New-to-me VXII that runs poorly at full temp

[upright]

New Voyager XII owner here...a 2002 in great shape with only 48K miles. It runs great until it gets the engine gets to full temp...and then it starts cutting out on acceleration. It threatens to stall when taking off from a stop and it stumbles when I roll the throttle while rolling along. Any ideas?

And here's the obligatory new member bike pic!

[Rick near Kansas city]

Welcome Craig, I think I know a little about the history of this bike. I live in Liberty. Send me a E-mail and I will send you my number.

[upright]

Email sent!

[Tonyvdb]

I would run some Seafoam in the gas on a couple fills and see if that helps. could be as simple as the carbs are gummed up.

[JHD]

I would think it might be a heat issue. Maybe your temp gauge isn't reading correctly like many other owners who needed to run a ground to the thermostat housing. I would see if that mod has been made and if it has not you could run a test ground to the housing bolt and see if your temp gauge changes it's reading. There is a thread on this subject if you do a search. Possibly could need a new thermostat if you find that the temp gauge is inaccurate.

I would also check your coils. Could be intermittent type failure once your reach a certain temp. That might be harder to check because if it is failing under this type of circumstance it might read fine when cold. You might have to ohm them out immediately after your bike starts hesitating, whatnot. These are a pain to get at, but I think you could figure something out.

A talk with Carl Leo always helps too.

[Mr Jensee]

My first thought is clogged jets. If the idle jets are fine, the bike idles ok then suspect one or more of the rest of them could be clogged. There could also be some trash in your float bowls. Drain them first then add some Seafoam to your gas tank.

[upright]

Thanks for all the suggestions! I hope to have some time this weekend to drain the fuel and go from there.

[ekap1200]

Welcome Craig, I think I know a little about the history of this bike. I live in Liberty. Send me a E-mail and I will send you my number.

Come on Rick , share some of the history with us.
too nice of a bike to not be running well.

Craig, more details on ( at full temp ) and what have you checked so far, ie. coolent, oil, fuel/air filter, choke cable ?

[wsm 1]

Looks like my bikeLOL,i used seafoam on my bike and after one bottle it really cleared my bike ,idle so much better and help clean up throttle also.

[upright]

I spent some quality time in the Voyager's saddle today and I can now give a more detailed description of the problem. Basically, it bucks and hesitates below 2000 RPM.

For example, I'll be riding along a major thoroughfare and slow down to make a hard right turn into my neighborhood. I downshift into second gear and make the turn but...the engine bucks and stutters as I accelerate out of the turn. RPMs are between 1500 and 2000 but the bike won't "dig deep" and pull through in second gear like I think it should.

Another example is slowing down for a red light but it turns green before I've come to a complete stop. I'm going too fast to shift down to first gear, but the bike won't smoothly accelerate in second gear. Again, turning 1500-2000 and it hesitates and bucks until I get above 2000 RPM.

Even at higher speeds in higher gears, like riding 25 mph through the neighborhood in third gear and turning a little less than to 2000 RPM, it bucks and hesitates. Same for other gears and speeds that allow the RPMs to flirt with the 2000 mark.

BUT it runs great above 2000 rpm. Not even a hint of a problem. Super strong at higher speed and RPM.

The only thing I've done so far is added Seafoam. I pretty much ran it out of gas today and added 10 ounces of Seafoam with the 6 gallons of gas I pumped into it.

Thanks for your help,
Craig

[ekap1200]

Hello Craig, From what your describing , it sounds as if your very much out of sync.
Get yourself some gauges , or have someone sync your carbs.
2,000 rpm is about the lowest I will run this engine under a load, I don't like to lug the engine. And an engine with the carbs out of sync will really show up at that low an rpm.
The stumbling out of the gate could be an out of sync issue also but could be some water or crap in the carbs.
As stated before by Mr Jensee, drain you carbs into a clean container so you can visually see whats in them.
I do them one at a time starting the bike after draining one carb. ( starts up much easier ) . And if there is signs of anything in the bowls , drain them and repeat the process again. Don't be afraid to keep the engine up around 3,000 rpm.
Lugging any engine puts allot of strain on its crank and rod bearings. Did you check the choke cable, for hanging up. its easy to see from the right side of the carbs.
What did Rick near Kansas city have to say about the history of this bike ? Very nice looking machine, and a shame its not running up to par. Perhaps in its low mileage life it has missed some maintenance of filters , Don't go by the book if your doing the fuel filter, ( there is an easier way )....
Also are you sure its hitting on all four cyl's. ?/ its hard to diagnose without being there , and hearing it. But your giving us some more info to go on. Keep us informed
Gene

[upright]

Today's update....I drained the carbs as suggested and there was a little bit of gritty material in each one. I repeated the drain carb process two more times until no more grit came out. I went for a ride and it seemed to run better. I hope to take it on a longer ride tomorrow.

I will change the fuel filter this week and drain the carbs again to see if any more gritty crap comes out.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I love this bike and I really appreciate all the help on this forum!

-Craig

[ekap1200]

Don't forget to check for the carbs being in sync. Again there are easy ways to do the job and a not so easy way of doing it. with the right automotive mixture screw tool from Mac/tools , Snap on tools or others nothing but the vacuum hoses need be removed and gauges installed.
fuel filter is best changed out when tank is just about on empty, have yourself something to SAFELY pinch off the fuel line as to not cut or damage it. If you have not had the plastic side covers off , and think that they have not been off for ages , a trick I use , is to get a water/spray bottle fill it with a mix of dish soap and spray around the covers to get some soapy/water around the rubber/grommets . The covers will come out of the grommets much easier. same goes for the coolant recovery tank that will have to be removed to get to your fuel/filter.
Gene K.

[cranky]

Thanks for the fuel filter location hint!!! I was wondering where it was!

[Phishhead61]

Hey Gene,

What tool were you referring to. Can you give us a link or a description to do a search on? I want to sync my carbs this winter and any anything that makes the job easier would be great.

Thanks,
PhishHead

[JHD]

Hey Gene,

What tool were you referring to. Can you give us a link or a description to do a search on? I want to sync my carbs this winter and any anything that makes the job easier would be great.

Thanks,
PhishHead

Look for a rotary screwdriver with a 100 degree head. Bought one from GB with my Morgan carbtune. Check it out under accessories.
http://www.carbtune.com/

[Phishhead61]

JHD,

Great...Thanks! I found one.

PhishHead

[ekap1200]

Hey Gene,

What tool were you referring to. Can you give us a link or a description to do a search on? I want to sync my carbs this winter and any anything that makes the job easier would be great.

Thanks,
PhishHead

Look for a rotary screwdriver with a 100 degree head. Bought one from GB with my Morgan carbtune. Check it out under accessories.
http://www.carbtune.com/

Hello Brad, so tell us more, did you have any trouble using it ? was the price fair, and did it save you time ????

[JHD]

Hey Gene,

What tool were you referring to. Can you give us a link or a description to do a search on? I want to sync my carbs this winter and any anything that makes the job easier would be great.

Thanks,
PhishHead

Look for a rotary screwdriver with a 100 degree head. Bought one from GB with my Morgan carbtune. Check it out under accessories.
http://www.carbtune.com/

Hello Brad, so tell us more, did you have any trouble using it ? was the price fair, and did it save you time ????

Yes to all your questions Gene. With carbtune, 100 degree rotary driver and a set of curved forceps you can hook everything up and do all adjustments without taking anything apart, airbox, etc. You can have everything hooked up and adjusted in 15 -20 minutes. I thought the price even with the shipping from England was very reasonable and fast when comparing to other tuners. If you ask Carl about the carbtune he will tell you it is the sync tool he wish he owned. At least that was his thoughts when I told him that I had just purchased one a couple years back. Should be some vids online. Purchased from the link I supplied. Also purchased the case for it. Checking out the link for the driver seems like it is dead so you might want to email them to see if they still sell it if that is a tool you need. Also the 100 degree driver works perfect, not sure a 90 degree driver would work.

[Mr Jensee]

A john Deere tractor place has the perfect fuel filter replacement. Check the dollar for dollar section for the part number. They are cheap too.