Hey all, thanks for the great responses. Unfortunately, my bike was worse this morning than ever. I didn't make it to work because even after letting it idle a 1/2 hr, it still sputtered. But this time it started backfiring (loud) so I knew there was a problem. I turned around and went home, got the car, then went to work. After work, I started it back up and rode it to Cycle Doctor in Newport Beach, CA. Anyone heard of them? From all I've heard they have a good reputation. Anyway, when I got there I noticed that the engine was "wet" around the base of one of the pushrod shrouds. I thought the gasket at the base might have been leaking but the mechanic said it's the carb leaking. I guess I'll find out next week when they get a chance to look into it.

I've had to clean off the exhaust pipes after every ride because they are wet with what looks like oil. Sorry for sounding so damn ignorant, but how does oil get on the exhaust pipes? It can't be gas, because gas would evaporate almost immediately.

If I continue to have problems with this bike after getting it back, then I'm going to start working on the bike myself and use the advice given here. Again, thanks for all the suggestions. I didn't get a chance to read them until now, because I've been at work all day, and then running the bike to the mechanic afterwards.

Btw, when I said the bike wouldn't go over 4,000 rpm that was only when it was sputtering. After it finally gets past that problem, it would rev past 4,000 rpm. But getting past the problem was the challenge.

 

You were right. Shop called me a few minutes ago and said it was jetted way too lean. Said it now has tons of power and runs great. I'll be picking it up tomorrow. I'm hoping I can start putting some miles on this bike.

Again, thanks to everyone who posted on this thread.

 

Picked up my Lowrider today from the shop. I was riding it home when it started to stutter @ about 3K rpm. I'm thinking "I can't believe it! It's doing the same thing!", when it died. I pulled in the clutch and by dumb luck was able to coast through an intersection and into a gas station. That's when I looked at the trip odometer and noticed 101 miles. Damn, could it be empty? Filled it up and it took 3.73 gallons of gas which makes sense because I've only been getting around 25 to 27 mpg.

Btw, I should have remembered to switch the petcock to reserve when it started to stall, but I wasn't thinking that it was out of gas. Anyway, after filling up with gas it ran fine.