I have heard stories about sticking exhaust valves on '04 RoadStars. My bike will occasionally run on one cylinder for a few seconds when I first head down the road on a cold start. I will last about 20 seconds then go away. It will not return until the next cold start. It did not develope this problem until I had well over 10,000 kms on it.

I thought it was jetting related, having ported the intake and added a BAK to it. The jetting was changed to match that recommmended by Barons.

Now I understand that this problem may be common and the dealers are aware of it. Apparently the problem is caused by carbon build-up.

Anyone else heard of this, or are you having the same problem ?

Curious in Canada

There has been a great deal of discussion over this issue on the Delphi Road Star Riders Forum. You'll find a great deal of info there. Fortunately, I've not had the problem yet. 10,000 miles so far.

I HAVE AN 04 ROADSTAR MIDNIGHT AND AT 2700 MILES IT MISSES WHEN FIRST STARTED, BASICALLY RUNNING ON ONE CYLINDER. SOUNDS LIKE THIS IS BECOMING A PROBLEM WITH THIS ENGINE. I'VE HEARD USING 87 OCTANE WILL INHIBIT CARBON BUILDUP.

I have over 10,000 miles on my '04 with no problems. The only thing I do, aside from regular maintainace per the owners manual, is to try to exclusively run Chevron 87 octane. We should check on this forum and the Road Star Riders forum to see if it's a gas issue or if it's a group of engines from a run. Does anyone know where I can find a number on my engine that shows where it was in the run? Does a certain group of numbers in the VIN indicate which plant or run the engine came from? We may be able to narrow it down to a group of engines or a type of gas.

My neighbor is an engineer for an oil company and his wife is a chemist. I'll see what they think.

e30alvin wrote:
Anyone else heard of this, or are you having the same problem ?

Curious in Canada

This is what I've picked up reciently from the R* forum. This "MAY NOT" be your problem but something to concider. Others have had their valve guides reamed as the tolerance is too close in the guides causeing sticky valves to stick. Just to make you aware I posted this.

My 01 had the same issues as you mentioned but AFTER the RECALL, let me explain what I saw when i took the top end of my motor down to the base gaskets. Mine was NOT COVERED for the POOR running condition.
The REAR cylinder exhaust ports were MIS-CAST creating a steep wall up from the exhaust valve seats that DID NOT match the front cylinders. An actual restriction of exhaust flow. The "wall" was due to a core shift or an improper sand core mold for the exhaust ports that compared to the front stood proud more than 3mm higher into the port than the front cylinder's exhaust. I took a grinder bit and had to finese the port floor to match the front's. I lapped the bejesus out of all valves seats to ensure a good contact pattern as the factory width was too thin for my tastes. My background has been in powertrain engineering (engines - cylinder heads / valves and combustion chamber / driveability)for the better part of 25 years. My intake as well leaked like a sieve in a couple points that would NOT seal. I solved that with a Nemisis intake and used a plate of glass with 220 emery cloth glued down with spray contact cement to ensure the flange was FLAT on the HEAD and INTAKE, it is now (used a
bl<br><br>Post edited by: draco, at: 2004/11/03 10:00