86 vf500 dies as soon as choke is off, why?

Ok so I bought this 86 500 not too long ago it was ridden to long maybe a year or less before i bought it from previous owner. Never told me it had issues so i've been trying to start it and it'll start if i blip the throttle with the choke on and it'll start but the revs go so low i have to blip the throttle or it'll shut off. Now as soon as i take the choke off the bike just dies. I topped off the gas tank so i'm wondering if it could be an ignition issue? any ideas?

 

my first suspect would be clogged/gummed up pilot jets. you can try to run some Seafoam through the tank in hopes that you can clean some of the gunk out, but chances are, you're probably going to have to pull the carbs off and clean those pilots out manually. how long has the bike sat without starting?

 

Not sure how long it sat but he said he rode it last year. When i picked it up it had no gas in the tank but i had him crank it over to hear how it sounded and it sounded ok even though we didn't start it up.

 

Sounds like clogged pilot jets--there is no chemical additive, sea oil or snake foam that you can put in the tank that will clean them. Two suggestions:

1. Check your oil level and put a drop of oil on blotter paper to see if you have fuel contamination in the oil.

2. When you pull the carbs, please DO NOT unbolt the air plenum plate from the carbs.

 

The oil looks ok and i'll try and pull the carbs off as a last resort i guess. I'm gonna try and move the tank over and use longer hoses for fuel so i can start it and look down the carbs to see if they open and close when i move the throttle. I have another question which is puzzling me, when i leave it running for a bit there is drops of oil that fall from the muffler/exhaust chamber connection. I pulled the front and rear left side plugs and they are dry. I took off the left side muffler to see inside and looks wet from oil. I'll check the right side plugs later today to see if they are wet or not. Why would there be oil in there? i'm thinking maybe the previous owner sprayed some oil in the spark plug chamber so as to not rust up but thats only my guess.

 

Have you checked the oil level? If it's overfull or even has a hint of gas smell to it your needle and seats are gummed up in addition to the pilot circuits.. Those carbs need to be thoroughly cleaned. That is a must if you want it to run right. There are no short cuts.

 

+1

If you are pulling the carburetors there are a few tips and tricks to removing/installing them. More info can be found on this site using the search tool.

Also, If I could recommend, purchasing a new set of 'boots' for the carburetors is a wise investment. This will make the install much, much easier.

Good luck and keep us posted on the progress.

 

Nothing better then knowing you've installed a new set of boots. I've done that to my vfr700 since they were leaking. Anyone know of a place in Orlando that does carb rebuilds? Not too crazy with bringing it to some of these shops that never even heard or worked on older interceptors.

 

kennybobby has already posted a warning, but I will take the liberty posting a redundancy...it is not recommeded to remove the plenum from the carbs when pulling them. It is a major PITA to get everything back together. That said, the o-rings on the fuel and vent connector tubes should be replaced which neccesitates removal of the carbs from the plenum. Think catch 22.