[papamoose1977]

Okay folks I can't get my bike started now. I'll give brief overview then get to current (2004 VTX1300s).

I did a mod on my stock exhaust last month:

•Gutted almost everything out of stock mufflers, left one chamber, and one baffle in each, and shortened each muffler by ~4 inches. (see pics).

2 weeks ago began using A LOT of fuel so:

•Pulled carb enough to clean float bowls etc.
• Did PAIR mod with Goheen dimpled plates, and installed airbox rubber plug.
•Decapped airbox
•Installed Glen's permanent A/F screw
•Replaced 55 main jet with 58
•Replaced 195 pilot jet with 198
(These are not Factory Pro, they're from 6Sigma Cycles because factory pro was out of stock, did NOT come with new needle)
•Stock needle is still installed, but NOT shimmed
•Reassembled.
•Set A/F screw 2 turns out
•Idle screw is 1 turn out

Before attempting to start:
Problem #1: The entire fuel switch (pet cock?) has to be turned slightly in toward engine to get the fuel hose reattached. NEVER had this issue before. (see pics)

Problem #2: Battery dead. Recharged overnight.

Problem #3:
WILL NOT TURN OVER AT ALL, EVEN AT FULL CHOKE
Upon reassembly I checked everything. All vacuum/fuel hoses are clean and attached properly. Cleaned airbox, and filter is still good.
I used the 198 pilot because I didn't fully gut my mufflers. They are 4 inches shorter, and still have one chamber and one baffle. (See pics)

Questions:
•Is the pilot jet the wrong size? I have a 200, 202, 205 & 208 I can replace the 198 with.
•Do I need to shim the needle? I have plenty of those.
•What the hell is going on with the petcock?

This bike is my only transportation. I'm disabled, and out of money now. What did I just mess up?

Help me,
Moose

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[IMG alt="papamoose1977"]https://www.vtxcafe.com/d1/avatars/m/129/129305.jpg?1656090491[/IMG]
papamoose1977
·Registered

UPDATE:
Took off breather cover, put my hand over intake, sucks like a hoover. Took my hand off and hit start, it fired twice. Repeated process, fired twice. So, maybe not enough air??? Inside valve pushes up and down freely. So that's good.


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Vinish
·Super Moderator replied:

I recommend that you post all of this in an open thread - that is, one viewable by everyone. You will get better answers if others have input rather than just me.

You say, "WILL NOT FIRE AT ALL, EVEN AT FULL CHOKE" but I am unclear on what this means. I will assume it means that the starter motor engages and turns the engine but the engine will not stay running. In order to run, a bike needs four things:
1) air
2) fuel
3) spark
4) compression

The cause of not starting are almost never #1 or #4, especially in a case like yours where the bike would run before you did all the work.

Start by checking for spark on all four plugs. To do this, first put the bike in neutral and verify that it is in neutral. Remove each plug, put the plug back into its boot - making contact with the connector. Then hold the metal threads or the metal hexagonal portions next to the threads against some part of the engine. Dim the lights in the garage, and try to start the bike. You should see a dim blue spark at the electrode of each plug.

Next, look at all the work you did. Are all the hoses properly connected? It sounds like something is wrong from the positioning you describe of the fuel hose leading to the petcock after your work. Verify that you have fuel getting to the carb. To do this, after trying to start the bike, unscrew the float bowl drain screw and see if fuel comes out the drain port. You could also spray starter fluid into the air intake throat of the carb while trying to start the bike. If the bike will run for a few seconds on the starter fluid spray, you know the problem is not spark and is fuel.

G'day,

Vinish

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papamoose1977 replied:

•It has spark.

•It IS a fuel issue.
The jet that sprays the fuel when you twist the throttle no longer sprays anything. I don't know how the hell that happened. It worked fine before I removed the carb because that was the FIRST THING I checked before pulling the carb off the intake.

•When I put my hand over the intake and hit the start, it sucks like a hoover and will fire a couple times but not run. There is fuel in the intake afterward though and on my hand. But if I hit start without my hand over the intake, no fuel. So...it's indeed no longer getting fuel...obvious also because I can't physically see it spraying out now.

•I cleaned everything REALLY GOOD before reassembly, and sprayed carb cleaner on it all one last time before reassembling. I checked every connection too. All was good except the petcock having to be turned slightly for some reason to get the fuel hose reattached.
•That fuel hose from the petcock shouldn't be blocked, but I have new hose and will go ahead and replace that first, which won't hurt to do anyway.

•I've already disassembled it all AGAIN.
•I'm about head to Home Depot for new bowl screws and screws for the diaphragm cover. I stripped the heads as I knew I would. They were super soft and wasn't hard to do.

SOMEONE PLEASE DIRECT ME, OR POINT OUT SOMETHING I MISSED!!!
I'll check back here when I get to the store, and then again when I get home.

Thanks again,
Moose

 

[papamoose1977]

UPDATE!:

I'm almost sure I've figured it out. Having my mechanic friend come over before I do anything else. This is what I did:

•Started A/F screw at 2 1/2 turns, then decreased by 1/8 increments while increasing idle speed by 1/4 turns, all with ZERO CHOKE.
•Idle speed is higher than what I like, and A/F screw is now less than 1 1/2 turns. I'm not going to tighten it any further.
•The bike will run now, but I cannot give more than 1/8 slow and steady throttle before it pops and sputters, and then dies from bogging down. Blipping throttle is hit or miss, sometimes revs, sometimes bogs. Goes back to current idle setting fine.

My opinion is that I need to reinstall factory jets (195 & 55) and start all over. Waiting for mechanic friend's opinion, IF he can make it over tonite.

*Side note: had the fuel switch turned to reserve too. Duh!

Thanks,
Moose

 

[darrenbashby]

UPDATE!:

I'm almost sure I've figured it out. Having my mechanic friend come over before I do anything else. This is what I did:

•Started A/F screw at 2 1/2 turns, then decreased by 1/8 increments while increasing idle speed by 1/4 turns, all with ZERO CHOKE.
•Idle speed is higher than what I like, and A/F screw is now less than 1 1/2 turns. I'm not going to tighten it any further.
•The bike will run now, but I cannot give more than 1/8 slow and steady throttle before it pops and sputters, and then dies from bogging down. Blipping throttle is hit or miss, sometimes revs, sometimes bogs. Goes back to current idle setting fine.

My opinion is that I need to reinstall factory jets (195 & 55) and start all over. Waiting for mechanic friend's opinion, IF he can make it over tonite.

*Side note: had the fuel switch turned to reserve too. Duh!

Thanks,
Moose

Did you set the float height when you had it apart? If you have the float too low it will starve for fuel. Could also be the accelerator pump. You mentioned you had to turn the petcock after you had the carb apart, and did not have to before, is the fuel line not routed the same now, and could it be pinched? Are the plugs wet with fuel? How does it run with the choke on?

 

[papamoose1977]

I did have the fuel hose misrouted, and corrected that. And no I didn't adjust float height. I'm don't how to do that. The bike ran great before the first teardown, but started using a lot of fuel. And I mean A LOT. I was only getting MAYBE 100± miles per tank.
She runs now without the choke, but I can't give more than 1/8 throttle before she bogs and dies. But that's with A/F screw at less than 1 1/2 turns, and the idle stop turned to a higher idle than 900rpm. Probably more like 1100 to 1200 rpm.
Haven't checked to see if plugs were wet. When we checked for spark they were dry, but that was before she turned over and ran at all.

Thanks,
Moose

 

[Vinish]

There is no float height adjustment possible on a VTX1300 carb. All you can do is make sure the float is not full (or partially full) of fuel and that it moves freely.

 

[papamoose1977]

There is no float height adjustment possible on a VTX1300 carb. All you can do is make sure the float is not full (or partially full) of fuel and that it moves freely.

Okay... Thank you sir. That's good to know.

 

[darrenbashby]

There is no float height adjustment possible on a VTX1300 carb. All you can do is make sure the float is not full (or partially full) of fuel and that it moves freely.

Guess I am showing my age, back in the day of the floats with the little tab you bent to set height.

 

[Kevin Nash]

Just curious…did you ever figure out what your problem was and what you did to fix it? I’m having a similar problem with my VTX1300 And could use some ideas.

 

[FreddyCB]

Just curious…did you ever figure out what your problem was and what you did to fix it? I’m having a similar problem with my VTX1300 And could use some ideas.

I have the same issue did u figure yours out?

 

[Jack Wolff]

I second the recommendation for Seafoam. I would use it in a heavier dose than recommended on the bottle. (When preparing bike for winter to sit idle, Seafoam company recommends leaving only a little fuel in the tank and putting in an entire bottle of seafoam and running the bike so the seafoam has flowed into the carb/injectors, etc. There is a video on the Seafoam site about this if I am not mistaken.)

The problem is probably the A/F mixture. I am not a mechanic, by any means, but I've had my carb apart 3x, rebuilt it the last time, and resealed the fuel tank (it was dropping gunk into the carb, causing it to leak fuel massively). After all that, I had to adjust the A/F mixture. I assume you have the A/F screw kit everyone here recommends (so it can be adjusted without removing the airbox/filter)? If not, you should get and install it. Make sure ALL parts of the old A/F screw are removed, including the o-ring and washer. My o-ring was a rubber goop when I replaced it with the rebuild. Really, really weird. Not even an o-ring anymore. I wondered if someone used brake clean on the carb previously?

A great benefit of the A/F extended tool is that you can adjust the A/F mixture anywhere. I have been adjusting mine at work before riding home. And even after getting home. Makes it really simple. Small turns and see if the riding experience improves.

You should also get a simple digital tachometer that installs around a spark plug cable so you can reasonably set the idle @ about 900 RPMS after the engine is warm. This tach can be easily removed afterward, too. I just left mine on the bike for now, routing the cable under the tank up to the forks. I also had to reset the idle at 900+/- RPM. When adjusting the A/F screw (with the extended version as mentioned), you'll need to be patient. Must wait a bit after each small adjustment. I am still adjusting mine after replacing the airbox (the fuel overflow problem MELTED my airbox!). After replacing the airbox, which has a somewhat reduced air flow, I backed the A/F mixture (counterclockwise) about 1/4 turn). The bike at idle seemed to run fine, but under load (riding the bike) the A/F mixture result wasn't good at this setting. The bike would sputter and bog down with just a little throttle - higher throttle disguised the problem. If the engine wasn't fully warm (it's winter here, daily highs in mid 40s - mid 50s), this was made even worse. Even dangerous when pulling into traffic. Aware of the problem, I rode for a day or two.

I assume you've watched a video about adjusting the A/F mixture on the VTX 1300? There's a good one on YouTube. I can link it if needed.

After a day or two, I turned the mixture back 1/8 turn (clockwise) -- this was yesterday -- and rode home. Much better! Rode to work today again. Still much better. I will ride with the same setting a time or two and probably adjust again this weekend just 1/8 turn or less (clockwise, since that improved the ride last time), as the bike seems to hesitate just the slightest bit, but want to confirm a time or two more before making any other adjustments.

I have also put in fuel and can say that I got 32 MPG on the last fill-up with the slight bogging down, which is the best this bike has gotten since I purchased it a year ago (it was averaging 28 at that time). I use only 87 octane, as recommended by Honda (though some swear they do better with higher octane in these bikes, I am not convinced, as I have run both, and my bike runs best with 87.. will have to test that once I am happy with A/F mixture. This may change the mixture, too, with higher octane fuel? I don't know TBH).

I also believe that I am at nearly 2 turns on the A/F screw (counterclockwise). In your case, at 1 1/2 turns (I assume counterclockwise), I would recommend going right to 2 turns and seeing how that runs, then adjust from there: counterclockwise 1/8 if it improves, clockwise 1/8 if it worsens. With the extender, you can even pull over while test riding it and adjust the A/F screw 1/8 turn easily enough.