97 VS800 not staying on unless I give it throttle/gas

[Georgey]

OK so now I am back from where I was 2 years ago - Two years ago, while out for a ride my bike died at a red light. It restarted, but wouldn't stay on unless I gave it throttle/gas.

I cleaned the carbs (this is the first time I actually cleaned the carbs, so I hope I did it right).
New battery. New starter solenoid. New ignition coils and wires. Checked the fuel pump (What I thought was the original problem) and followed the test everyone suggested on this forum.

So I still have this problem. Will start, but will not stay on unless I give it constant throttle/gas.

note 1 - I decided to give it more gas while trying to keep it on and there was some popping (backfire?) out my exhaust, and some smoke).

Please tell me what's wrong?

[hillsy]

I read your other thread and I don't see where you said you ever checked the charging? If the voltage is low at idle the bike can stall. This may not be all your problems but it's something you need to check.

Cleaning your carbs is not the easiest thing to do if you haven't done them before - however I don't think that's the problem here based on the fact the bike just died after it had been running. Carbs get clogged up mainly because bikes sit for long periods without running and the fuel passages get gummed up with old fuel.

You should also check you don't have a kinked fuel hose somewhere - still sounds like fuel starvation for the most part.

[Georgey]

Thanks Hillsy - It is a brand new battery and freshly charged.

I'll check the fuel hose, but I don't know how it would have suddenly stop while I was at a light and then only stay on if I kept giving it constant steady throttle.

[hillsy]

If you can run the bike with a remote tank and plumb the fuel straight to the carbs (IE: bypass the fuel pump) this might tell you something.

[Lechy]

Sounds a bit like a blocked pilot air jet, often overlooked.

[sgtcall]

Agreeing with Hillsy and Lechy, both suggestions are good to check.

Also......
Check the vent in the fuel cap to make sure air is flowing through. Since it stopped at a light it could be that the tank did not have air in it and starved the bike. When you give it throttle it would pull harder and allow some air in.

Check the idle adjustment screw.

Are your carb adjuster screw caps drilled out? If so you may want to play with the adjustment some.

Battery cables clean and tight? Ground connection clean and tight?

[Designer]

Thanks Hillsy - It is a brand new battery and freshly charged. I'll check the fuel hose, but I don't know how it would have suddenly stop while I was at a light and then only stay on if I kept giving it constant steady throttle.

When you reported that it died suddenly, then started right away, ...(but then needed constant throttle),...that pretty much ruled out the weak / low charging battery right there. And you did mention you had a new Battery in your Original message herein. Glad you have a New Battery as it is essential to a well-running Intruder.

I agree with what you say when you mention what you did about the Fuel Hose. I have never heard of them suddenly kinking while Riding. Kinked while putting on the Tank, yes,...but not afterwards.

After reading your First Message,...are you saying that after cleaning your Carbs, it still needs throttle to idle like you say,...or did it run okay, then this problem came back.

And,...did the Popping and Smoke also happen before you cleaned your Carbs,...or did this occur only afterwards?

[hillsy]

You shouldn't rule out weak charging if you haven't checked it. You check it THEN if it's OK you rule it out.

Sounds like you may have a series of issues here and you need to rule out the obvious / easy to check stuff first so you can move on. If you are not methodical in the process you can easily overlook something and end up chasing your tail.

[Designer]

He certainly can check out the possibility of weak charging. However,...it is not the source of his problem.
Evidence the fact that his bike starts right after it suddenly stopped.

If he had a battery drained and weakened so much ( from lack of a sufficient charging system output) as to be THE cause his bike suddenly stopping altogether, he would not have anywhere's near enough power in it to start the bike again.

Since he has a Brand New Battery, I'd suggest he look to other possible sources of his problem.

I, for one,....look forwards to getting back some more detailed historical information so as to be The Best Of Help to him.

[Georgey]

Sounds a bit like a blocked pilot air jet, often overlooked.

Lechy

Love this pic- very helpful. I did soak these in a pine-sol solution when I (tried) cleaning my carbs. definiely on my list to re-check.

[Georgey]

Thanks Hillsy - It is a brand new battery and freshly charged. I'll check the fuel hose, but I don't know how it would have suddenly stop while I was at a light and then only stay on if I kept giving it constant steady throttle.

When you reported that it died suddenly, then started right away, ...(but then needed constant throttle),...that pretty much ruled out the weak / low charging battery right there. And you did mention you had a new Battery in your Original message herein. Glad you have a New Battery as it is essential to a well-running Intruder.

I agree with what you say when you mention what you did about the Fuel Hose. I have never heard of them suddenly kinking while Riding. Kinked while putting on the Tank, yes,...but not afterwards.

After reading your First Message,...are you saying that after cleaning your Carbs, it still needs throttle to idle like you say,...or did it run okay, then this problem came back.

And,...did the Popping and Smoke also happen before you cleaned your Carbs,...or did this occur only afterwards?

The popping and smoke occurred after I cleaned the carbs - only when I decided to give it more throttle to keep it running. The problem did not come back. It still needs throttle to stay on.

[Georgey]

He certainly can check out the possibility of weak charging. However,...it is not the source of his problem.
Evidence the fact that his bike starts right after it suddenly stopped.

If he had a battery drained and weakened so much ( from lack of a sufficient charging system output) as to be THE cause his bike suddenly stopping altogether, he would not have anywhere's near enough power in it to start the bike again.

Since he has a Brand New Battery, I'd suggest he look to other possible sources of his problem.

I, for one,....look forwards to getting back some more detailed historical information so as to be The Best Of Help to him.

Not much history to say. It has been a very reliable intruder until this problem. I haven't had any real issues with it before until it suddenly started dying on me at a red light and needed throttle to stay on. When that happened, I've replaced all the usual suspects - ignition coils, spark plug wires, spark plugs, new battery, starter solenoid, cleaned the carbs...

[hillsy]

How did you clean the carbs? All jets out including the idle mixture screw, carb cleaner in the ports and compressed air? They can be hard to get totally clean.

Might also be a good idea to bypass the fuel pump relay if you haven't done already - they can play up intermittently and starve the carbs of fuel.

[Georgey]

OK - I feel like i'm on the edge of a breakthrough....

My 800 starts, idles, and will go....but when I give it gas it will bog and die (if I don't pull in the clutch). I did the seafoam treatment, but I can't really go any further than around the block at about 20mph.

I replaced the fuel pump and fiddled with the thumbscrew by the rear carb.

I'm thinking I put my carbs back together wrong after I cleaned them? (It was my first time cleaning them and maybe I didn't even have to, but oh well).

Any suggestions?

[Georgey]

Sounds a bit like a blocked pilot air jet, often overlooked.

Lechy

Love this pic- very helpful. I did soak these in a pine-sol solution when I (tried) cleaning my carbs. definiely on my list to re-check.

yes - I'm thinking I finally have to do this....

[navigator]

Did you clean them separately?
The slide springs are different from front to rear.
Also, did you sync them after installing them back on the bike?

[Georgey]

Did you clean them separately?
The slide springs are different from front to rear.
Also, did you sync them after installing them back on the bike?

the first time I took them off I did not separate them, and did not clean them separately. I don't know what the slide springs are, forgive me, I'm really a newbie when it comes to carbs. I did not sync them, hoping I can get away from doing that (I don't have a Carbtuneor a U-tube manometer).

But the carbs are now off my bike (again). what do you recommend I do? I'm hoping what ever it is, it will fix the issue. And I'm trying for the least about of fiddling because it seems the more I fiddle, the more I mess it up.

[navigator]

You could start with Lechy's pilot air jet suggestion.
The slide springs are the long springs under the diaphragm covers, about 1" diameter.
Be sure there are no tears in the rubber diaphragms.
Upon reassembly, make sure you have about 1/8"free play in the throttle cable at the grip.
and make sure the butterflies open at exactly the same time.
Your symptoms sound like you need to sync the carbs.
Perhaps an independent MC repair shop can do that for you.

[Lechy]

The pilot air jets unscrew and then tap them out into the palm of your hand.
Carb synch and AF adjustments here: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4139

[Georgey]

You could start with Lechy's pilot air jet suggestion.
The slide springs are the long springs under the diaphragm covers, about 1" diameter.
Be sure there are no tears in the rubber diaphragms.
Upon reassembly, make sure you have about 1/8"free play in the throttle cable at the grip.
and make sure the butterflies open at exactly the same time.
Your symptoms sound like you need to sync the carbs.
Perhaps an independent MC repair shop can do that for you.

So...There was some "gum" on the threads of the pilot jet of the rear carb - and while I could see some daylight through the jet, I tried to clean what I though was some gum partially blocking the jet. I can't believe I overlooked this before (but it's possible)- maybe it accumulated over the past 2 years? whatever...

AND the rubber diaphragm on the front carb was not seated properly!! Thankfully no tears in either diaphragm. I could have gotten the slide springs mixed up from the front to rear...How can I tell? Where does the longer one go?

Thank you Navigator