Valve clearance checks are done every 8k miles.

 

Having an issue somewhat like that of Justin Powell but not quite to that extent on the 1800.

Bike just seems to be off. Not running really rough but just seems to be not quite right. Plugs are less than 4,000 miles. Starts and idles fine.

Acceleration seems to be lacking just a little and it seems a little rough, well not rough, maybe lightly lugging would be a better description.

Is this a valve adjustment sounding problem ?

 

Having an issue somewhat like that of Justin Powell but not quite to that extent on the 1800.

Bike just seems to be off. Not running really rough but just seems to be not quite right. Plugs are less than 4,000 miles. Starts and idles fine.

Acceleration seems to be lacking just a little and it seems a little rough, well not rough, maybe lightly lugging would be a better description.

Is this a valve adjustment sounding problem ?

Mine is exactly like that. Its not really rough so much as lugging. Its noticable enough to irritate me but probably only because I look for it.

Valve clearance checks are done every 8k miles.

I understand that, my question is, how would I know if the valves needed adjustment aside from mileage. ie How would the bike act poorly if the valves out of adjustment were the issue.

 

I'm only a shade tree mechanic, but it sounds to me like either improperly gapped plugs, or your not getting enough gas. Also could be water in the gas. I had water in the gas on my old shadow, and it had similar.but more severe problems. It would idle fine, but if you gave it the gas it would bog down bad. got so bad that I had to feather the throttle an ease through the gears to get it going and couldn't even use 5th. Anyway, that'd a couple things I would check.

Sent from my HERO200 using Tapatalk

 

I checked the gap when I changed the plugs. Bad gas or water in gas was one thing I considered but I would have to be very unlucky if thats the issue. It has been happening intermittently for a month and I ride through a tank every two days.

 

Have you checked your battery connections and/or ECM wires? Seems every couple of weeks someone comes on here with similar problems and that's usually the answer. Either your bat cables are loose or there is a cracked or broken green or black wire on the ECM. Let us know.

 

Havent checked that. I thought that was an issue only affecting the 1800 for some reason. How would I go about checking the ECM wires? Electrical is where I am least proficient.

Sounds like your A/F needs to be opened up a little.

Read this.
I don’t know why but it seems that a lot of bikes run fine when new but after a couple years they seem to start having these same symptoms. It's sounding more like it is running lean and that the A/F needs to be adjusted. I would consider ordering Glen's Permanent A/F adjuster. It's a little hard to adjust without it. This way you don’t have to remove the gas tank and the air breather box to make any fine adjustment. The knob hangs down beside the idle adjustment on the right side between the lower part of the cylinder's.
Most of the time you will not need the choke.
The choke in not a choke, it is an enhancer and dumps a whole lot of fuel in fast. These bikes are set lean from the factory to pass EPA and that is why you are having to use the choke / enhancer. I would suggest you open the A/F up a little more. It is hard to get at and I would recommended you install Glen's permanent A/F adjuster, it makes adjusting much easier.

Hers a link;
Glen's VTX Garage
http://www.glensvtxgarage.com/

Donut/Dougatriot:

Been meaning to order that. Running lean was my first thought on what was wrong, but when I turned up the idle it seemed fine. Then it the problem came back.

The issue comes and goes and the only two correlations I can find is that is seems worse when its warm which is usual if its running lean. And that its always at night, not every night just some.

I have a hard time believing my bike is scared of the dark, so it only happening at night is likely a coincidence.

 

Sounds like your A/F needs to be opened up a little.

Read this.
I don’t know why but it seems that a lot of bikes run fine when new but after a couple years they seem to start having these same symptoms. It's sounding more like it is running lean and that the A/F needs to be adjusted. I would consider ordering Glen's Permanent A/F adjuster. It's a little hard to adjust without it. This way you don’t have to remove the gas tank and the air breather box to make any fine adjustment. The knob hangs down beside the idle adjustment on the right side between the lower part of the cylinder's.
Most of the time you will not need the choke.
The choke in not a choke, it is an enhancer and dumps a whole lot of fuel in fast. These bikes are set lean from the factory to pass EPA and that is why you are having to use the choke / enhancer. I would suggest you open the A/F up a little more. It is hard to get at and I would recommended you install Glen's permanent A/F adjuster, it makes adjusting much easier.

Hers a link;
Glen's VTX Garage
http://www.glensvtxgarage.com/

Donut/Dougatriot:

 

I think it's the A/F and it could change like that depending on temperature and humidity. It sounds like it is on the boarder line and needs to be opened up. If it was missing and really running bad I would look at the wires guing into the ECM especially the (look Close) black and green wires because they are notorious for breaking due to being stretched taunt and vibrating.

Donut/Dougatriot:

 

I will check the ECM to be sure. And I will get glens AF to try turning up the mixture a little. That actually makes alot of sense. I live in FL, its 80+ degrees and somewhat humid during the day. At night it drops to 60 degrees or lower and its damp.

I noticed it got significantly worse around midnight which is when the temp gets the lowest.

Your ECM is the little box that's clamped to the top of your battery under the seat.

Ill check that, I looked briefly last night but just to check it was connected not for corrosion or any interference.

 

Your ECM is the little box that's clamped to the top of your battery under the seat.

 

Back to valve adjust question, you really don't know if they need to be adjusted, except if you can't hear them ticking. If it were a valve problem, it's probably gone too far to fix with an adjustment, when they tighten up, they burn causing a rough running bike. So, it's just preventive maintenance by checking them every 8k.

 

It still ticks, and the noise kinda bothers me. It sounds unatural, but from what I hear its normal.

So are you saying adjusting the valves will cause it to run more rough? If so how would I get the bike to ride smooth again after an adjustment.

 

If the valves aren't ruined & in spec clearance, then it's not a valve issue you're dealing with. Like Donut says, very well could be the A/F, or like Hawk says, the wires going to the ecm could cause these kinds of symptons intermittently.

 

I will try the AF and ECM thing.


Sorry, I havent ever got that involved in the engine. What do you mean if they arent ruined? I just recently found out it was standard maintenence. I have ridden about 6,000 miles on it myself and Im not sure if it was ever done and the bike has 38,000 miles. When you say ruined do you mean like permanent damage?

If you have a burnt valve, an adjustment isn't gonna fix anything...The damage has already been done, and the only fix is expensive top end work...Now my suggestion is to do the valve adjustment per the shedule Honda has in the manual, which is every 8000 miles...The valves aree SUPPOSED to make some noise...No noise=tight valves, which=likelyhood of a burnt valve in the future...

All that being said, I really don't think a burnt valve is your problem...It wouldn't be an intermittant thing if the valves were the problem...It would run like chit all the time, not good one day, then crappy the next..

Now get to checking those valves at the earliest possible time, just so you know they're right....

Oh crap... Is this something I can do myself? Im pretty tech savvy but I never done a valve adjustment before. Somewhere I read if the plugs have a tan or brown tint to them then that means you need a valve adjustment. They were tanish when i changed them but didnt look terrible otherwise.

 

Just go ahead and check them for peace of mind! I checked mine after only having the bike a week or so and If I can do it anybody else can to... There is an excellent writeup somewhere on this forum and the great guys here will help you if needed.

 

http://racingarticles.com/article_racing-33.html

Just somthing to think about

 

That explains why its at night only... Im hoping its the electrical issue from the corroded ECM. But we shall see. I gotta get the tail light working for a test drive.

 

Any advice as to why I cannot get the tail running light or brake light to turn on would be great. Bulb looks fine. The license lights and turn lights arent attached so there are only 3 wires coming out of fender, a tan, green/yellow, and green. On the other end coming from the bike has a tan, green/yellow, blue, green/purple, and another green/purple. But the there is no green wire coming from the bike. From what I understand that is the ground. Where is that green wire? Any advice?

 

Ok first off, a big thank you to Desert Rat. He assisted me with my electrical issue. When I changed the battery i yanked out extra lighting and an old alarm system. I was sure my yanking all that stuff out had caused a short and was the reason why my tail light was blowing fuses. Turns out it was completely unrelated.

Desert Rat remembered I had posted installing drag bars a few months ago, and knew I had put the weights in after the fact and mentioned they didnt fit well. He has never even seen my bike but he took a shot in the dark and said maybe when I put the weights in the metal jammed the wires and caused the horn wire to short to ground which is connected the brake light fuse.

He was completely correct. The horn wire and the ground were both open and making a connection. It really sucks because I had to take out the internal wiring and didnt have the hours to spend re-threading it. So it looks like crap but runs perfect.

I dont think the short was responsible for the bike running poorly but after cleaning the ECM and changing the batter it does appear to run better. The handle bar weight causing the short was covered in corrosion and looks like it ate off some of the powder coat under the grip.

All in all im very happy she is running well.

 

Just happy I could help ya out. Anytime you think I can be of help you know how to get me.

 

I have no idea how you came up with that diagnosis off the cuff. I am going to buy wire and redo the whole thing with no splicing or cuts. I just need to learn to solder.

 

I'd tell ya but you wouldn't beleve me anyway.

 

Na, I gotta hear this one.... At this point Im apt to believe nearly anything.

 

I pulled my first trans ,out of a car, by myself when I was 7 years old. Some kids got comic books , my dad was an enginner so I got tech books. I've been pullin' fixen' screwin' things up on everything from go karts to L 1011 aircraft. From fiber optics to 33,000 volt main feed power. I'm a licenced water opperator in the state of California and can treat and deliver water for a town(system) of 150,000 connections and less. I have never had a new car or bike in my life. So lots of life exspereances and sometimes I get lucky and get it right thats the bottom line

 

Still pretty amazing to be able to diagnose over the phone over a thousand miles away and even know what caused it. I was pretty sure the problem was near the fuse box of where I cut the wire, but never wouldve guessed that.

 

Here's to ya d-rat

My dad was a Master-Blacksmith trained from a child (his dad paid for him to work for the blacksmith) he started a fabricating/ornamental iron shop
and somehow through brains guts and experience he could make or fix anything .................desert rat I salute you and your kind for passing knowledge on to the neXt generation....and thanks Dad where ever you are !:cheers:

 

My dad was a Master-Blacksmith trained from a child (his dad paid for him to work for the blacksmith) he started a fabricating/ornamental iron shop
and somehow through brains guts and experience he could make or fix anything .................desert rat I salute you and your kind for passing knowledge on to the neXt generation....and thanks Dad where ever you are !:cheers:

Thank you but there's people on here that do a better job than I.

 

How do you guys feel about synthetic oil in the X? Everything seems to be working good but an oil change is due and I read that synthetic quiet the loud low end tick. But some say it isnt good on the clutch.

 

There's a ton of us who run Syn, make some popcorn and do a keyword search and you'll have a few days worth of reading.
The key to using any type of oil with a wet clutch is to make sure it's "Not" energy conserving oil

I run this, but other full syn oils are just as good.

 

I have spent days researching... And everything contradicts itself. Apparently the consensus is that Syn Oil is great on the engine in every way but since the molecules copied from dino oil were the slickest and not a mixture thereof it can create slippage but only if the clutch spring were already weak. So if I make the switch I may end up having to do the clutch too.

Also is it bad to make the switch to Syn at almost 40,000 miles? I heard your not supposed to but never understood why.

 

I just wanted to add another thought to the stew. This friggin ethanol fuel we all are forced to run at some pont. I saw you are from the sunshine state have you had to let the bike sit with this inferior fuel in it? I know we have had a cold winter this year. I am in south Ga and and have only gone more than 2 weeks without riding a couple of times, barely.

I also have a 1991 Isuzu trooper that has not been run much at all this winter that now runs like sh_t. I have run seafoam through it with only mild improvement. I blame the ethonal blend on this and wonder if it has maybe contributed to your issues even though they are not as consistent as mine.

Just another opinion/guess to add
Rob:drunk::drunk:

 

I would listen to Gonz....nuff said

 

I agree.

Donut/Dougatriot: