2006 Yamaha Vmax, carb clean or complete teardown and clean?

[GlennsVmax]

I have a 2006 Yamaha Vmax with 14K miles. I have not been riding much, once a week, 10-12 miles mostly.
The bike is running rough, not to the point where its not fun to drive but you can tell it is not where it should be.

Until recently there were not any gas stations where we could get ethanol free gas so I have run ethanol gas in it for the past 9 years. This year I found a few stations and am not running ethanol free only.

My mechanic wants to do a complete carb teardown incl removal from racks, pivot points, clean crossover etc vs a regular carb clean. He feels the ethanol is leaving buildup in the crossover etc. The full deal is about $650 incl labor, parts and tax.

simple clean and sync is less.

Like most of us I am on a budget, I am also replacing both tires w new Shinko rubber 230 series ($146) and install another $135.

Many of you ride much more than I do and have considerable experience with VMax carbs which I do not. I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks,
Glenn

 

[Fire-medic]

Your small pilot jets are probably plugged, that's the most-often seen problem from little use, and stagnant gas. You need to split the rack, but you don't have-to separate them into four to get access to the pilot jets (See #42 in the fiche) in the jet block. That access does require removing the float bowls. If you were more-familiar with the teardown and rebuild, you could do it yourself, and synch the carbs when you're done. You might only need to replace the jet block gaskets (4 of them) as they often aren't suitable for re-use upon disassembly. Good news is, they're cheap, about $10 (9.71 apiece at https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/2007/v-max-vmx12w1/carburetor See #35) You may find them cheaper at Ron Ayres, or buy them from Morley's Muscle (see the forum banner ad) and get almost unlimited advice about things VMax.

An inexpensive synch tool will pay for itself the first time you use it. I prefer the analog dial-type rather than the fluid ones. https://www.amazon.com/EMGO-CARBURETOR-SYNCHRONIZER-CARB-UNIVERSAL/dp/B003CJGDE8
I have one of these and it's almost 40 years-old and works perfectly.

Tearing-down the carbs yourself will also let you see if there are any fuel lines needing replacement. The lines are usually long-lived, it's not unheard-of to get 20 years out of them. The molded-T line (See #65, fiche, $30.30) is a special one that is a good idea to replace, or to have on-hand, it's difficult to jury-rig a replacement, better to just replace it, as preventative maintenance. The needle valve ass'y. (See #36 fiche, $16.31 each; 4 needed) is good to replace too, but you can buy a set of four aftermarket ones, just the needle valve, not the seat, for probably $7 apiece. It all depends on how frugal you are. You can go with OEM across the board, but expect to spend some $$, but it will still be far-less than the service bill you quoted.

Problems in the fuel supply often come from a rusty tank, requiring interior scouring, and sealing. Change your fuel filter if you have a rusty tank. Cut the filter open to see what crud you've trapped. After cleaning/sealing or replacing your tank, be-sure to flush the fuel line before re-connecting it to your clean carbs. Place your line not connected to the carbs into a clear vessel, turn on your ignition, and flow it for a bit and then see what crud collects in the bottom of the vessel. DO NOT DO THIS ANYWHERE NEAR A GAS APPLIANCE LIKE A WATER HEATER OR A FURNACE!!! It's best done outdoors, and you have a couple of good dry-chemical fire extinguishers close-by, yes?

 

[[email protected]]

I would put some Sea foam or similar in the tank and ride the crap out of it. See if it improves. If not, I'd pull them myself and clean. If thats not an option, I'd pull and mail to Danny or Sean. If thats not option I'd be very careful on how to proceed.

$650 sounds pretty reasonable to remove and rebuild your carbs.
Couple caveats.
1. Use OEM parts
2. Be a real mechanic with vmax carb experience.

Otherwise, you'll probably be wasting money. There are TONS of threads here from folks saying they paid $XXX dollars to have their carbs rebuilt but still have issues.
If you have confidence in your mechanic then no worries. There are a lot of em out there that will take your money and not do it right.

"cleaning ethanol from the crossover" sounds like a line of BS to me... If you have stock V-boost, the butterfly valves don't open until 5700 rpm's or so. it will have nothing to do with typical cruise rpms. If v-boost has been eliminated and open tubes are being used, I'd be pretty doubtful they are the cause of any problems other than basic tuning but, that would have always been the case, not a recent change.

 

[dannymax]

Fire Medic is correct, the symptoms you describe are probably plugged or partially plugged pfj's and indicates there is probly dirt, sludge, varnish building up and most likely deposited elsewhere in the carbs. Pull the carbs and have them gone completely thru and you will be fine. I've done 275+ sets of Vmax carbs and never heard of ethanol in crossovers, I'm with Mike, it's BS. My price is a little less than the dealer price quoted. I'll send you a PM.

 

[cwkerr007]

Mikes very correct the mechanic can be a great carb guy on other bikes but until he has done several max's he's not your guy! Go with Danny or Sean cause the ethanol thing is BS like Danny said.Now if you pull them yourself and your not confident with that just get your phone charged and get one of us to walk ya through it. Hope it works out for ya if I can help let me know. I can do evenings but daytime it maybe a while between messages. Hope one of us can help ya!

 

[cwkerr007]

I'd recommend some video's from the site but I can't seem to get this laptop to post url correctly

 

[Traumahawk]

I am a fan of BG-44. Its expensive....25-30 dollars a can, but its very good stuff. I would try a shotgun first. Its a way of cleaning the pilot jets, which is what you are running on, at idle, and up to about 4000 rpm, at part throttle. If that doesn't do it.....send your carbs to Danny. He is the best carb re-builder that i know of.

http://vmax.lvlhead.com/tips/shotgun.htm

 

[one2dmax]

We do have rebuild services available as well for $600 and can do it on an exchange.