depending on how willing you are. run it without an air filter, quick and easy way to tell becuase it will be getting more air.

only do it if your area isnt too dusty, and if you do it, dont ride near any construction sites or anything. its actually a bad idea, a tiny bit of sand inside will ruin your rings and everything. if the conditions are right, i would say try it and see if that helps or makes it worse, that could help you determine the cuase.

another very important part is the height of the float. read this http://www.xs11.com/tips/maintenance/maint20.shtml

the "correct" setting in the manual may be different if you modded your bike. put it lower for leaner, higher for richer, small settings make a huge difference.

 

Someone once told me if you go into third and give it the meat, and then back off, if it surges, the main jet is too lean. Mine did this until I had it dyno'd.They changed the main jetand things are wonderfull. Everything you are saying I had the sameissues. But it all pointed to the lean side.

 

Ditto that. You can spot the air mixture screw using a mirror placed under the carb. If the plug has already been drilled out, you can make the adjustment with a small screwdriver. Best done when cold, as its close to the barrels, then test until its right.

 

final evidence: 30 mpg. enough said.

I hopefully will be able to get the time to work on it this weekend, but that depends on a few things,

 

wow this is real interesting reading about the carbed bikes. I wonder what kind of nightmares come with the EFI bikes?

 

EFI bikes require trip to dealer.$$$$$$$ Jagular, you definately need to get into your air/fuel adjustment and start backing it out in increments and see if that fixes the problem. Did you buy the bike new? I know some people that have bought used bikes and the seller took off some custom parts they had installed. Namelyaftermarket exhaust,air cleaneretc... but they leave the carb jetted and adjusted for the better flowing parts. When the factoryair cleanerand exhaust are put back on it leaves the carb way rich. Just a thought to ponder.

 

Well, I bought the thing used, just last year. The guy won't admit this, but he put the bike over; and he had given up riding it. The bike was exceptionally clean, and he asked 4500$, but was easily talked to 4K. I wondered this, as for a 2001 with 2500 miles on it, it seemed rather good. The more i have been cleaning it, the more things I have found. The foot brake pedal is scratched severely underneath. I originally thought he just barely got it on to the foot pegs, but then upon closer inspection, the rear turn signal and the TOP of the shock on the right side has scratches as well. And to top it all off, the air filter was at one time crunched in the direction that would say the bike was traveling foreward on its side.

In short, I got a very decent bike for over 2k less than the cheapest it would have gone from a dealer around here. This is, of course , minus the minor cosmetics but in all reality, they don't bother me. The bike will be running very well soon, and I got very nice V&H shorty duals, a better looking(to me) air cleaner cover, and a hardly broken in 883 sporty motor. Yeah, it would have been nice to have been at least told, but there is nothing seriously mechanicly wrong, and other than blow-by, oil gasket leakage and the problem discussed here, nothing else wrong that I can think of.

I might end up replacing the crunched filter element with a better one. And before anyone asks, the performance of the filter is not compromised by its being crunched, as far as I can see. Its just bent slightly on the bottom. If anything, it is helping because it is letting more air in, not less.

 

My wifes sporty did that same thing and it turned out to be the intake gaskets on the cylinders. EZ and cheap fix. Ride safe

 

I had the same issue it was an ignition module. They covered it under warranty (even though my bike was out of warranty)

 

Alright, its been adjusted. Strange thing though...the mixture screw was completely seated. Obviously the problem, yes, but im just curious as to why the factory had this screw set here. Oh well, the problem has been solved. I have yet to take it on the interstate, but that will happen soon, as will the fine tuning.&nbsp\\;


Now all thats left is the rocker box gaskets leakage and blow-by. This will have to wait until winter, I fear, because I won't have enough time to tear into the bike until riding weather is done.