Hey guys, been posting about a nagging vibration issue for months now and I haven't really made any progress. It's becomming pretty depressing. The guy working on my bike right now replaced the manifold with a Barons ported manifold and replaced the O rings. Leak check turned up good with no leaks. He said over the phone there is still the vibration in the motor at 2000rpm and he is stumped at this point. Can you think of anything else it could be? And lets stick to the engine since that is where the problem has been localized to.
Could the flywheel be the issue? what about needing different counter balancers due to the bigger pistons?
I really dont know what else to do? If I have to tear the motor apart and rebuild it then it's not worth the money to do that I might as well sell it.
I'm all out of ideas.

signed desperate

Snacky wrote:
what about needing different counter balancers due to the bigger pistons?


I have not read your earlier posts but did you replace the pistons?

Could it be that the pistons are not balanced(weigh the same)?

Was the vibration present before the engine was worked on?

Could it be that one cyl. has higher compresseion than the other?

Just some thoughts.

There is a valve that vents the crankcase posted here called the Krankvent. Its an expensive little bugger but if you read up on it the krankvent vents pressure and gasses as the pistons move up and down.

This is just a long shot to check your crank vent to see if it is venting proper. Sometimes there are stupid simple things that are not connected that cause problems.

Snacky,

OK, we're positive all the motor mounts are tight, including the trasfer case to frame bracket/s?

If it just started up for no apparent reason, then I'd check the Jet Needle Holder. It's the white plastic plug that holds the needle down. 'Sometimes' they vibrate loose which causes a change in all the ranges, (usually richer), which can cause vibration problems.

If it's not that, then I'd still think it was how the carb was jetted. 'Something' either came loose or got plugged to change the jetting.

There's my $.02 worth, ,

Odo

The hard part about posting for jhelp on the forums like this is most of the info you get is the same simple fixes stated over and over. Trust me I do appreciate any info I get and I dont mean to sound smug, but I have tried everytjhing being mentioned. Anything simple that can be thought of I have done. The only thing I havent done is tear down the engine and rebuild it. I started reading about the counter balance setup in the Road Star the other day and I thought that maybe these HC pistons are throwing the whole engine out of wack. I am curious if I put Stock pistons in there if the bike would smooth out? Unfortunantly that is an expensive fix just to see "what if".

I'm gonna keep trying to figure it out and hope that one day I find a solution, but at this point I have reached the end of my money supply and cant afford going any further. I either park the bike and be miserable or ride it and grin and bear it until I can afford a new one. I can say this though, I will never buy another used bike unless it is completly stock with a warranty.

Also, I really do appreciate input guys and even if it is something I have heard many times to try out it means you care enough about my situation to even post something. Thanks for the support I really mean that.<br><br>Post edited by: Snacky, at: 2005/12/23 20:22

S,

Hope you find the problem.

Odo

Thanks Odo. I think at this point i have put so much into it that I would settle for just getting it as good as can be to ride.
I'm doing little things like chang the stock triple tree bushings to good aftermarket ones to cut out handlebar buzz. Getting a new seat with more cushion (currently have a corbin and it is really hard and transfers a lot of vibes from the frame) and I also have a set of used floorboards (missing some parts) which have rubber cushion padding to absorb vibes as well.

I really like the RS, I just wish at this point i had gone for a good used stock bike.

After reading all the posts the problem does sound like it is the engine.I assume you bought the bike with the engine work already done.
I understand your frustration.It is not cheap to work on these bikes (mainly the engine) because of the cost of parts and labor.
Maybe you can sell the bike to someone that wont care about the vib?
But anyway get new bike you want!Good luck.

Snacky,

Engine vibes are 'normally' caused by carb jetting or air leak of intake manifold or air box to carb air leak. Have you 'lapped' the mating surfaces of the manifold?

There's also a spacing collar that's a part of the carb to intake manifold, 'clamp'. The clamp, (screw that is tightening the carb to manifold), has a small collar between the halves of the clamp. Take the 'little collar' out and retighten the manifold clamp.

Now, of course, this is just the simple things. How about running 2 oz per gallon of SeaFoam or Techron. There 'may' be a lot of carbon that's building up in the combustion chambers that it's throwing one of the pistons off balance, causing the vibration. Letting us know your carb settings would 'maybe' help. If you have the carb jetted too rich then it's possible the carbon is getting heavier and heavier.

Didn't you say on the other thread that you had no vibration, 'then' it started litle by little? Maybe I read it wrong. It helps us if we know all the info of the mods to the engine/carb,(settings). Year of bike would help.

I know you're probably tired of writing this out. Just wish I'd seen all of the info. I 'try' to help in situations like this, but fully understand your frustration by repetitive writing.

Odo

I used a baron jet kit and the settings I have are from Bulldog over at Barons. Checked the plugs and they look good.

170 main
5th clip
PMS @ 3 1/2

K&amp;N filter, HC pistons, Bub stubbies, TM baffles, AIS removed, running 93 octane+, Mobile1 synthetic oil, royal purple synthetic gear oil, barons ported manifold w/ new orings (leak checked clean), plugs gapped to .034 with grey color.

Explain to me more about this seafoam and how it removes carbon from the cylinders??
I had the valves adjusted a few months ago and the mech said there was 10 deg of lash in the valves that he adjusted.
Do i run this seafoam through the fuel? I have run Mytery oil with the fuel to help clean out any carbon but I have found out that too much will foul the plugs so I stopped running it.