2nd gen lack of power

So as I've gotten more comfortable on my bike i'm suspecting more and more that it's hardly making any power... I see specs online that say the bike should do 0-60 in 3 point something seconds, but It takes me about 3-4 seconds to get to 30 mph... Doesn't matter if i keep the revs really high or not, the bike just feels slow. I'm going to try to ride something else for a reference, but...

My first order of business is going to be to go through the carbs, and this winter I'll adjust the valves. The bike runs pretty smooth though, just pops a little when coasting down hill. Has supertrapp pipes, I've done half assed run on the exhaust gas analyzer at work and it seemed like it was running about right.

My thoughts were maybe the ignition isn't working quite right... Does it advance? Maybe whatever mechanism it has to do that needs replaced...

Anyways, any input would be greatly appreciated. Also if anyone is in colorado and has experience with these i'd love to have someone ride it and just see what they think.

Thanks!

*edit*

Forgot to mention I had just changed the spark plugs and cleaned the k&n, I measured the wires and while they weren't actually in spec they were all the same...

 

Rule of thumb is 3% loss of horsepower per thousand feet, your at roughly 15% loss given your alltitude. My gen 2 has never been a fan of high altitude rides.

 

Is that uphill, downhill or on the flat?

 

On the flats. My problem I think is that the bike feels slow compared to other vehicles, I get outrun by 200 horsepower volkswagens...

 

It may need a crab cleaning and smaller main jets.

 

also, how is the clutch? If the springs are sloppy and the clutch bad, that won't help matters any either.

 

I think time for SC otstir:

 

I can say for sure that you should still get a thrill, even at 5000'. My gen2 runs reasonably well (even significantly higher than that), and certainly doesn't have a problem against a cage. Sure, there's a loss in power that goes with thinner air; but it isn't terrible until you get up over 8000' or so - and it's the same for everyone unless they have some kind of forced induction. FI can give a better mixture; but the lack of air is what reduces the power.

 

When I had a 2nd gen and my regulator/rectifier was going out mine was way down on power also. Not sure why, maybe weak spark? How long have you owned it? Where did you buy it? Was it at lower altitude before you got it? I would also check to make sure its running on all four cyliders? And also that its getting good spark to all four plugs.

 

I can relate to that.. Not a clue if cleaning a crab is going to do the trick but this is a great vid on how-to.


Dungeness Crabs- How to quickly clean a live crab - YouTube

 

You can forget about a spark timing problem cuz the advance curve is electronically built into the CDI and never goes bad.

Taylor has good suggestions ^^. Check that all cylinders have heat on the exhaust header pipes, and yes, you may need to lie upon the pavement to get hand access to the rear headers.

One guess is that a cylinder may not be firing, possible carb (dirty jets or main jet holder tube, holes in diaphrams etc.) or spark problem.

If your problem is just one cylinder not putting out power, the fault should be apparent after you inspect and compare the sparkplugs.

 

Anything new yet

 

No, haven't had time to tear into it yet. I'm pretty sure the car has been in colorado for a while, and I don't think the clutch is slipping, I'd probably notice that. Just replaced the regulator/rectifier with a new one... When i pull the carbs i'll check all the coils and whatnot. I thought of it not running on all four, but then one side should be running rich... same with the jets i would think... I imagine you want a similar AFR to a car...

 

Fuel or spark is you culprit, go down the supply chain.

 

get a hold of tinkerin' he's out there in your neighborhood...

 

Well I've confirmed, the bike is running on 3 cylinders. One coil is bad, right front (can't remember which cylinder that is), but i put one of the other coils on it to test and wasn't getting spark... Not sure why the coil would be fried along with the wiring unless the RR problem I had could have done it... So I guess first thing is to tear it down this weekend and test the wires with the multimeter and order a spare coil. Hopefully it's not the CDI box, that sounds expensive...

Will any dumb coil work on this bike? Looks like just a trigger and a ground wire...

 

I had a similar problem with an '86 700 a few years ago. To my surprize, i found out that the CDI can fail to fire on one cylinder only while the others are OK.

 

700 years ago? Wow... =P

Well that's swell. I hope someone has an extra good CDI box laying around...

 

No i changed the plates and springs in my 92 and runs alot better even low down 2 -3 thou rpm
it just stops slip not hp though , mine was sliping at 7 thou on full throttle needle just move with no more forward moment

 

Well I successfully repaired my CDI, you can see the thread in the 2nd gen forum. (called CDI failure?)

Annnd wow. Now I know what I was missing, it feels like I've been driving a volkswagen jetta then just jumped in a lamborghini. Feel like the front wheel is going to come up and I can't look down for long enough to know when I've hit 60mph... Thanks for the help guys!