Regular Guy
Well-Known Member
As y'all know, I've done a lot of stuff already to my 99 and it is still ongoing. As you may recall from previous posts I have been getting terrible mileage from the bike. She finally runs reliably but just drinks a shit ton of fuel and I always smell gas. I had flirted with the idea of taking the carbs off and sending them to Kyle or Danny but in the end didn't want to be bothered with it so I took it a local mechanic that has been in business for over 40 years. I told him the story about how the previous owner became terminally ill and let the bike sit up for a while and had his mechanic friend take the carbs out and ultrasonic clean them and rebuild and sync them and how he flushed the tank...yadda yadda yadda.
The guy up the road from me said to me initially "There are people who SAY they know how to work on carbs and there are people who KNOW how to work on carbs". He's an ornery old cuss but I like him, lol. I got put on the waiting list and told him to call me when he could get to it, that way the bike wasn't in his way. He calls me yesterday afternoon and said he's at a point he could start on it so I fired her up this morning and made the 10 mile ride to him. She was running great (that electrical stuff is now resolved) but that smell was still there.
When I pulled up, the shop owner, Dave, was on the phone but his help took my key and had me sign the work authorization form. I took him outside and he was admiring the bike and then said "Yeah, they do good in a straight line but don't like curves". This kid is maybe 25 years old at most and I doubt he's ever ridden one but I guess the VMax's reputation precedes her, lol. I told him "Well, she's not that bad really. Handles better than I was lead to believe. It handles better than a Harley!" to which he replied "Well, that's not hard to do, Harley's are super bloated pigs!". So...that was the end of that, lol.
He then focuses on the Delkevic exhaust and says that he's betting it needs a jet kit due to the pipes then I tell him that I had been told that Delkevic actually makes the stock exhaust and that Delkevic themselves say that no re-mapping or re-jetting is ever required with their exhausts. He rolls his eyes and tells me that's not correct. He says companies will say that but it's not always the case.
So I am not feeling good about this already. I go back in and talk to the owner, Dave (the old ornery guy that I like) and he heard it fire up and says that he's betting it needs rejetting just based on the sound of it. Keep in mind, the baffles are in so it's not THAT loud.
While waiting on my son to come pick me up, I start talking to him and his young helper (I'm guessing it's Dave's boy) comes in and says there is rust in the gas tank, he shined a light in it and his diagnosis is that rust is in the carbs affecting the floats. He says one is overflowing and that's why my mileage sucks! At this point, in 5 minutes it looks like they need to acid clean the tank and then line it with some fiberglass resin. I can't recall what he called it. He said there are 2 other types, one cream colored and one red but he doesn't like those. He's used them and still found red particles in the carbs.
That's where I am at with this freaking money pit. It's insane how a $3700.00 motorcycle has turned into a $6000 bike and I'm not even taking into consideration this bill in progress. I LOVE the bike, it's a blast to ride, turns heads, everyone asks about when I go somewhere but dammit man! She's an expensive, high maintenance girl! I hope this is the last of it.
I actually have her for sale but didn't want to pass any problems on to the next owner, if there is one. I have one guy interested in her but I think he's just a tire kicker. If she sells, fine, if she doesn't, fine too. I did kinda think about deleting the ad on my ride this morning. It was still cool out, a little cloudy. It was PERFECT riding weather. It made me think "Well shit, let me get her running perfect and I'll just hang on to her!" :rofl_200:
I'll keep y'all updated as I found out more info. I hope it ends up being fairly easy (cheap) to fix. Keep your fingers crossed for me unk:
The guy up the road from me said to me initially "There are people who SAY they know how to work on carbs and there are people who KNOW how to work on carbs". He's an ornery old cuss but I like him, lol. I got put on the waiting list and told him to call me when he could get to it, that way the bike wasn't in his way. He calls me yesterday afternoon and said he's at a point he could start on it so I fired her up this morning and made the 10 mile ride to him. She was running great (that electrical stuff is now resolved) but that smell was still there.
When I pulled up, the shop owner, Dave, was on the phone but his help took my key and had me sign the work authorization form. I took him outside and he was admiring the bike and then said "Yeah, they do good in a straight line but don't like curves". This kid is maybe 25 years old at most and I doubt he's ever ridden one but I guess the VMax's reputation precedes her, lol. I told him "Well, she's not that bad really. Handles better than I was lead to believe. It handles better than a Harley!" to which he replied "Well, that's not hard to do, Harley's are super bloated pigs!". So...that was the end of that, lol.
He then focuses on the Delkevic exhaust and says that he's betting it needs a jet kit due to the pipes then I tell him that I had been told that Delkevic actually makes the stock exhaust and that Delkevic themselves say that no re-mapping or re-jetting is ever required with their exhausts. He rolls his eyes and tells me that's not correct. He says companies will say that but it's not always the case.
So I am not feeling good about this already. I go back in and talk to the owner, Dave (the old ornery guy that I like) and he heard it fire up and says that he's betting it needs rejetting just based on the sound of it. Keep in mind, the baffles are in so it's not THAT loud.
While waiting on my son to come pick me up, I start talking to him and his young helper (I'm guessing it's Dave's boy) comes in and says there is rust in the gas tank, he shined a light in it and his diagnosis is that rust is in the carbs affecting the floats. He says one is overflowing and that's why my mileage sucks! At this point, in 5 minutes it looks like they need to acid clean the tank and then line it with some fiberglass resin. I can't recall what he called it. He said there are 2 other types, one cream colored and one red but he doesn't like those. He's used them and still found red particles in the carbs.
That's where I am at with this freaking money pit. It's insane how a $3700.00 motorcycle has turned into a $6000 bike and I'm not even taking into consideration this bill in progress. I LOVE the bike, it's a blast to ride, turns heads, everyone asks about when I go somewhere but dammit man! She's an expensive, high maintenance girl! I hope this is the last of it.
I actually have her for sale but didn't want to pass any problems on to the next owner, if there is one. I have one guy interested in her but I think he's just a tire kicker. If she sells, fine, if she doesn't, fine too. I did kinda think about deleting the ad on my ride this morning. It was still cool out, a little cloudy. It was PERFECT riding weather. It made me think "Well shit, let me get her running perfect and I'll just hang on to her!" :rofl_200:
I'll keep y'all updated as I found out more info. I hope it ends up being fairly easy (cheap) to fix. Keep your fingers crossed for me unk: