Just purchased 2001 and is very cold blooded

[Iam60wed40]

I just picked up my 2nd Voyager that only had 9800 miles. The only problem is it has to warm up a very long time with the choke on to be able to ride. Seem like a lack of power once warmed up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[VoyKimmer]

Needs carbs rebuilt. Remove and send to Carl Leo.

[SgtSlag]

I agree: the carbs are the issue. However, I would suggest buying a can of SeaFoam, for <$10, and follow the directions, for adding it to the fuel tank -- 1 oz. per gallon of fuel, or 6-7 oz. of SeaFoam added to a full tank of gasoline. Since the jets are passing fuel through their tiny little holes, SeaFoam might help. Add the SeaFoam to the gas tank, then ride it for an hour, at highway speeds. You will know in the first 30-minutes if it helped, or not.

It will dissolve varnish deposits, if they are small, passing them through the carbs, to be burned in the cylinders. It will absorb water in the fuel system, as well. It won't cost you much, and it will not harm anything, either. If it helps, it is a cheap fix. If not, you will have helped by removing some varnish in the fuel system, as well as absorbing, and removing, small amounts of water in the gas tank. It cannot hurt, and it may help.

Another possibility is that you have bad gas in the tank. SeaFoam won't cure bad gas, other than water in it. Make sure to only use ethanol-free gasoline -- unless your bike's owner's manual says it is alright to use E-10. My 93's manual clearly states to avoid it... The ethanol can slowly destroy rubber and/or plastic components within the fuel system, leading to expensive repairs.

Failing that, the bike will need a carb overhaul, and tuning. Carl Leo is amazing. Can't go wrong with Carl. Cheers!

[Barry]

I've been riding vxii's for over 20 years and have had carbs off & rebuilt them twice. Last year when they were acting up again I had them done by Carl Leo. One of the best decisions I've made. He is a very knowledgeable and all around nicest guy to deal with. If you decide to do the work yourself, call him first. He can save you lots of time with tips that aren't in the factory manual.

[Mr Jensee]

I agree for a while I had 2 2001 Voyagers in my garage. Mine and one I was working to restore to sell. Carl gave me some rebuilt carbs for it I brought back from Florida. When I put them on the restored bike it started and ran immediately. Mine still took a while to warm up. He said when he worked on my bike that it needed some carb work. Anyway short answer it started easier without the choke and responded better when ridden than mine did and mine is a pretty fast bike.

[mayhem8]

Took the bike for a ride the other day (50F) and experienced this "cold blooded"-ness. Seems like a carb cleaning is in order. In the past, I've not really experienced the jet passages themselves being a big part of the problem. I pulled and cleaned a set of carbs for a Honda Shadow 750 and those carbs had clean jet passgages and new looking float valve pins and the bike wouldn't even start/run.

There are tiny holes/passages in the carb that my mechanic referred to as "circuits". His suggestion was to spray carb cleaner through those passages until you can see it exit someplace else in the carburetor. This is what made all the difference in the world in how that Honda Shadow ran. Just saying, I always thought the jets were what got clogged and have not really seen that be the case for the last couple of carbs I cleaned.

I will try the Seafoam stuff but I've not really seen cleaners work that well for this. I think that you have to have some sort of flow for the carb cleaner in the gas to work so, once one of those circuits gets clogged, this solution is a lot less likely to work. Certainly worth a shot and may get lucky, but I'm guessing that pulling and cleaning the carbs is probably just something that needs to be done every few years or so.

[Scott-(Altoona, PA)]

My Seaform story;
I had a Shadow that idled just as smooth as a new born babies behind, but put it in gear and let out the clutch and it was a DOG! Barely enough energy to move on it's own. A friend advised I use Seaform double strength, add it - start it and let it idle for 35-40 minutes then take it for a ride. I did and it ran like a rapped ape! I mean it ran so smooth and had amazing throttle response!
So when I got my Voyager XII, obviously I added Seaform to the tank, 1 oz per gallon (sometimes 10 oz per tank to give it a good cleaning) and it keeps it running great. If you think of it as snake oil, then it is but I know from personal experience what it did to a bike that went from running to not, back to running better than it had for 3 years prior!
Give it a try!
What's it gonna cost you, $7 - $9!

[SgtSlag]

I watched a guy test SeaFoam, and other products, on YouTube, for water absorption... SeaFoam failed to absorb any noticeable amount of water. I was very disappointed, to say the least!

However... I run it, on a monthly basis, through my Voyager. I mothball my bike with it, as it claims to stabilize gasoline for up to 24 months -- this claim is valid, based on real, first-hand experience: my bike starts up, after 4-5 months of storage, as if it had been run two weeks earlier!

The real usefulness of adding SeaFoam, is to do it on a regular, monthly basis. It will dissolve minor deposits of varnish, if any, preventing it from building up to a level where it affects the performance of the carbs. Your mechanic was correct: the fuel passages are small, and complex, and they're referred to as circuits -- electricity flow is similar to water flow, so the name, "circuit", is appropriate.

My Voyager has not had a carb cleaning for over three years. I attribute that to my use, and storage, with adding SeaFoam to the gas tank. Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) has similar properties, but I've just had too much good fortune with SeaFoam to try MMO. I will point out, though, that MMO is considerably less money out of pocket, than SeaFoam (MMO is roughly 1/4 the price... see below). I really should research MMO again, and give it a try.

If you add up the cost of SeaFoam, used monthly, and compare it to the cost of a carb cleaning (at $100/hour), I think you might find it worth your money, and time, to try either SeaFoam, or MMO. I dare ya'! I double-dog dare ya'!

I just checked Wal-Mart, online, for MMO: $3.88 for 32 oz. Wal-Mart online sells SeaFoam for: $6.97 for 16 oz. I need to switch to MMO, during the riding season, and use SeaFoam for storage, in the Winter months... Cheers!

[mayhem8]

I have used standard Stabil and they also make a gas additive that's supposed to mitigate the effects of ethanol in unleaded fuel. I'm not opposed to additives. It's just that by the time I notice a performance issue it's usualy not something an additive will fix.

I do like being able to do things on whatever I own. It's just piece of mind that it's one more thing that I don't have to rely on my mechanic for. Even though I have a really good mechanic, the problem is that he works alone and is always backed up.

I had an '82 Suzuki GS750 (in-line 4) that I pulled the carbs on and cleaned. Will likely try to do that with my current bike at some point.

[ekap1200]

I just picked up my 2nd Voyager that only had 9800 miles. The only problem is it has to warm up a very long time with the choke on to be able to ride. Seem like a lack of power once warmed up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just how long did it sit before you purchased it and fired it up ? What did you do to it prior to starting for the first time ? What is the general condition ?, does it show signs of a lack of maintenance ?
Gene Kap.

[Air Force]

I picked up a Voyager Xii that was setting for three years. It would only run at half choke and stall as soon as you let the clutch out. Did the seafoam thing but that was beyond what seafoam could handle. I had the fuel tank flushed and the carbs done and a new fuel filter installed. Bike runs perfect!

[SgtSlag]

Yep: three years of varnish build-up is beyond what SeaFoam/Marvel Mystery Oil (MMO) can handle, typically. In your situation, most of the jets were sealed with varnish -- the idle jet was mostly plugged, but not entirely, by the way it behaved. SeaFoam/MMO will remove minor varnish deposits on jets, but not entirely plugged jets. It does a marvelous job of dissolving varnish in the float bowls, over time.

If you do a proper cleaning of a varnished up system, you won't need SeaFoam/MMO, for a while... As a routine, PM, however, it is superb, in my experiences. Like I posted before, MMO is m-u-c-h less expensive than SeaFoam; MMO will not, however, preserve gas for any length of time -- I still need to use SeaFoam for mothballing my bike during the Winter. Looking forward to buying MMO, and using that during the riding season -- it is so inexpensive, I might add it every time I park the bike in the garage, after every ride, rather than once per month. Cheers!