Sounds like the lawn mower mechanics at my local dealer

Sorry to bump this again, but I am still having problems with my '07 Roadstar and need your help. For a little history, I put new mufflers on last summer before Sturgis and the dealer insisted the carb had to be re-jetted. I also had the AIS removed at the same time. I didn't notice much of a problem on the ride to Sturgis (about 500 miles), but began having some problems with backfiring and spitting while I was there and after I got back home. I thought it might have been some bad gas. I took the bike in and got it tuned, but the backfiring came back again, and continued this spring when I got the bike back on the road. I have changed the plugs twice and finally got the dealer to jet the bike back to original and thought I had the problem corrected. Yesterday I took the bike out for a short ride and, after cranking the throttle open on a short stretch of road, it began popping and spitting, and when I came to a corner the engine stopped. When that happens, the starter has a really tinny sound when I try to restart. The bike will restart after a minute or two, and runs ok for a short time and then the popping and backfiring resumes. I have a lot of old cars, and it always feels to me like a bad gas issue, but I have run many tanks of gas through it since the problem started and any bad gas in the bike should be long gone. I am not much of a mechanic, so I am hoping you guys can help me out with this. The dealer here seems clueless and I am getting tired of paying them for doing nothing. I would appreciate any advice on how to fix the problem.

Are the plugs fouled when you pull them?

Not enough to cause the problems I am having. The last time I had the bike into the dealer they ran something through it that was supposed to clean up any carbon. It did sound a lot better for a short time, and they said they ran it about 75 miles, but I only got about 20 miles on it before the problems started again.

Did they cap the AIS vent tube (?) between the jugs?? If they did, did it fall off?

might want to check on the manifold, there is a vacuum port that needs to be capped when the AIS is pulled, vacuum port tube sticks up about 3/4 inch on top of manifold toward the rear jug. And that cap should be checked at least yearly, with all that heat there they tend to dry out and crack as well.

Check the choke knob as outlined in the Choke Knob Trim article in the Tech Articles tab. If the dealer has been pulling the carb then they may have pulled on the choke line a bit. This causes the choke line to 'stretch' and to stay out a bit resulting in a rich condition. This may explain your continued problem even though you are not back at stock jetting .... which you should verify yourself. Who knows what they may have 'put back'.

Unless have and 04-05 then you should not be having such problems with the stock carb setting.

Doc

I just went through the same thing with my 06. Too much oil in the oil tank.....Ride your bike to warm it up for 20 minutes so, sit on it upright on level ground and let it idle for at least 30 seconds (do not rev it), shut it off and check your oil while holding the bike upright. I bet your showing over full. Drain your oil into a clean pan, pour half of it back into your tank. Start it up and check it again, 30 seconds run time etc, etc. Check your level again. Keep doing this until your oil level shows 1/3 to 1/2 way up on yout dip stick in the XXXX's.. It solved all my problems. put a couple of ounces of Marvel Mystery Oil in every other full tank. My 06 went from running like sh!t to running like a new bike. Why the hell they have a vent tube running from the oil tank to the rear cylinder I'll never figure out. I hope this helps you out, it cured my problems. Looking forward to hearing back from you.


And FYI I also went through two dealers and spent a couple of hundred bucks while they scratched their a$$'s trying to figure it out.

Thanks for all the information. I will check everything out this weekend and see if I can make some progress. I did get it out on the road today. I made a point to baby it along and didn't have any problems. It seems that I have a majority of the trouble when I am doing rapid aceleration & deceleration. May try to take it on a long road trip this weekend and see what happens.