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I've been having a similar problem with my 1991 FXRS. In fact this morning it was popping so bad when I left the driveway.........I just about turned around and parked it. I pulled the enrichener...............cranked the throttle a couple times...................started it up................pushed the enrichener in about 1/4 of the way.....................let it idle for a couple minutes................then pushed it in about 3/4 of the way and let it idle for every bit of 15 min. I then took off out of the driveway..................and the thing is popping/sputtering/banging (audible out of the pipes)...................in the meantime people are ducking.............thinking a gunman is opening up on em. It continued like that.............even died once at a stop sign..................until I got it full open (about 45-55 mph). Then it ran fine.........even at a stop light (idle). I'm totally stumped as to what can be causing it to run fine after it (for lack of a better phrase) "blow out the cob webs. Could I have a float sticking? Could it be plugs? Could it be Jets? A lot of people have told me that these old girls just like to get warmed up well. But, this is not normal................and it's definitely not safe. When I'm pulling out in front of traffic my bike is sputtering and spitting.............not fun.
Enricher on for 15 mins? Way to much, no wonder it's rides like crap, your plugs are fouled up. If it's above 50 degs I only pull the enricher 1/4 to 1/2 way and idles it for a min. or two, then push it all the way in after a couple of blocks. If it's over 65 degs, I don't use the enricher at all.
I keep the enricher out about 1/4 of the way for the warm up time (usually 10 min.) ...................without it out it dies. I thought that it could be the plugs.........but why does it run good when it gets up to speed? Wouldn't fouled plugs cause problems all of the time...............not just when cold?
If you're running the enrichener to heavily, the excess fuel the enrichener supplies cannot be burned in the cylinder and ends up keeping the engine / plugs cooler than they should be. When you finally push the enrichener in and crank the throttle open for a bit, the plugs get hotter and can actually achieve their self-cleaning temperature.
This might explain why the bike starts to run better.
Reckless,
You may need to up your intermediate jet and make sure the accelerator pump is adjusted correctly (look in the D.I.Y. sections for CV carb jetting). I put a SE ignition module in mine and it really smoothed out the engine in the lower rpms, doesn't stumble or hesitate anymore. Jet it first, and see how that does. 10 min still sounds like a long time to me, I push my enricher in after 2 to 3 mins tops. Make sure your idle speed is around 900 to 1000, low idle speedwill make it die when it's cold too.
changes in jet sizes can be made after trouble-shooting and fixing the first failure ,....and that is "mis-firing" .
Re-jetting is for the second round.
It's easy to find out if the spark-plugs are oke or not ,....pull the caps 2 centimeters or halve an inch back of the plugs.
Now you've made a kind of "air-gap" in series with the spark-plugs ,.....
When you start the engine , the coil wiil produce a much more stronger spark in the combustion-rooms ,....and the spark-lug is not so sensitive for fouling now .
As soon as you notice that the engine runs better now ,...change the plugs.
This is not new ,....it's a very old trouble-shooting trick ...,....and it will take only 20 seconds to do it.
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