Boulevard S50 Low Idle

[Hylander]

Hi all, I've been working on my '07 Boulevard S50 / VS800. The bike died on me a few weeks ago while out and left me stranded . Felt huge loss of power, then the bike just shut off.

Long story short, I started attacking the carbs, since they haven't been cleaned in at least 2 years since I've owned the bike and who knows if the previous owner had touched them. It was a good call, since they had crud in them; I hit them with an ultrasonic cleaner and carb cleaner after removing O-rings and the slide.

After putting it all back together, she acts funny, but turns over. It backfires a bunch from the front cylinder while idling and under throttle. I know I have to sync the carbs, but that brings me to my problem: The idle is too low to be able to leave the bike running to do anything! I have the idle thumb screw maxed out, but the bike still dies if I don't give it gas.

I also know there's a lot of other things I can try, but most of them require the bike to be able to idle

Any help would be amazing, I imagine its some cable setting I messed up while removing the carbs.

[Hylander]

And here's a video of her running back in the spring. [YoutubeURL][/YoutubeURL]

And some ugly photos from a while ago.

[sgtcall]

Hi all, I've been working on my '07 Boulevard S50 / VS800. The bike died on me a few weeks ago while out and left me stranded . Felt huge loss of power, then the bike just shut off.

Long story short, I started attacking the carbs, since they haven't been cleaned in at least 2 years since I've owned the bike and who knows if the previous owner had touched them. It was a good call, since they had crud in them; I hit them with an ultrasonic cleaner and carb cleaner after removing O-rings and the slide.

After putting it all back together, she acts funny, but turns over. It backfires a bunch from the front cylinder while idling and under throttle. I know I have to sync the carbs, but that brings me to my problem: The idle is too low to be able to leave the bike running to do anything! I have the idle thumb screw maxed out, but the bike still dies if I don't give it gas.

I also know there's a lot of other things I can try, but most of them require the bike to be able to idle

Any help would be amazing, I imagine its some cable setting I messed up while removing the carbs.

The carb sync will help but overall the idle sounds okay to me, I am not the expert but Navigator and Lechy are. Here is a tip on getting rid of the backfire issue. viewtopic.php?f=10&t=14521

Here are a couple of things to check out.

POSTING PICTURES ON INTRUDERS ALERT
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=13992

INTRUDER MANUALS AND INFORMATION
viewtopic.php?f=19&t=14168

[Lechy]

You will need to remove the rear carb, back off the black knurled adjuster completely, adjust the idle cable until the butterfly starts to open then back off half a turn. Replace the carb, start the bike and adjust the idle using the knurled adjuster and do a carb synch.
Carb synch info here: viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4139

[Hylander]

Thank you both, in trying to track down this issue I took the carbs back off. I had replaced some of the jets with replacements from a 15$ kit from ebay - turns out not all the jets are the same size as OEM! Go figure So I cleaned the original jets and replaced them, and the bike idles much better (and higher) now and starts right up with no/minimal choke.

After re-synching the carbs, I was even able to take her for a ride. I noticed two issues: 1) One time when down shifting coming to a stop, the bike died on me suddenly. I was able to start it right back up. 2) At higher RPM (close to WOT), there is a noticeable lack of power and feels like one of the cylinders is misfiring, though its hard to tell which.

sgtcall, I'll check out that post you sent, might need to do that shimming so she doesn't go kaput when stopping. Lechy, for the time being it looks like the idle came back to normal so I don't think I'll need to adjust the idle cable, but I'll keep it in mind.

I also just realized I had replaced the jet needle on the front carb with the ebay kit so I suppose I should open it back up and possibly replace the OEM needle.

[sgtcall]

[Hylander]

An update in case anyone's curious. I ended up re-opening both carbs (I know, I know...) and replacing the original OEM parts including the float needles, which had expanded!! Then I re-synced and re-adjusted A/F mix screws. After running some Berryman's through a tank, she runs better than ever! Seriously what a difference before and after properly cleaning the carbs makes.

Man, this has been a 40hr+ repair trying to pinpoint the issue after already having cleaned the carbs, but it was so worth it. Knowing that everything was done correctly and completely is a good peace of mind. Also saved myself $$$ and learned so much about these bikes in the process. Also found some other minor issues along the way which I wouldn't have without opening 'er up.

Moral of the story: at ALL costs avoid cheap ebay carburetor kits. Avoid anything cheap on ebay, for that matter.

[Herb]

Glad to hear that you solved the issue.

Thanks for the update, it is always good to know what fixed a problem. Sometime in the future this kind of issue will come up again and someone will remember this and give good advice, maybe you.

Repairing something that is broke gives a very satisfying feeling, doesn't it?

[Hylander]

Glad to hear that you solved the issue.

Thanks for the update, it is always good to know what fixed a problem. Sometime in the future this kind of issue will come up again and someone will remember this and give good advice, maybe you.

Repairing something that is broke gives a very satisfying feeling, doesn't it?

It really is satisfying And I had the same thought with my update, this forum has helped me a ton.

On another note, I also noticed my rear exhaust header turns a yellow-gold hue after riding for a bit. It's my understanding this indicates a lean condition in that cylinder. I also tried to determine the mpg and found that with a full tank, I only get about 85-90 miles range. This seems low, do y'all think it could be related to that first issue?

[sgtcall]

Your fuel mileage should be closer to the 120 miles per tank mark. Sync may be a little off.

Keep running the Berrymans through the tank every 3-4 tanks just to keep it clean.

Glad it all worked out for you.

[Herb]

Both the hot running cylinder and the low fuel milage can be caused by the engine being out of sync. The rear cylinder is probably doing most of the work.

Do a carb sync and see what happens.