Engine dying out???

[saQ]

I have a road star that's been acting up on me and i wanted to get someone's professional opinion on what's up.

first of all it's a 2005 yamaha road star. the bike starts up fine, no choke needed, and i let the bike warm up for a few minutes. the temp is about 60 degrees in the morning in Chicago right now. then as i'm riding everything seems to be good until i approach a stop and have to pull the clutch in. Once i pull that clutch in the bike dies out on me. while coasting i can pop the clutch and the bike will fire up again. i have to open up the throttle a few times and then the bike will stay on. when the bike is going everything seems fine, it's just when i come to a stop and pull the clutch in. i can even be on the expressway doing about 60mph and pull the clutch in and the bike will die. i just let the clutch out and the bike will start up again on the fly. also, the bike sounds different. when i accelerate it sounds different. like the bike is "firing" wrong. does this have something to do with the air/fuel mixture? (i'm not much of a mechanic, so i don't know if i'm using the right terms. please bare with me) other's have suggested to use 'Sea Foam' to clean out the carbs and that seems to work, but it seems to be a temporary fix. i'm hoping to find a permanent fix. also, FYI i bought the bike used and a few mods were done. mostly cosmetic stuff, but as for the engine, the only physical thing i can see done are the Vance & Hines pipes. I'm wondering if it has something to do with that. maybe the previous owner just slapped those pipes on and didn't 're-jet' the engine??? is that a possibilty? does it even have to be re-jetted? i know sometimes you don't have to re-jet an engine?

these problems continue for awhile, but after about 15-20 minutes of riding the bike seems fine and doesn't die out on me when i pull in the clutch. also the sound of the bike goes back to 'normal' again. so this problem has something to do when the bike is "cold", but once it's warmed up and has been going for awhile it goes back to normal...but it's a long warm up though...15-20 minutes. a bike shouldn't take that long to 'warm up' right???

well i'm hoping that the post is understandable and i'm hoping someone can shed some light on the topic.

i hope someone can help a fellow rider out.

thanks in advance!!!

[JimR]

I have a road star that's been acting up on me and i wanted to get someone's professional opinion on what's up.

first of all it's a 2005 yamaha road star. the bike starts up fine, no choke needed, and i let the bike warm up for a few minutes. the temp is about 60 degrees in the morning in Chicago right now. then as i'm riding everything seems to be good until i approach a stop and have to pull the clutch in. Once i pull that clutch in the bike dies out on me. while coasting i can pop the clutch and the bike will fire up again. i have to open up the throttle a few times and then the bike will stay on. when the bike is going everything seems fine, it's just when i come to a stop and pull the clutch in. i can even be on the expressway doing about 60mph and pull the clutch in and the bike will die. i just let the clutch out and the bike will start up again on the fly. also, the bike sounds different. when i accelerate it sounds different. like the bike is "firing" wrong. does this have something to do with the air/fuel mixture? (i'm not much of a mechanic, so i don't know if i'm using the right terms. please bare with me) other's have suggested to use 'Sea Foam' to clean out the carbs and that seems to work, but it seems to be a temporary fix. i'm hoping to find a permanent fix. also, FYI i bought the bike used and a few mods were done. mostly cosmetic stuff, but as for the engine, the only physical thing i can see done are the Vance & Hines pipes. I'm wondering if it has something to do with that. maybe the previous owner just slapped those pipes on and didn't 're-jet' the engine??? is that a possibilty? does it even have to be re-jetted? i know sometimes you don't have to re-jet an engine?

these problems continue for awhile, but after about 15-20 minutes of riding the bike seems fine and doesn't die out on me when i pull in the clutch. also the sound of the bike goes back to 'normal' again. so this problem has something to do when the bike is "cold", but once it's warmed up and has been going for awhile it goes back to normal...but it's a long warm up though...15-20 minutes. a bike shouldn't take that long to 'warm up' right???

well i'm hoping that the post is understandable and i'm hoping someone can shed some light on the topic.

i hope someone can help a fellow rider out.

thanks in advance!!!

Hi,

I guess the bike has been serviced, in order to sort out the engine problems. if the motor has carbs I would sugest the problem lies there but if the bike is FI you may need to to look at the little black boxes ..etc

Regards Jim

[sluggo]

Hi,

Interesting problem. Motor should be more than warm enough after 5 mins.

Vance & Hines have been around for a long time an should be able to advise you of any adjustments that should be made. Their pipes are engineered, not just made up in a shed by a pipe bender.

Check that the plugs are correct for the model and are in OK order.

After 5 mins. of running pull out a plug or 2 and check how the fuel is burning at idle. Unleaded fuel under normal conditions will give a fairly clean but black plug. If very sooty it's too rich, if gray / whitish it's too lean at low engine speed. Adjust with carb MIXTURE screw.

When riding, best way to test carb running is to maintain constant speed with engine at least 50% max revs for a few minutes. You don't have to go fast just run in lower gear to keep revs up.

Cut engine ( turn off) without slowing engine and pull up. Check plugs again. They should be black but clean. If gray / white the bike is running lean and will need re-jetting.

Your problem sounds more like one or more of the plugs fouling at low revs and clearing after a bit of use. You can always try a set of plugs one grade hotter (NGK '7' is hotter than NGK '8'). This will do no harm as the factory reccomendation is for general useage worldwide. Colder climates or even your riding may mean hotter plugs are best suited to your riding style.

But my first job would be to contact Vance & Hines for their advice.

Regards.

[saQ]

Thank you guys for your suggestions. much appreciated. i think the problem lies with re-jetting. i don't think the previous owner did so. i think he just threw the pipes on and that was that. so i'm going to go with re-jetting first and see what that does.

thanks again!