18 MPG.... Yuck.. 1985 Vt1100

[Inferno]

DAMN!!!

Now I KNOW I could have sold you that box for $200!!

You should get around 35-45MPG now. Doncha love the power of the 1100?

Even with one cyl you didn't have half of the power. Sure you were running on half the cylinders but you were also dragging a dead piston around. That's why the idle was set so high. They needed that much gas just to drag the dead piston at an idle.

[tcanthonyii]

Originally Posted by Dartmech

Whoo! She runnin good! Backed off the throttle stop, adjusted the idle screws and she purred like a lion.
I took her on a spin for about 45 mins to get the battery charged and make sure there were no surprises. It's like a whole new machine... Well its like adding a cylinder If I think about it ill update the mpg's and might take some ohm reading so we can help others diagnose their spark box quicker.

I want to thank everyone for their help in this matter. I couldnt be happier right now!
I will do my best to pay it forward!

Thanks everybody!

Throttle stop is what I was trying to tell you. Glad you got it figured out. I"m sure they upped it A LOT to keep it running. Bet if they would have known they could keep the bike for a few hundred they would have kept it!

[gmck]

So glad you got her running and thanks for the blog, will probably help someone else. Now ride the wheels off it.

[Dartmech]

I've been riding and loving this bike. My fuel mileage went up to 36 mpg's with me "getting on it" fairly regularly. Sweet sounding machine....
Just thought I'd update everyone on how its going.
Do have a few pops when letting off of the throttle. Rich?

[Inferno]

Originally Posted by Dartmech

I've been riding and loving this bike. My fuel mileage went up to 36 mpg's with me "getting on it" fairly regularly. Sweet sounding machine....
Just thought I'd update everyone on how its going.
Do have a few pops when letting off of the throttle. Rich?

I have the same thing with mine. It was pretty bad when I got it but tightening up the exhaust bolts slowed it down a lot. Now it has a pretty decent backfire if I'm on it and going downhill, loading up the exhaust. Under normal riding it seldom pops.

Try tightening up the exhaust at the head. It might have gotten a little loose over the years.

36 seems a little low compared to mine. With average driving I can squeak 140 miles out of a fillup.

[GrumpyOldMan]

Standard carb jetting is very lean so if there is any extra air getting in, you will get decel popping. You will find lotsa info about adjusting the pilot mixture screws to help the popping - I suggest you might want to change out the low and high speed jets and adjust the needle instead. I changed the jets when I cleaned my carbs = no popping anymore and I only bumped the size one step on both - I have stock aircleaner and pipes. Still need to put some shims under the needle - Lazurus lags a bit at mid-range.
I got jets from Jet kits for Carburetors