I have a 2005 1200 Custom with ~9000 miles on it. I just put 1800 miles on it doing a trip (just back from Sturgis) . Now it seems like it's not running as good. Like it lost power and has to work harder to keep a constant speed of....oh say.....60 mph. The engine seems to "chatter" (shake) in 5th gear trying to keep 60 mph on a flat road.

I'm wondering if it's out of tune. I think the guy before me put in the stage 1 kit in the carb by himself and didn't adjust the carb. Not sure on this though. Could it be that it just needs some new plugs and a good tune up? Could it just be running too rich.

It seems to idle pretty good. Maybe a little on the high side.

Thanks for the help.

 

An easy and free thing you can check right off the bat is the front engine mount, the big bolt at the bottom of the crankcase. Check it to see if it is loose. It should be 60-70 ft/lbs, and put some Loctite on that puppy.

 

Seems to be tight. I'll have to take off the forward controls to make sure it's at the correct torque.

 

They went to rubber mounted engines on 04.
Sounds like a carb problem.Have you checked the oil or serviced the bike?Changed engine oil,tranny oil,installed new air filter.plugs etc.?
1800 miles is quite a bit in one trip.
Just curious when it was last serviced.

 

I changed the oil and tranny right before I left. Put new plugs and checked the air filter back in May. But that was 5000 miles ago. I've been riding it a lot this year. Also I live on a gravel road so I should probably check the air filter again.

It's almost time for the 10,000 mile checkup. Maybe I'll just do that one a little early and mention the issues.

 

Any other symptoms? Poor acceleration? Wants to die when cracking the throttle? Do the symptoms change when the bike warms up?

If it seems to be running rough maybe it's only firing one cylinder? Check the plugs, they should look relatively similar. Check for corrosion in the plug wires at the coil.

Does the exhaust pop a lot? What color is the pop flame (orange or blue?) Does only one cylinder pop? If so could be a leaky intake seal leaning out a cylinder. Can also be a leaky exhaust gasket... that would cause less trouble, but would still affect engine smoothness to a degree.

 

compared to before, it has poor acceleration even when it's warm.

Both cylinders are firing. Both plugs look about the same. No popping from the exhaust.

I have to let it warm up and use the choke. If I don't, it will idle but if I put it in gear, it will die. Every now and then, it almost wants to die taking off from a stop sign even though it's warm. To the point where it seems like it's back firing out the carb or more likely out through the exhaust gasket in the front cylinder. The front cylinder exhaust gasket area looks a little "dirty" to me. I'll take a picture and post it.