New bike - Honda Bobber

[jamesbernatchez]

Picking this up on Sunday. Bike runs well, idles great, and has good throttle response as well as a positive clutch feel. Bike has an estimated 30k on it. (Speedo is now off the bike since he made it a bobber, probably around 1 1/2 - 2 years ago).

The only issue I saw was a stuttering at WOT while riding quickly. If I gave the throttle a good pull the bike would move fine. The stutter or hesitation only happened on full throttle at speed. I'm thinking coming from street bikes, maybe the revs were too high for that gear? This only happened at full throttle mind you. I could rip through each gear and the bike would respond very quickly. Only if I increased to full throttle while riding at a pretty quick speed would it stutter (maybe hesitate is a better word).

I figured it could be plugs, bad gas, jetting, or air filter. Air filter is one of those velocity stack things. I'm trying to figure out what I need to replace it with a stock-like air filter setup. It has pipes on it, but not sure what kind and I believe it is stock jetting. Pipes still have baffles in it. Cruisers are very new to me so I have a bunch to learn.

Owner said he never had any issues with it and it has never left him stranded. From what I saw I would tend to agree. I've never had a bike with this kind of mileage on it before so i'm trying to figure out preventative maintenance for it.

I only have two or three weeks left of riding then it gets stored for the winter.

I plan to change oil, plugs(trying to figure out what kind), check coolant, clean and lube chain, check bolts, tire pressure. I will also be removing the tank in two weeks or so (when riding season is over) and take a look at the carbs. Anything I should look at checking or replacing this winter besides what I already mentioned I was going to?

Carbs as well as V-twins are all new to me. I'm capable of removing wheels, changing coolant and oil, but carbs are new to me as well as fuel and jetting.

I can get a video of the stutter or hesitation with my GoPro once I pick up the bike this Sunday. The best way to describe it is I was in 4th gear, not sure of the speed, but i'd estimate at around 50mph, pull throttle wide open and I don't gain or really loose speed, just stutter and hesitation. If I let off and then open the throttle again (not all the way mind you) it would ride fine.

If I slow down, drop a gear and punch it (just not wide open) it moves out quickly and with authority.

Can't wait to get it. I really enjoy the way it looks. I guess it's possible I was hitting the limiter in 2nd and 3rd, but not in 4th. I found the bike to definitely have some getup and go for a 600cc cruiser. I had a great time on the test ride, minus the one issue. Brakes worked good with the rear drum being a bit squeaky. He also rode it to meet me 5 miles from his house so I guess it may also have not been warmed up all the way.

I do plan to ride it again before I load it in the truck. I'm going to mount my GPS to it to see the speeds it is happening at.

[Eric Baker]

Cool lookin bike.

Has it been sitting a while? Could be bad gas as you stated.
If it's not jetted, that could be the culprit seeing it has a free flowing filter and exhaust.
Post a vid if you can so we can get a better idea.

[Degsy]

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Jetting issue. I think possibly the mains are one size too big.

[jamesbernatchez]

I want to think that is the issue too. I don't see why it would run fine in all other aspects and then stutter up top if it was something major. I'll ask the previous owner on Saturday wether it has been jetted or not. Either way i'll ride it and then pull the carb off over the winter and check it out.

Figure I got to learn this stuff sometime.

[Ryno]

you weren't hitting the rev limiter were you?
Those motors don't rev too high

[typeone]

Carbs as well as V-twins are all new to me. I'm capable of removing wheels, changing coolant and oil, but carbs are new to me as well as fuel and jetting.

then you will be learning how to jet with this bike

if you want crisp throttle, dont be afraid to learn and make educated changes. it's kind of an art, but so worth it once you have proper fueling through all circuits. log what you got, log what you change. jets, temps, everything.

i wonder about those 'baffled' pipes. what's he got in there? thumbscrews or true baffles?

as a first step, mark your throttle with some tape or similar so you know how much you're actually twisting when the bog occurs. if you can glance RPM and throttle position, it will help determine where you need to tweak if it's a jetting issue. which i bet it is if all he said was 'it's got stock jetting'. changing the intake and exhaust means fueling work.

sweet bike

[tsorfas]

how much are you paying for this?
I like it!!!

[jamesbernatchez]

I'm picking it up for $3,200. A bit more than I wanted to spend but it was the only bobber to be basically what I want a bobber to look at. Everything else I saw sucked balls. I'll probably rewrap the pipes with black exhaust wrap and maybe try to throw some type of odometer on there.

There is no speedometer or turn signals on the bike. It's pretty bare bones. The one thing I really like is that even though it looks it, it is not a hard tail. The rear shock is retained which makes for a comfortable ride.

[tsorfas]

i like the way it looks and i like the changes you want to make it to it.
PM where you go to pass inspection im interested to go for next year (my bike has no mirrors)

[csmutty]

i like the way it looks and i like the changes you want to make it to it.
PM where you go to pass inspection im interested to go for next year (my bike has no mirrors)

Ct doesnt have inspection. You just register and ride...

[Chippertheripper]

The black exhaust wrap will fade too. Just spray what's on there with high temp paint.

Is this in addition to, or instead of a sportbike?

[stoinkythepig]

Not my scene, but that's a cool looking bike. I like that it's pretty much anti-OCC. Last few times I was in Japan, that style was all the rage in Ueno.

I would leave the pipe wrap alone, the fading (assuming that's why you want to re-wrap) adds to the look, much the same way blued chrome pipes add to the look of vintage Triumph bikes.

[jamesbernatchez]

The black exhaust wrap will fade too. Just spray what's on there with high temp paint.

Is this in addition to, or instead of a sportbike?

Instead of. I sold the sumo to give this a try. Most of my riding is just cruising around town or group rides so figured this will be different. Also, less likely for me to cause trouble compared to the sumo

Not my scene, but that's a cool looking bike. I like that it's pretty much anti-OCC. Last few times I was in Japan, that style was all the rage in Ueno.

I would leave the pipe wrap alone, the fading (assuming that's why you want to re-wrap) adds to the look, much the same way blued chrome pipes add to the look of vintage Triumph bikes.

Not a bad idea. Didn't think of it fading. I'll take care of the main maintenance things before I consider doing anything cosmetic.

[landricscustoms]

if your not comfortable tuning the bike by yourself, i'll gladly offer my services. my new tech is extremely knowledgeable with carbed twins so figuring out the jetting and getting her to run correctly wouldnt be an issue at all. i could also easily take care of the other things you wish to change. PM me if interested

[scubasteveRR]

I love it, the thing is wicked pimp

my old roommate gave me an older Kawi Vulcan 750. this is exactly what I want to do with it if I can figure out the problem with the engine he had.

[DucDave]

you weren't hitting the rev limiter were you?
Those motors don't rev too high

my thought exactly....

[Evadd]

looks badass. i dig it.

[jamesbernatchez]

Today when I picked it up I put my GPS on it so I could see the speeds I was going. In 2nd I was hitting about 35mph before the hesitation would kick in so i'm thinking it is the rev limiter. This is also the consensus on the Honda Shadow forums. 3rd I was getting up to around 55mph. In 4th, I could hit a max of 66mph before it would happen. Any more throttle and it would do the hesitation thing. I'm thinking air/fuel and jetting.

I pulled 3 of 4 plugs tonight to check them out and this is what I found.

Front cylinder right side plug (if sitting on bike)



The front left plug looked whitish as well, but not as white.

Below is the left rear cylinder plug. It looks pretty good.



I do not know how many miles are on these plugs. The oil looks like its time to change as well which I planned to do either way.

I didn't pull the other rear cylinder plug. I found these are the correct NGK plugs that the manual recommends. Same ones I just purchased to replace with. The gaps were a bit less than the .80mm - .90mm that is recommended.

Others say i'm probably a little lean, but nothing jetting can't fix. The plug in photo one (white) was closest to the exhaust on the front cylinder. The other front plug looked slightly grayish. The darker plug (photo two) was furthest from the exhaust on the rear cylinder. Bike has estimated 28k on it. No oil leaks and sounds good. The previous owner is running 91 octane so i'm going to drain that and refill with 87. Also going to change oil tomorrow with semi-syn 10w-40.

I upped the idle as it was a bit low. Around town cruising the bike seems to run, shift, and sound fine.

Battery seems old. It died and wouldn't turn over when trying to start the bike when I got to his house. After a quick charge it worked ok, but tonight it did the same. I already got a new battery on a tender i'm going to swap it in tonight.

Bike also has a velocity stack air filter which i'd assume is letting more air in as well.

I'm thinking the lean cause the higher flow of the air filter and pipes with no jetting done.

I have a short clip of the bike idling before I adjusted the idle a bit higher. I love the sound of this bike with these pipes.

Honda Shadow Bobber - YouTube

[tonupdamien]

awesome bike.

riding with the rear tire that close to my ass without a fender would scare the shit out of me though!

@landrics
I'll be in touch regarding your carb'd twin guru. my thruxton won't start and i can't figure it out.

[TheIglu]

Don't bother draining out the 91 octane, just run it.