Need a little guidance

My 08 RSV S chugs when I get on it at about 60mph, not bad, only slightly. Wondering if its time for new plugs or a carbtune. I have a Carbtune from my brother...its the gauge one not mercury, but I have no knowledge on how to use it. I've only got my bike 1 year ago. I am somewhat mechanically inclined, but if someone around the New Lisbon, Wi or Wisconsin Dells area could show me how to use it once I'm sure I can replicate it. I've used Sea Foam on a regular basis. Oh, also, even on warm days I have to use the choke to start it.....is this common? I'm thinking it's time for plugs for sure. Its got 32K on the clock and I bought it with 25K like I said last year, so I do not know the last time plugs were changed if any.

thanks,

Stat.

Yes, first start even on a warm day use the choke. If it sits for a couple hours after riding, use the choke again.

As for chugging at 60...are you in 5th at that point? If so, you are lugging the motor. Shift later. Even in lower gears these bikes to rev. Red line is 6250 rpm and you can really wind her out. It isn't a vtwin. At 60 I'd still be in 4th. A little faster you can shift to 5th (overdrive). You'll get better gas mileage too.

Sweet spot for horsepower and torque is around 3700rpm.

Don just gave you some good advice! The very first thing I would do is add a half can to a full can of Seafoam to a full tank of gas and drive it like you stole it to clean out the carburetors and upper cylinders of deposits. The second thing I would do is indeed replace your spark plugs as our bikes are very hard on plugs and should either be replaced every year or two depending on how many miles you put on or use iridium plugs and get more mileage out of a set. Use NGK plugs, either the regular or iridium as they seem to work best on our engine. I would say a set of regular plugs is probably good for around 10,000 miles at best. The third thing I would do would be to do a good carb sync!

The next thing I will ask is what grade gas are you using?? If you are using premium gas I suggest you stop that practice immediately as higher octane gas does not work any better, and if anything is worse than plain old 87 octane fuel for engine performance as the higher octane fuel burns slower.

As Don mentioned, accelerating in OD under 65 to 70 mph lugs the engine. You are better served to keep the engine operating in the 3500 to 5000rpm range as that is the optimum operating range for best performance and fuel economy!

Did the sea foam 1/2 can last fill up. Using the gas 87, 10% eth. Only stuff around here without paying out of the nose. Would not put premium inn at 3.00 anyway. Reg is 2.25. Guess I'll pay more attention if it chugs in 4th at 60. Will be getting new plugs after trip to star days.

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You should NEVER need to touch the choke unless it is quite cold out. If you need to use it to start in warm weather, that is a primary indication that you probably have some blockages in you primary jets or other problems with your fuel mixture (such as vacuum leaks). Properly set up and tuned, with clean carbs and no other mixture or ignition problems, that engine will ALWAYS start with just a momentary touch of the button and nothing else.

A hard acceleration at 60 MPH does call for a downshift, at least to fourth, and maybe even third. But even in 5th gear, that engine should not "chug", it just won't take off very fast until you finally get the revs up where they should be (of course, your definition of "chug" may be different than mine). If you are really getting a "chugging" with significant increased vibration that indicates the classic lugging of an engine, then I'd be more inclined to believe you are only running on three cylinders, or your carbs are way out of sync.

Yeah, same here. I never touch the choke until the temp drop below 50 degrees.

Same. Never use the choke unless it's quite cold (never checked the temp but would go along with 50 deg F (10 degC)... maybe even less, posted above) & never after a run even if the bike has stood for a few hours plus.

When I first got the bike it took a little experimentation but using the choke in warm weather or after a run always resulted in numerous false starts, no starts &/ or poor idling if it did start. I now start without choke (in warm weather) a minute or two to warm up & then ride as normal.

If you want to get a little faster response out of your venture the V-Max rear end swap may be for you. I have done it on both of the Ventures I have owned and my feeling is it really improves the performance. Surprisingly there seems to be no resultant loss of fuel economy. Just a big gain in acceleration and wow factor. You can find information on it in the tech section. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?13266-VMAX-Rear-End-Swap.

Mike

So I did a little testing on the way to work tonight. 60mph 4th gear and hit the throttle. I could feel what is best described as it feels like I'm running over some rumble strips, but not lugging the engine. But not overly smooth acceleration, almost like it was starving a little for fuel. Like I said I've done the sea foam treatment, but have yet to do the spark plugs or carb tune, time is not on my side at the moment. Ive owned this bike for almost a year so I do not know if the the dealership changed plugs, fuel filter or carb tuned it before I bought it. The only thing done to it since Ive owned it is new tires (installed by a shop) while there he greased everything, oil T6 and filter (done by me). Suggestions?

Stat

Just for S&G try new plugs, which in some cases should be a yearly thing anyway. Use NGK's. Also, find the "how-to" and check out your spark plug caps as you could be losing some spark inside them...

Original fuel pump?

Original fuel pump?

Might be fuel filter from the sounds of it. Or...when you open the gas filler, is there back-pressure? Could be a clogged vent.

So I did a little testing on the way to work tonight. 60mph 4th gear and hit the throttle. I could feel what is best described as it feels like I'm running over some rumble strips, but not lugging the engine. But not overly smooth acceleration, almost like it was starving a little for fuel. Like I said I've done the sea foam treatment, but have yet to do the spark plugs or carb tune, time is not on my side at the moment. Ive owned this bike for almost a year so I do not know if the the dealership changed plugs, fuel filter or carb tuned it before I bought it. The only thing done to it since Ive owned it is new tires (installed by a shop) while there he greased everything, oil T6 and filter (done by me). Suggestions?

 

Stat

AT 60 MPH Grabbing a handful of throttle will give you the bumps. A little less action and it will accelerate smoother. I've personally run 3rd to over 80 before banging 4th. I save 5th for times when i'm on a stretch of road where i know i can go 65 or more for a least a mile, so I don't use it around town often. I use the choke even in florida for Cold engine starts in the morning, but only for about 10 seconds or so (driveway to first stop sign) In the afternoons across the parking lot to the street is about it. Sometimes not at all.

Original fuel pump?

 

Might be fuel filter from the sounds of it. Or...when you open the gas filler, is there back-pressure? Could be a clogged vent.

don't know on fuel pump or filter, no venting on fill up. I hear plenty of clicking when turning the power on for the fuel pump so I know that's working. tonight on the way into work it ran fine. might have been a bad batch of gas.