Low Power on Acceleration/Poor gas mileage

[wkboard]

I just rode my buddies 03 RSV, and his has much better acceleration and much better gas mileage. Mine is 99' RSV.

Any ideas on where to look first?? I appreciate all of you members with all of your good advice and experience!!

I have not synced the carbs yet. could that be it?

It has 48000 miles and I don't know if the valves have been checked or not. It rides good now, but seems like it should be better. I am getting around 25-30 mpg. He is getting 35-39 mpg.

 

thanks,

Alan..

[wizard]

I put around 9000 miles on my first set of spark plugs when someone here pointed out that I really should replace them at 8000 miles. It really made a difference in acceleration and gas mileage for me when I replaced them.

[GeorgeS]

Run Several tanks of gas with 1/2 can Sea-Foam

 

At 48,000 deffinatly time to replace the Plug Wires and Caps.

And a new set of plugs if never replaced.

 

?? Maby a new Air Filter ??

 

And Deffinatly " Sync the Carbs " !!!!!!!

 

Drain the Carb Bowls !!

 

Drain the Gas Tank, just in case some water in the bottom of tank.

[wkboard]

Thanks for the ideas!!! Plugs are less than 1000 miles, new k&n air filters, dont know on wires and caps, but no intercom noise. Used seafoam as you sugested on 2 tanks, about 5 tanks ago. Good ideas though, gets me thinking. I'l try more seafoam right away and work on the sync.

[wkboard]

Ive been reading a bunch of great posts, but, they give me more questions.

Do you have to pull the tank to check the diaphrams on the 2gen?

can I adjust the mixture screws (21/4 turns?) with the tank on? and should I since I don't have a carbtune tool?

I am sure I have more, but that's what I can think of now.

Wish I could have gone to FT. Collins to ask these in person.

Always good when someone shows me where to do the ajustin.

[Denden]

Ive been reading a bunch of great posts, but, they give me more questions.

Do you have to pull the tank to check the diaphrams on the 2gen?

can I adjust the mixture screws (21/4 turns?) with the tank on? and should I since I don't have a carbtune tool?

I am sure I have more, but that's what I can think of now.

Wish I could have gone to FT. Collins to ask these in person.

Always good when someone shows me where to do the ajustin.

Yes you have to remove the tank to pull the diaphrams out.

I don't think you should mess with the mixture screws...but you can get to them with the tank on.

The best thing to do at this point is sync the carbs, first. This V4 runs best with the carbs synced, out of sync can cause a number of problems, depending how far off they are. Poor gas mileage, sluggish acceleration, vibration and shaking are all possibly caused by out of sync.

And I wish I could have gone to Ft. Collins, too!

[wkboard]

Thanks Denden! I appreciate your comments. I will look into a carbtune.

Looks like the most potential next step.

Alan..

[hig4s]

Looking through the thread, I don't see where anyone has mentioned changing the fuel filter.

[Monsta]

There are many problems that can create the conditions you describe.

 

I would download the service manual, if you don't already have one, and do everything on the list for scheduled maintenance up until now.

 

You can make your own carb sync tool. Many of us have. I just did and it worked out well. I had to use gear oil. There are other designs which were much better than mine too.

 

Save your dough on the Carbtune right now. The homemade one is enough to get them within spec. You can always get one later.

[GeorgeS]

If you are going to keep a 2nd Gen for the Long Haul, then Invest in the " Morgan Carb Tune " Tool, It will save you money in the long run.

Agee with the above posts, At 48 K You Need to do a Sync First, and then go from there. Do Not assume there are other problems Untill you do the Sync Proceedure.

 

If you cannot get them to Sync Up, then you would assume there actually Is some Other Problem !! ( what you are doing here is matching up the Mechanical Linkage's)

 

You will only have to adjust the Sync Screws about + or - 10 degrees of rotation !!!! NO MORE THEN A QUARTER TURN!!!!!!!

 

Also, be Sure to find the Carb Bowl Drain Screws, and Drain the Bowls!!! You might have some bad stuff in the bowls.

 

Open the drain screws, and turn key to " ON " and let the fuel pump run some gas threw them all. ( With the bike in a Fire Safe Area, and water hose Handy !!! )

[GeorgeS]

One more item: Check the choke linkage's, make sure all 4 carbs are going to full choke Off position.

[wkboard]

Thank you all!! those are great tips. Now I have some work to do. Anyone with a carbtune they would trade for a 6cd player? Probably should start a new post for that one, whatever??

Alan..

[Monsta]

You'd do better to sell that 6 CD changer and BUY a Morgan Carbtune and then pocket all the extra money and buy gas!

 

http://www.carbtune.com/USA.htm

[wkboard]

After many hours of work-- the bike is running GREAT!! I have done many things to it, but the main culprit was a wire that fell off of the coil for the #2 cylinder. It actually was doing pretty well for a 3 cylinder.

I purchased a carbtune and it was very unbalanced from right to left. (yes, I did re-synch it after I fixed the coil wire,) It has good power- and runs smooth now. I haven't checked yet, but the mileage HAS to be better. By the way-- those coils are really buried in there- even with the tank off!

Life is good- now I need to ride!

Thanks to everyone for the excellent advice!

Here's what the carbtune looked like before I adjusted it. Way, way off. It's better now!

[PERM44]

Can someone post a picture of where the air mixture screws are located? I have searched the diagrams and cannot determine exactly where they are. One of my buddies said he thought I would have to pull the tank and possibly the carbs in order to drill out the plugs so I could get to them. That seems like a lot of trouble. I have 49K on my 03, and the carbs have never been sync'd. My mileage has also dropped some, and on startup, I have been smelling gas. Yesterday, coming back from a poker run, we were running pretty hard to the house (101 deg), and I hit reserve at 139 miles. I ususally hit it about 170. I know the mpg drops pretty good when I'm doing 75-85 by the GPS, but it did seem worse this time.

[Freebird]

I don't have a picture but I can tell you that you do not have to remove the gas tank or the carbs. You access them from the opposite side of the bike from the carbs that you are adjusting. Take a flashlight and shine it across to the other side. The mixture screws are capped with small brass caps, probably slightly smaller than a pencil eraser and they have a small hole in the center. You do not have to drill them out. Using a long screwdriver, gently pry them sideways and they will pop off.

 

That being said, you do realize that they have nothing to do with syching the carbs. They are only used for adjusting the air/fuel mixture. Synching the carbs is easy and there are instructions in the tech library. Messing with the air mixture screws is a different animal completely. You either have to REALLY know what you are doing and you really need either a gas analyzer or at least a color tune tool to set them properly. Some folks can do a decent job by ear by listening to the RPMS and etc. and maybe you are one of those people. If you don't know anything about them though, I wouldn't mess with them. If you DO mess with them, turn them in first and carefully count the number of turns that they are out. When you turn them in, do NOT try to overtighten them as the needles and/or seats could be damaged if you tighten them down too much. If you count the turns before you start, you can at least put them back where they were.

 

Most people who have messed with them will tell you that the mixture is set too lean from the factory. That is caused by EPA regulations. Usually a quarter to half a turn out is all that is needed to richen them up sufficiently.

 

One more word to the wise. The caps can be a bit difficult to get back on but if your bike is under warranty, you really need to put them back. If you have a warranty issue and they see that the caps have been removed, they really frown on that. I say that from experience.

[TEW47]

You said you put K & N air filters on. Did you over oil the filters before you put them in? I did and lost 9 mpg until I cleaned them and put a light coat of oil on them.

 

tew47

[BMW]

Hey Alan,

From the sounds of it you have that puppy purring from the last time I heard it. Congrat's! I'm leaving for Miami in the morning, maybe when I get back I'll stop by and you can fill me in on the carb syns. procedure. I'll give you a hollar when I get back. Nice job.

 

BMW

[wkboard]

You said you put K & N air filters on. Did you over oil the filters before you put them in? I did and lost 9 mpg until I cleaned them and put a light coat of oil on them.

 

tew47

 

The bike had the K&Ns installed already when I bought it. I have not opened them up yet, but now I will and check. Thanks for the tip!!!

[wkboard]

Hey Alan,

From the sounds of it you have that puppy purring from the last time I heard it. Congrat's! I'm leaving for Miami in the morning, maybe when I get back I'll stop by and you can fill me in on the carb syns. procedure. I'll give you a hollar when I get back. Nice job.

 

BMW

 

Call me when you get back. We can synch yours up too. It doesn't take very long- then I guess we'll have to take a ride!! Maybe we can go out to visit Steve?

[nolancar]

Hey Alan,

 

Glad to here it is running well. When are we going to go for a ride?

 

Nolan

[wkboard]

Nolan, We have to ride soon! we live so close but have such a hard time with schedules? Maybe we could get together with BMW and Steve(bought my VR) and do a carbtune day!

As you read- I got a carbtune, so anytime you need yours done- bring it on over!!

I spent a good chunk of time today splitting my fairing for the first time. It went very well-- just like the guys on here said! Go figure?? They really do know what they're talkin about. Replaced a bad driving light switch and added an AUX splitter for my MP3 player. both work good!! Thanks Squidley for the tech post!!

The bike is running so nice now. I still haven't gotten a fuel mileage reading yet, but am hopeful..

Still need to do the "Eck Mod" on the fuel filter and relocate the pass. plug in for my wife. (anyone know where to get a 1 foot extension?)

It's getting close to where I want it. I'm glad I didn't buy a new RSV-- I would still be doing Mods.

[LGR]

Have you tried a higher grade of gas? 93 to 94 grade seems to make my 2000 rsv get 48 to 50 mpg on the highway. Setting the cruise at 65 mph and it has 135,000 an still going strong. LGR