CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 #1 Posted February 22, 2014 Just bought my bike today. 2001 RSV with only 9K miles. I cannot put the choke back in with out the bike dying. I have to rev the heck out of it to get it to take off in 1st. It tries to dies when the throttle is at less than a quarter. I have looked around on here, and I think it is the fuel pump, but I wanted some opinions.
Ventureless Posted February 22, 2014 #2 Posted February 22, 2014 13 years old with only 9000 miles, my first thought would be the carbs need a very good cleaning.
eusa1 Posted February 22, 2014 #3 Posted February 22, 2014 Yes i agree, carbs are gunky Kantornado is another member here from vegas and a great guy. He may offer an in person opinnion $.02:080402gudl_prv:
Yammer Dan Posted February 22, 2014 #4 Posted February 22, 2014 Sea-Foam soak!! Heavy on the Sea-Foam.
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #5 Posted February 22, 2014 I'll pull the tank tomorrow and clean the carbs. Sucks that I just filled her up. I'll go ahead and replace the fuel filter while I am at it. Hopefully that clears her up.
darthandy Posted February 22, 2014 #6 Posted February 22, 2014 I agree with Dan. Before taking things off and apart, try running a can or two of Seafoam through it. It is one of the additives that actually work! The cost is low and if it doesn't do the job, you can still clean the carbs but if the idle jets are not completely blocked, then the Seafoam should clean out the deposits. Andy
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #7 Posted February 22, 2014 I'll try that then. I did ride it for a while today. so I do not think they are completely blocked, or at least not all of them.
Pegasus1300 Posted February 22, 2014 #8 Posted February 22, 2014 Don't pull the tank yet. Put some Sea Foam or Star Tron or B&G gas treatment ( my prefered cleaner) or Berryman's B12 and pour in the gas tank and mix well and then drive it around. It may take 2 to three tanks but it will clean it out. I brought an 08 back to life that had been sitting for 3 years without taking anything apart. I have used all of the above mentioned cleaners and they all seem to work B$G and Berryman' are my favorite.
bongobobny Posted February 22, 2014 #9 Posted February 22, 2014 Yup!! I agree with everyone!! Pour a can of Seafoam in the tank, start it and run it for a while like you stole it and let it soak overnight. Try again the following day. Worst case scenario you drain the tank and "Cream" it, and rebuild the carbs and reset them up. Fuel filter change is not a bad idea but do a search on the subject of relocating the filter, it's a real PITA to get to! With waaaay less than 1000 miles per year, the poor bike is SCREAMING to be ridden!! These bikes ain't broken in until around 100,000 miles...
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #10 Posted February 22, 2014 I know, I feel like there should be a place where I can turn the previous owner in for neglect. I will more than double the mileage in my first year of owning her. I will seafoam her tomorrow morning.
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #11 Posted February 22, 2014 Sea foam in. I let her idle for a while after rocking the bike back and forth to stir up the fuel. I could not rev her up or anything like that. Stupid aftermarket pipes. I'll take her out tomorrow and ride her hard.
VentureFar Posted February 22, 2014 #12 Posted February 22, 2014 Welcome to the forum. Best place for guidance and friendship on the web. Just to be clear, it is not the fuel pump. I have become quite the maven on the topic and if your pump doesn't work your bike doesn't run period. I agree with all the above. Try the "gum out" products first before tearing into the inner bits. Once it is back to running then watch out cause all the great ideas for making the RSV better will cost ya ( but worth it). Don't get frustrated, there is plenty of help here. I will be in Vegas for work about April 1 lets connect up for a spot of tea. VentureFar...
Bert2006 Posted February 22, 2014 #13 Posted February 22, 2014 and invest the $12 to become full member. It will be the best investment you ever make to get access to the wealth of knowledge available on this site:canada:
JohnT Posted February 22, 2014 #14 Posted February 22, 2014 Ya don't have to ride her hard really. But the products mentioned are the first step for sure. It may very well be all that is needed.When I got mine it had only seen 7000 miles in the previous 20 years. I store it now with Seafoam, Stabil, and a touch of Marvel Mystery Oil.
M61A1MECH Posted February 22, 2014 #15 Posted February 22, 2014 You can get full strength seafoam directly into the carbs, if you shut the petcock off and let it idle until she starves for fuel. Then take the hose off the petcock and add an extension to it that will reach into a can of seafoam. Turn the key on and the fuel pump will suck the seafoam directly into the carbs. Let it set for several hours to loosen everything up , hook the fuel hose back up to the petcock and start her up and let her idle for a while to get the seaom out of the carbs and the gas mixture back in. May be a little hard to start on pure seafoam, but it will start may run a little rough at first but will even out once the gas starts to reach the carbs.
bongobobny Posted February 22, 2014 #16 Posted February 22, 2014 Also, after the seafoam treatment you may very well want to change the plugs. NGK seems to work well, and the Iridium ones are worth the money as they will last longer than the regular ones. Remember that these engines like higher RPM's. Don't be afraid to "blow the carbon out" on these engines. There is a rev limiter on the RSV so don't fear the red line...
Venturous Randy Posted February 22, 2014 #17 Posted February 22, 2014 Speaking of plugs, with the bike cold, start the bike up and let it run for 20 seconds or so and touch each pipe and see if they are all warm. These bikes will run on 3 or even 2 cylinders and you may have a bad spark plug. RandyA
dacheedah Posted February 22, 2014 #18 Posted February 22, 2014 Don't pull the tank yet. Put some Sea Foam or Star Tron or B&G gas treatment ( my prefered cleaner) or Berryman's B12 and pour in the gas tank and mix well and then drive it around. It may take 2 to three tanks but it will clean it out. I brought an 08 back to life that had been sitting for 3 years without taking anything apart. I have used all of the above mentioned cleaners and they all seem to work B$G and Berryman' are my favorite. 2nd that , it's those small low idle jets that are blocked, a couple patient treatments. Drive in town at low speeds. Once you have completed that a few clean tanks of gas then change plugs, fuel filter and sync the carbs.
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #19 Posted February 22, 2014 Thanks for all the replies, you guys rock. And yes I am going to subscribe, but I hate to waste free days. Put the stock pipes back on her this morning then went for a 45min ride. the bike was great at speed. I even pushed the choke back in. came back into the town, forgot that choke was in and it died. oops. Also my fuel gauge does not work. it was full this morning and then all the bars just disappeared. No big deal seeing as I have never had a fuel gauge before, but I just wanted to make sure ya'll had all the info on my bike.
steamer Posted February 22, 2014 #20 Posted February 22, 2014 You might want to see what is in the bottom of the tank. pull the hose off the pet cock open thevalve on reserve drain into clear bottle.
V7Goose Posted February 22, 2014 #21 Posted February 22, 2014 Your idle jets are completely closed due to gunk - gonna need to pull them and soak in a cleaner to blow them out with compressed air. Your main jets are going to have some stuff in them too, so once you have the carbs out, do not neglect to do them all. Also possible that your diaphragms have pin holes at this age, but that is not yet a common problem with the 2nd gen bikes (and would not be related to idle problems). Do some research here on old threads, particularly in the tech section for instructions on how to pull the carbs. While you are in there, make sure to set the floats properly - they are NEVER correct from the factory. I have a detailed set of instructions for that in the tech library. And be very aware that those four carbs have THREE different main jet sizes, so do NOT mix them up. Pay attention to what carb each comes from and only do one carb at a time to be cautious. Since you seem knowledgeable about mechanics, you need to spend a couple of days on hear just browsing lots of old threads in the tech section to learn about this bike. And go back several years. Many things are well documented, but some of us old guys just get tired of saying the same things over and over again, so the best info is the older info. Welcome, and good luck, Goose
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #22 Posted February 22, 2014 Darn it Goose!! everybody body else was getting my hopes up with less work needed to fix this issue. You did say I seem to be mechanical so i guess with that compliment, we can still be friends. Here is a bike I did a few years back. Before, during and after. I like to think of myself as mechanical. http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j169/coffeyR6/Bobber%20Project/April120119.jpg http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j169/coffeyR6/Bobber%20Project/IMG_6575.jpg http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j169/coffeyR6/Bobber%20Project/IMG_7355.jpg
DarrinGT Posted February 22, 2014 #23 Posted February 22, 2014 Yup,..I would say you are Mechanical! Nice Job on the Bike and Welcome to the forum. I am planning a Bobber Build starting soon as soon as I get my RSTD done. I have a Yamaha V-Star sitting in the back of the shop just waiting,.. Lots of good info here to help you out! Good luck with the new ride, Get the maintenance done and it will last you for Years!
CMCOFFEY Posted February 22, 2014 Author #24 Posted February 22, 2014 I cranked the throttle set screw pretty far and the bike is running great now. good temporary fix until I get the problem sorted out.
V7Goose Posted February 25, 2014 #25 Posted February 25, 2014 All you did was crank open the throttle so that it is sucking your idle fuel through the main jets. Goose
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