any suggestions
 

last year i was super busy at work and didn't get to ride at all. i stabilized the fuel again but when i started the bike this spring it only ran on one cylinder below 2500rpm and then the second kicked in. clogged pilot jet right ? time for a carb clean. took the bike to a honda shop and they cleaned the carbs and gave me back the bike running fine. 10 miles down the road one cylinder cut out and then the other died. bike restarted before coming to a full stop but did the same thing about 10 miles further down the road. it was too late to return to the shop so i went the next day. 24 mile ride and the bike did the same thing twice. it feels like it is running out of fuel. i was told that the valves were probably too tight and when the bike warmed up one or more valves hung open. they checked the valves and all were within range so they told me i must have a bent valve and they would not work on it until winter and that it would run at least $2500. i took the bike home and will rebuild this winter myself. i used to be a mc mechanic /service mgr. i don't see why the bike would run great until warm if it did indeed have a burnt valve. compression is 145 psi front cyl and 80 psi rear cyl. i suspect a pinched or punctured vacuum line to fuel valve coupled with a stuck ring from sitting almost 2 years. i haven't tried anything yet because in the course of all of this i bought a new cb1000r and a new vt1300cx fury and am breaking them in. any thoughts before i start.

80psi is pretty low...

Have you checked/swapped the coils?

Have you checked for PVLIR?

At some point you'll need to decide how much the bike is worth to you. You may be able to sell it as a mechanic's special and pickup a running vtr for not much more money... In all honesty i would not spend $2500 on mine, but that's just me... That's why i bought all my own tools, so no one else can touch my stuff but me...

James

Sure sounds like a fueling issue. Sitting for two years. Oxygenated fuels. Tiny passages in the carbs. With the carbs working properly, I can't imagine a bad valve causing those symptoms.
The compression difference maybe what you stated. I would do a service on the carbs. If that fixes the problem, ride often and check the compression again.

Cleaning the carbs may clean them, but your real problem is the muck in the gas tank waiting to muck them up say, a few miles down the road.

I installed inline fuel filters on mine which saves a world of hassle but at LEAST empy the gas tank til dry and fill it with new gas.

Have you done a leakdown test? that will be more telling but I would be surprised if a carb cleaning fixed a problem & when the problem returned it morphed into a bent valve.

The petcock is vacuum operated so yeah a bad like would cause similar issues. There is only one vacuum line going to the petcock so replacing it (and being sure its going to the right nipple) would tell you if thats it.

But if you dont empty the tank and rinse it then refill it, all bets are off.

And its worth doing your own carb cleaning and not even conversing with people who have the junk to tell you $2500 to fix it.

Vac line connected to the wrong place on the petcock?

thanks guys, what i was being told made no sense to me either. a burnt valve would effect running condition at all times, not only when warm. carbs are clean, bike runs great until it stops and then runs great again. i bought the bike new so i am familiar with how it should run. did not know about r/r or cct. will look into that also. i haven't done anything yet because when given the (false) bad news i bought 2 new bikes , a cb1000r and a fury and am breaking them in with what little time i do have. i will drain and clean and refill gas tank and inspect all fuel and vacuum lines and install inline fuel filters. if that doesn't do the trick i will tear her down this winter. i really enjoy the power characteristics of this bike and it is to me worth time but not a lot of money. and that basically is the life of a truck driver in winter...lots of time...little money.

I am thinking the strainer fuel filter in the tank is getting clogged as well and stalls the motor, after waiting a half hour or so the gunk falls off the filter allowing the bike to run until it clogs up once again.


Drain the tank into a container that you can see what is floating around in your tank just to make sure that is the problem. you may have to flush the tank a few times to get all of the varnish out of the tank.


Use caution because you are working with a flammable liquid and do this out side and not in your garage!

Your nose knows!


Take a good whiff of the fuel in your tank and if it smells off most likely its bad gas, this is where I would start because it's inexpensive and the fix may be as simple as draining and flushing the tank.


SIRR1

Installing fuel filters is more of a preventative measure if it was indeed caused by gunk in the tank. A throughout cleaning of the carbs is where I would start on any bike that's been sitting. A bent valve will absolutely show itself in a valve clearance check, so I have no idea what that shop is thinking...

Run the engine till it stalls out, then open the gas cap and try a restart. Maybe the tank vent is plugged.