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Bike won't start after Tuxedo mod

4K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  guggech 
#1 · (Edited)
Today I finally finished piecing my bike back together after installing the tuxedo mod, replacement stator, and reinstalling the surge tank and air boxes, however, I wasn't able to get it up and running. The bike just cranks for a minute or so until the battery dies. Tightening the idle speed adjustment screw makes the bike crank faster, but it unresponsive to choke and throttle movement. I feel pressure coming from the exhaust pipes, but I'm not getting any backfiring or even sure that I'm getting spark at the plugs because it doesn't sound like it's firing.

Before I disassembled it, the bike ran off the battery just fine until it'd die, and I didn't mess with timing or anything valve related in the process. I checked the jets when I had the carbs off and they looked clean as a whistle, so I didn't bother inspecting much deeper into finding the float bowls. And I've made sure all the grounds to my knowledge are secured. Pick-up coils are in the stock positions. And I can't think of any missed connections.

The bike has had straight pipes, a jet kit, and was ear shaved by a previous owner, but I just reinstalled the stock intake with K&N filters. I did the two wire and blue wire mods after the stator failed in November to keep it running for as long as I could get away with it. I was concerned about fuel to air mixture, but I figured it'd atleast start and run a little groggy if that was the case. I adjusted the idle fuel/air mixtures screws to 2 turns out, but I'm not sure if I need to bring them in or out with the jet kit.

Today was also 100F here in Virginia, so I wouldn't imagine it'd take a lot to get it started. But it was having a bit of hot starting issues before I took it apart, or maybe that was because the battery was nearly dead after riding it around.

The only electrical connections in question I can think of is the red and green wires that plug into a solenoid looking thing in front of the battery and the two prong outlet on the other solenoid looking thing on the right. But switching those around seemingly did nothing to help. There's some sort of clicking in the electronics under the seat when it cranks, but that may be normal.

Can't think of any other important wires or connections, I don't know much about electronics and circuits. I'm gonna check and replace the spark plugs tomorrow with iridiums, because I do that with all my vehicles. Then look into the coil relay mod, but that shouldn't be necessary if I did everything right. Last case scenario I'll adjust pick-up coil clearance to .2mm or whatever, but I REALLY don't want to take the crank case apart again after filling it up with oil.

Can anyone explain what I might be missing here?

EDIT: Bike finally started after 4-5 hours of frustration trying to get it started without changing much. Bike runs like **** at low-end speeds, but was slightly improving over the trip to and from work with a butt load of seafoam and a near full tank of fresh gas. Bike ran for about one day then battery already killing itself in less than 30 miles on a full charge... Another stator gone bad, or is something not wired up correctly here?
 
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#2 ·
1: Is the petcock turned to "on"

2: Check spark! Pull a plug, hold it against the frame and see if it sparks.

3: Check for fuel.. by pulling a plug and seeing if it's wet (if no spark)
 
#4 ·
Agreed, check #2 and 3.

If it sat a while during the mod, ethanol may have caused the petcock diaphragm to stick closed. Or it can be a stuck float valve in the carbs. A prime into the the intake may get it going, using gas or starting fluid.

But we need to verify spark and fuel in order to proceed.
 
#5 ·
I'm really hoping it's the spark plugs or previously being flooded. Could I blow into the gas cap to get gas through the petcock if it clogged? I only sat for a couple months...
 
#10 ·
Changing the spark plugs did absolutely nothing for me. the bike seems like it really has to struggle and huff when cranking and it'll crank and crank for about 2-3 minutes before the battery dies. I'm gonna check to see if the spark plugs are "wet". Can crush washers be reused like that?
 
#12 ·
So I realized the carbs aren't getting gas because nothing comes out of the drain plugs. Also see the vacuum line from the left carb wasn't hooked up to the petcock. Made no different when I hooked it up. Took off the lever of peacock and fuel spit out.
 
#14 ·
That was most certainly my next thought, as I've seen that before. But as if by some ironic miracle, just as I was cursing the Gods for having birthed this Japenese nonsense of a bike, it just started and held RPMs well enough to ride it around the block and to the store. Took a few hours of trying to start it after hooking up the carb vacuum tube to gas tank, and having realized the fuel pump under the seat was virtually disconnected by a previous owner and only dead weight at this point.

There's no getting around the fact that it's running VERY rocky and wants to kill itself if ran below 1500rpm. I'm guessing it's the oversized jets mod and stock surgetank/air boxes. Gonna work on next some of the fine tuning and how to get it to run a bit smoother. Hoping it's gonna be easier without the proper tools than it was with my 85 V4 Magna.

But ultimately I'm gonna try to sell this thing before it chokes out my wallet and sanity again. I have absolutely no faith in this bike, the tuxedo mod, or third party stators after reading what I have on this forum and utterly regret purchasing this bike. I think I'm gonna go with another Honda after this, maybe a Valkyrie.
 
#15 ·
But ultimately I'm gonna try to sell this thing before it chokes out my wallet and sanity again. I have absolutely no faith in this bike, the tuxedo mod, or third party stators after reading what I have on this forum and utterly regret purchasing this bike. I think I'm gonna go with another Honda after this, maybe a Valkyrie.
Sorry to read your having so many problems, its gutting when you feel you are at your wits end with a bike :( I'd a Suzuki GS650 twenty odd years ago that I ended up truly hating lol

Older bikes all have their own little quirky ways and VN750's sure have a few ;) folk either love them or loath them, personally I'm hooked on the 80's styling of the VN750 and like the fact that nothing changed in it's 20 year production.

Hope you either get the bike sorted and rekindle some love lol or sold on and enjoy your new ride ;)
 
#16 ·
Same here! It's the only model/style of bike that I enjoy; the high seated 80s cruiser. It just kills me that they work like clockwork and are so needy. Not that I don't have the patience to maintain them, but dismantling to replace a stator is just unnecessary!

Finally got it running decent enough that I could take it to work. At first it did not want to hold an idle at all below 2-3k RPM. But by the end of the 15 mile ride, she eased down to a smooth(er) 1200rpm idle. But throttle response is VERY finicky, and there's some serious lag in the acceleration pick-up between 2000-3500RPM.

Rides smooth as ever when accelerating past 4500rpm. But when maintaining speeds, she's suspiciously quiet and not so powerful. Could just be that I'm choking her out with the surge reinstalled, but I fear that one of the cylinders may not be firing properly unless I gun the throttle.

I don't have the means to diagnose and repair that, so I'm gonna a butt load of sea foam through and hope it gets better like with the idle because it sounds to be carb related. I'll have a shop hook up a manometer and fine tune it soon, once I feels like the jets are as clean as they'll get. (There's no way I'm taking the carbs off for a cleaning because they really shouldn't be THAT dirty after less than a couple months of sitting and being drained)
 
#17 ·
When the bike run, make sure you get around 13-14 volts across the battery as the stator is charging. If it is charging, You may have a bad battery. I just replaced mine and it greatly improved starting it. Maybe on a bad battery, when cranking, the voltage get too low to get a good spark.
 
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