Bandit Alley

GENERAL MOTORCYCLE FORUMS => GENERAL MECHANICAL & TECHNICAL => Topic started by: solman on October 02, 2005, 10:08:29 PM

Title: running lean
Post by: solman on October 02, 2005, 10:08:29 PM
I normally live in North Texas, but I am currently in San Antonio.  I seem to be having a problem with the '03 B12 w/ Holeshot pipe and stage 1 modified jet kit.  It was running great  before I left, but it seems to be running lean now when I accelerate.  It is surging on hard accelerations.  The altitude difference is less than a 1000 ft, so that isn't an issue.  Why am I having this problem?  Also would adding another shim help out?  BTW, another thing I tried was give a bit of choke and then accelerated.  It took off pretty good, but the choke trick only worked during the accel.
Title: running lean
Post by: Red01 on October 02, 2005, 11:57:35 PM
The 1000' difference shouldn't have a large effect, but thaat along with any real differences in temp and/or humidity me be cause enough to go back in and alter settings. I'd try an extra shim first.
Title: Re: running lean
Post by: turbo-bob on October 05, 2005, 12:47:42 AM
Quote from: "solman"
I normally live in North Texas, but I am currently in San Antonio.  I seem to be having a problem with the '03 B12 w/ Holeshot pipe and stage 1 modified jet kit.  It was running great  before I left, but it seems to be running lean now when I accelerate.  It is surging on hard accelerations.  The altitude difference is less than a 1000 ft, so that isn't an issue.  Why am I having this problem?  Also would adding another shim help out?  BTW, another thing I tried was give a bit of choke and then accelerated.  It took off pretty good, but the choke trick only worked during the accel.


If your running pods - raise the needle
If your runing a K&N replacement filter - go back to paper
If your running the paper filter - shim the needle
Title: running lean
Post by: Red01 on October 05, 2005, 01:23:55 AM
FWIW - A Holeshot Stage 1 shouldn't be running pods, it should be running the paper OEM filter.
Title: running lean
Post by: solman on October 05, 2005, 10:08:01 PM
Quote from: "Red01"
FWIW - A Holeshot Stage 1 shouldn't be running pods, it should be running the paper OEM filter.


Exactly, I am running with a paper filter.
Title: running lean
Post by: solman on October 09, 2005, 05:41:03 PM
I added another shim and helped a tiny bit.  I bought some electrical tape to cover the extra hole some to see what that would do.  It helped a bit, but the problem is still there.  I am going to take the carbs out tomorrow to check the #2 & 3 bowls for possible problems.  I am also going to check the plugs as well.  I am just stumped as to why I am having this problem on accelerations. :sad:
Title: running lean
Post by: solman on October 16, 2005, 03:23:05 PM
It is truly amazing as to what can fix a problem.  I tried shimming the needle, didn't work!  I tried using some tape to cover some of the extra hole.  So what fixed it, you may ask?  Saturday morning I took the #1 & 2 spark plugs out to take a look.  They were a bit on the dark side, but looked fine.  So I installed them back in without cleaning them, or doing anything to them.  I then started the bike and rode it.  It rides like a champ now.  No stuttering, no problems! :beers:   It seems that the symptoms and the fix were two different things.  What seemed to be a carb problem, turned out to be a spark plug problem.  I am am guessing that the sparkplug(s) corroded a bit and wasn't getting a good ground.  So by taking them out and installing them, it gave the plug(s) a a good ground, hence fixing the problem.  For me, the best part is that I fixed it without tearing the carbs out.
Title: Good Work
Post by: Cuyose on October 17, 2005, 11:32:43 AM
I learned this lesson working on my boat last year.  Sometimes what may seem like a complicated involved process can sometimes be remedied by just going back to basics and doing the weasy things first.

Who knows what kind of tuning issues you would have run into had you tore everything down and reworked with 2 misfiring cylinders!
Title: running lean
Post by: solman on October 18, 2005, 08:10:27 PM
Quote
Who knows what kind of tuning issues you would have run into had you tore everything down and reworked with 2 misfiring cylinders!


True, but I don't know if it was 2 cylinders or not.  I just took the two out on the left side to take a look.