Problems after shimming

[kamikaze]

I shimmed my needles about 3 weeks ago, one washer under each needle. Factory exhaust and intake, and no other modifications to the carbs or airbox. The flat spot between 8-9k rpm seemed to all but disappear and the warm up takes less than 3 minutes now from cold. Now that it's hot and humid out, once the bike gets really hot, like when you are flogging it in the twisties, there's a really bad hesitation around 8k rpm again only it's much worse than it used to be. It's so bad that if in 5th or 6th gear, going WOT at 8k rpm just results in what seems to be misfires and it won't pull past that at all. if I back off a little from WOT it will eventually start to accelerate, but not after a lot of complaint. Trying to go uphill and maintain speed in the top 2 gears is next to impossible.

From the reading I've done, I would assume that pulling the snorkel is my next step, but it's pretty hard to put back in if it doesn't help. I guess if that doesn't make it any better I could go to pod filters but I really don't want to be sinking money into this thing since I need brakes and tires. My other option is to remove the shims and go back to the 15+ minute warm up times, but at least the hesitation wasn't as bad then. I'm really beginning to wonder what the dealer did when I asked them to do a carb setup on it in the spring when I had the valve clearances checked. I guess I should see if they drilled out the mixture screw covers and go from there.

What is my best bet here? Pull the snorkel and test it out for a week, or just pull the shims entirely and go back to how it was?

[Live2ride]

I shimmed my needles and removed the snorkel at the same time, the bike ran well. I decided to put tthe snorkel back in to test if it would run even better and it did exactly as u described, wouldn't go past 8-9k, just hit that rev and misfired. Try removing the snorkel, its really not a big hassle to remove or put back in.

[kamikaze]

hmmmm, guess I know what I'm doing tonight then LOL

[setasai]

Not sure if it'll fix your problem but my bike is very similar to yours. All stock exhaust. Shimmed 2 washers under each needle and removed the snorkel. Works great. I did end up tweaking the idle mixture screws but that wasnt until months after. The snorkel while difficult to put back in, can be done, just needs some TLC. It's also an easy way to see if it fixes your problem. You don't even need to take any major fairings off to remove.


Edit: gah Cody beat me too it.

[bob706]

+1 for ditching the snorkel

[kamikaze]

Aite, I'm pulling it now. Will have to ride it for a few days to see if it's fixed tho

[kamikaze]

I can see how that's going to be a bit of a job putting it back if this doesn't work lol. It's in there a lot tighter than I thought lol

[kamikaze]

Holy gurgle noise too

[rockNroll]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

Holy gurgle noise too

i know right.

I think putting the snorkel back in would be a PIA

[EsrTek]

it's not that hard to put back in....I just had to put mine back in for the 600mile servicing.
I doubt you will need to put it back, from symptoms.. but ya never know.
Reinstall it:
start with the top part, angle that in to get it back into bike.
once in, push it all the way back and up that you can (holding it at bottom front corner)
squeeze the bottom and stick it in the hole first.
Use your fingers to get the rubber lip to make solid contact, again starting at bottom and working your way up.
Once in at bottom, push it all the way down.
then working your fingers from inside, roll seal so it sets, while w/ other hand you squeeze to snorkel together, slighty pushing the next part in.
When mine got about 3/4th back in, I pinched and bent the top down as much as I could then worked the inside seal w my finger. Once it was mostly on, the rubber snapped into place.

Works just like it did from showroom again.

PS- I never did shim my carbs, only had mine out about 2 days as a test.
But the bike seemed to have no ill effects and sounded better, but I don't plan on taking it back out till I do the exhaust/jet kit.

[kamikaze]

thanks for the tips. just did a quick run on the highway from one exit to the next and back again, and it seems smoother but it seemed better after just the shimming too, so I'll ride it like this for a couple days and report back.

[kamikaze]

Update:

After a few days of riding, it definitely seems better. I won't know for sure until we get some more hot and humid weather. Thanks for the tips guys

[kamikaze]

so I got some of that hot and humid weather, and the bike performed admirably after removing the snorkel. seems like it's fixed for now.

thanks again for the help

[EddieNewYork]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

so I got some of that hot and humid weather, and the bike performed admirably after removing the snorkel. seems like it's fixed for now.

thanks again for the help

Thx for the update as I'm still debating whether to do this or not lol.

[kamikaze]

Originally Posted by EddieNewYork

Thx for the update as I'm still debating whether to do this or not lol.

it's like people said, it's not like it's impossible to revert to stock, just a pain to get that snorkel back in.

[Michaeldphotography]

Originally Posted by kamikaze

it's like people said, it's not like it's impossible to revert to stock, just a pain to get that snorkel back in.

did you notice a big difference in take off in first gear also does it ride smoother?

[kamikaze]

Originally Posted by Michaeldphotography

did you notice a big difference in take off in first gear also does it ride smoother?

not really, 1st goes by so quick I never noticed the hesitation. I noticed it mostly when rolling on or snapping the throttle wide open in 4th-6th. It's particularly unsettling when it does it leaned way over in a corner btw . nothing you do to this bike is going to make it that much faster without some sort of forced induction. I didn't do this for extra power, I just wanted smoother power delivery. I feel it's much smoother now, so pulling the snorkel must have leaned it out just enough to counter the shimming, while still retaining the benefits of shimming in the first place, which was the cold starting issues.