[Taco Town]

I have a 2006 VT1100 with about 15,000 miles.

It starts right up and runs great. But sometimes after I've ridden to work, when I get on it to ride home, it starts up and runs for a few minutes and then I lose power/compression and it dies.

When I try to restart it, it will start and run, but if I try to give it any throttle it quits running. I don't know what's causing this and it's frustrating because I'm left stranded and don't know how to get it fixed.

I try to restart it several times, which takes 20 to 30 minutes. Finally she will fire up back into life with full throttle and I can ride her home.

I don't know if it's too much fuel, not enough fuel, not enough air, not enough spark. As best as I can describe it, it just all of a sudden loses power and dies. Doesn't want to run correctly until I've spent half an hour trying to restart her several times.

I had both carbs rebuilt at a Honda dealer a couple of years ago and I have a fresh air filter.

One potentially related factor is the choke. I open the choke to start it, and after the bike has warmed up, if I try to close the choke she doesn't run very well. Although I'm mechanically inclined, I never learned much about carburation, lean versus rich mixtures and so on. I've been riding with the choke open and I'm wondering if that has something to do with causing the problem?

What's really weird is that this problem doesn't happen usually on the first ride of the day. It's the second ride that she starts up and goes, but then dies after a few minutes.

Thanks for any help you can give me to understand what's causing this problem. I love to ride, but it's upsetting to have to worry about being late, or running the battery dead.

 

[HomerDodd]

I have a 2006 VT1100 with about 15,000 miles.

It starts right up and runs great. But sometimes after I've ridden to work, when I get on it to ride home, it starts up and runs for a few minutes and then I lose power/compression and it dies.

When I try to restart it, it will start and run, but if I try to give it any throttle it quits running. I don't know what's causing this and it's frustrating because I'm left stranded and don't know how to get it fixed.

I try to restart it several times, which takes 20 to 30 minutes. Finally she will fire up back into life with full throttle and I can ride her home.

I don't know if it's too much fuel, not enough fuel, not enough air, not enough spark. As best as I can describe it, it just all of a sudden loses power and dies. Doesn't want to run correctly until I've spent half an hour trying to restart her several times.

I had both carbs rebuilt at a Honda dealer a couple of years ago and I have a fresh air filter.

One potentially related factor is the choke. I open the choke to start it, and after the bike has warmed up, if I try to close the choke she doesn't run very well. Although I'm mechanically inclined, I never learned much about carburation, lean versus rich mixtures and so on. I've been riding with the choke open and I'm wondering if that has something to do with causing the problem?

What's really weird is that this problem doesn't happen usually on the first ride of the day. It's the second ride that she starts up and goes, but then dies after a few minutes.

Thanks for any help you can give me to understand what's causing this problem. I love to ride, but it's upsetting to have to worry about being late, or running the battery dead.

One potentially related factor is the choke. I open the choke to start it, and after the bike has warmed up, if I try to close the choke she doesn't run very well.

My bike had a similar problem, The carbs had also been recently rebuilt by the prior owner with cheap chinese rebuild kits. all four spark plugs were heavy sooted black. I noticed the chokes (enricheners) were not fitting in their bores corectly and leaking by, causing an overly rich situation. To confirm this, I plugged off the choke bores with rubber plugs. Bike started and ran normally after that. Start with the basic checks. Mak sure both coils and wires are firing; check the plugs (should be tan or cocoa brown on the tip replace if sooted and gap properly. Check fuel pump output and flow. If these check out, then we can move into the carbs and check ignition trigger ("pick up) coil testing. Try this and get back to me !

 

[HomerDodd]

One potentially related factor is the choke. I open the choke to start it, and after the bike has warmed up, if I try to close the choke she doesn't run very well.

My bike had a similar problem, The carbs had also been recently rebuilt by the prior owner with cheap chinese rebuild kits. all four spark plugs were heavy sooted black. I noticed the chokes (enricheners) were not fitting in their bores corectly and leaking by, causing an overly rich situation. To confirm this, I plugged off the choke bores with rubber plugs. Bike started and ran normally after that. Start with the basic checks. Mak sure both coils and wires are firing; check the plugs (should be tan or cocoa brown on the tip replace if sooted and gap properly. Check fuel pump output and flow. If these check out, then we can move into the carbs and check ignition trigger ("pick up) coil testing. Try this and get back to me !

Exactly my thoughts. Cheap enrichners (chokes) leak by and make the mixture overly rich; a plug reading will help here.

 

[D's Spirit]

Running with the choke engaged can fowl the spark plugs. It looks like you have aftermarket exhausts. Do you know if the carbs were re-jetted to balance the air flow/fuel mixture? How did the bike run after the dealer re-built the carbs? Were the exhausts installed before or after the carb rebuild? Is the current situation something new? Is there back firing?

There's lot's of possible causes to your situation. Start with the easy stuff like checking the petcock to see if the tank filter is clean. Check the spark plugs for soot and possible fowling. Make sure all vacuum and fuel lines are connected properly. Make sure the intake manifolds are sealed all the way around. Make sure the tank vent is clean, clear and breathing properly.

After eliminating the easy stuff, then start with the more more complex stuff like the possibility of needing a good carb cleaning...and so on.

Good luck!

 

[Taco Town]

Thanks for your input. The previous owner installed the pipes and I'm not sure if the jets were changed or not. It ran great after the carb rebuilds and this new thing was at the end of last year. I should mention too that the bike sat for most of the last 14 months (since I relocated to Phoenix). I'll have to get a repair manual to check the other things you mentioned.

 

[gdb069]

If you need choke on to run, the engine is starving fort fuel. Might be venting so pop the fuel cap off when restarting. Also check the A/F (pilot screws) on the carb and see if they are drilled out (for rejet) and adjust richer (out a 1/2 turn). Usually you can diagnose the engine by plugs condition so look for soot or oily plugs and that say rich.

Lastly if the bike sat for a while it is possible the carb jets and Pilot jet are gummed. The solution is to disassemble and clean the carbs. The cheat is to try some Seafoam in fuel for a few tanks.

 

[Taco Town]

Thanks for the tips. The problem started after I had the carbs rebuilt at the Honda dealer. I checked today and the motor does run after I turn the choke all the way up. I have been taking the fuel cap off to restart, but I don't know if it's helping or not because I don't know what the problem is in the first place. Last time I checked the plugs they were dry and normal, but I'll check again the next time I get stalled out.

Thanks.

 

[gdb069]

Rereading the thread I see the bike sat for 14 months so to clarify: did the problem start before the bike sat the 14 months? During the 14 months was the bike stored with fuel in the tank or carbs?

 

[Taco Town]

Yes, the problem started before the 14 months. During the last 14 months I started it up and rode once in awhile. I had the carbs rebuilt, and rode it to work daily for about 6,000 or 7,000 miles and then the problem started. Yes, I had fuel in the tank and carbs because I rode it once in awhile.