fixed the leak. It was just loose.

When I cleaned the carbs I didn't really take them all the way out or all the way apart, I just take out the pilots (front pilot was a little clogged again) spray them, spray all the seats, and valves, and yada yada, and blow everything out. So I'm not messing with the throttle or choke cables except disconnecting the throttle on the rear carb, so as far as I can tell when inspecting the butterflies, they're opening and closing like they should, and in sync with each other. I may purchase some cheap gauges, as I know they're easier, and a lot more "telling" of what's going on...

Swcoinguy
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My Bike: Vs800+c90
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Re: PITA carbs.

Post by Swcoinguy »

If you don't have a set of gauges I'd grab a set from eBay. I think $40 will get you a 2 gauge set with the 5mm nipples. I was going to buy a set until I found out that a friend had a set I could use. I was kinda in denial about the carbs being out of sync(the only thing I can say to explain my slow movement toward doing it)and tried everything else before I synced them. Should have done the sync first because that's what the problem was all along.
BTW - I never got the pics of your seat, did you ever send them?

ClassicfnRD
Practicing Bicycling
Posts: 36
Joined: Sun May 21, 2017 3:57 pm
My Bike: Intruder vs800

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by ClassicfnRD »

Swcoinguy wrote:If you don't have a set of gauges I'd grab a set from eBay. I think $40 will get you a 2 gauge set with the 5mm nipples. I was going to buy a set until I found out that a friend had a set I could use. I was kinda in denial about the carbs being out of sync(the only thing I can say to explain my slow movement toward doing it)and tried everything else before I synced them. Should have done the sync first because that's what the problem was all along.
BTW - I never got the pics of your seat, did you ever send them?
Yeah, I'm gonna order a set of gauges, or try and find a place that may have them on the cheap.

I haven't had a chance to take any pics of the seat, but I do have one of the bike. I'm kind of debating on the seat switch right now cause my ol lady really likes it, haha, BUT I do plan on swapping to something else eventually, and I do want the solo seat even if I don't put it on the intruder, I'll stick it on my shadow. Once I get the bike road Worthy, and let her get a ride or two, I'll hit you up. She knows it ain't staying on...lol

Swcoinguy
Got My M1 License!
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Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 9:36 am
My Bike: Vs800+c90
Location: Ft Myers, Florida

Re: PITA carbs.

Post by Swcoinguy »

ClassicfnRD wrote: Once I get the bike road Worthy, and let her get a ride or two, I'll hit you up. She knows it ain't staying on...lol
10-4, get back to me.

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