Greetings from SE Arizona

[Rockdoc]

I finally got on this site. My bike is a new to me 2002 Suzuki VS1400GLP aka Intruder. I purchased it about two months ago. The bike had been sitting unridden for the last 5 years and has only 9,525 miles on it. I call it my Suzuki Distraction. In May my son died of brain cancer. Being the good stoic German/Norwegian that I am I've internalized everything. When the bike became available I bought it to give me a distraction from the sadness (and anger) of losing my son.

As far as motorcycles go, this is not my first rodeo. I turned 75 in August and over the last 57 years I've owned 16 motorcycles, the Distraction will be number 17. However, this is only the second cruiser style cycle I've owned. The first cruiser was a 1947 Indian Chief I had for a short time while I was going to school. I also had a 1963 750 Norton Atlas at the same time that I liked much much better, that Indian hand shift and foot clutch got old really fast. I had about $125 in the bike so when someone offered me $600 for it I immediately sold it. What else could I do?

Before I retired I was a professional geologist. However, ever since I learned to drive I've done all my own mechanical work, be it a car, truck, motorcycle, or boat. This Suzuki, with it's dual carbs, has definitively been a challenge. But I have learned something new, how to synchronize carburetors! Lucky me! With that said, though I'm still having carburetor problems, I am able to ride the bike and on my last outing had no problem running it up to 70mph. This coming Wednesday I'll discuss my carburetor problem more thoroughly on the VS1400/S83 discussion column.

Steve aka Rockdoc

PS I'll post an image when I figure out how to do it on this board.

[Herb]

Use post image for posting pics. Free and easy to use.

[FallenAngel]

Welcome to the boards
I hope you find a place here that will be rewarding

[sgtcall]

Welcome. I am sorry to hear about your son. Enjoy the bike and the site, lots of guys on here that know more about Intruders carburetor problems than you may want to know.

[Rockdoc]

I guess someone saw my age on my first post and of course had to take a shot at me about it. FWIW, I don't care for trikes, never have never will. When I get too decrepit to hold a motorcycle up when I'm stopped I'll quit riding. For now, being 6'4" and 210lbs, I'm in too good a shape to even think about riding a trike. Sorry, if I'm a maybe being a bit sensitive but living in an RV park with a lot of people my age is disheartening seeing them shove their walkers around because they're morbidly obese from giving up on life. As for me, I work very hard staying fit so I can continue to lead an active life.

Steve

[FallenAngel]

I guess someone saw my age on my first post and of course had to take a shot at me about it. FWIW, I don't care for trikes, never have never will. When I get too decrepit to hold a motorcycle up when I'm stopped I'll quit riding. For now, being 6'4" and 210lbs, I'm in too good a shape to even think about riding a trike. Sorry, if I'm a maybe being a bit sensitive but living in an RV park with a lot of people my age is disheartening seeing them shove their walkers around because they're morbidly obese from giving up on life. As for me, I work very hard staying fit so I can continue to lead an active life.

Steve

If your referring to th "Tricycles are cool" under your tag That wasnt meant to make fun of you or your age It is a ranking system
The more you post the sooner your rank will progress and change

I do hope you find a place here and post often

[Rockdoc]

Well dang FallenAngel, I guess I was just being a bit overly sensitive about the Tricycles are Fun label. Sorry about that.

BTW, I see you're from Seattle. I lived there for almost a year back in 1988. I also made two summit attempts on Mt. Rainier. The first attempt in 1996 I got turned back early when my son, who was climbing with me, had an asthma attack. For my second attempt in 2003 I signed on with Rainier Mountaineering. At the time I was living at 650' above sea level in NE Illinois and the elevation difference kicked my butt at about 11,000'. It was frustrating, I should've hired a private guide and made it a three day climb. Hindsight's always 20/20 isn't it.

Steve

[FallenAngel]

The "Tricycles are cool" thing got me with my first post as well/ I would log in see that and log back off again LOL
I have been in the Ice caves but never attempted the summit of Mt Rainer. I often get an outstanding view when Im working and think it would be kinda cool to go ti the top I have seen the creator from the last eruption though and that is pretty impressive seeing it for the first time.

I often wounder when I get to that age and have top stay off of 2 wheels If I would get a trike. Some of the members her ride trikes and the previous owner of my 2000 traded it in on a trike

Any way get your post count up and it will change and dont worry about being to sensitive lots of members here are

[Rockdoc]

Damn damn damn! I thought for sure I'd have my Distraction on the road by now. I'd planned to remount the fuel tank and give the bike a thorough test ride this past Wednesday. On Wednesday and ever since things keep cropping up. I live in an RV with no garage so weather is a big factor as to when I can work on the bike. The past few days it's either been rain or threatening to rain... In Arizona for pete's sake. This area normally gets about 14 inches a year, mostly in July and August. It's not supposed to rain today but of course I've made other plans I can't change. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get the fuel tank remounted and test drive it. My concern is that I have a consistently lean, based on spark plug color, front cylinder. I can live with it running lean at idle but not at highway speeds. My future test ride is to see if my latest attempt at cleaning and recalibrating the carburetor has helped. I've already done this once (on both carbs) and I also replaced all the fuel lines, cleaned the fuel strainers, and added a fuel filter between the tank and the fuel pump. As I wrote earlier, this ain't my first time getting a long out-of-service machine back on the road.

Steve

[Herb]

With the alcohol fuel and the lean burn system the plugs should be white. If they are tan the engine/cylinder is actually running rich.

Also if the carb balance is off it will show rich on the cylinder that is not pulling correctly.

There are a couple of websites that show what the plugs should look like with alcohol fuel. It is a whole lot different than when we were running leaded fuel.

BTW, these bikes run best on regular, if you are running premium it will show rich.

[sgtcall]

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