2002 California Stone running a little rough

[bluecycle]

I just picked this Stone up  and took it for a shakedown ride this afternoon,  it runs pretty good  going down the road at 60  maybe a little rougher than i remember my old Stone running,   but a partial throttle and cruising through some slower speed stuff it seems to surge and buck a little.  When i was coming back into my park in 1st gear it even backfired.

it has 60k on it and the po has records that he changed the fuel filter at 36k,   has a recent valve adjustment,  going over his records i think he only rode it about 5k in the last 12 years.


would the fuel filter be the first thing you would look at ?   Im in Florida in the winter and dont have a shop or many of my tools down here so i probably will need to take it to someone that knows the bikes to have it worked on   

Does anyone have a place or a person that they could recomend in Florida to have a look at it?    Thanks in advance

[pehayes]

Low mileage over a long time means fuel just sitting in the tank.  The fuel filter is very tolerant.  I'd look elsewhere.

Pull the petcock system to drain and rinse any mechanical debris from the tank.  The petcock has a very small filter which plugs quite easily.  Make sure the tank and petcock filter are clean.

Find someone to inspect and set the TPS (throttle position sensor).  Possible to clean internally.  You'll need software to set it up properly.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Ncdan]

Low mileage over a long time means fuel just sitting in the tank.  The fuel filter is very tolerant.  I'd look elsewhere.

Pull the petcock system to drain and rinse any mechanical debris from the tank.  The petcock has a very small filter which plugs quite easily.  Make sure the tank and petcock filter are clean.

Find someone to inspect and set the TPS (throttle position sensor).  Possible to clean internally.  You'll need software to set it up properly.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

Do you know the bikes mapping history?
Throttle body balance preformed lately?
TPS checked of late?
All these things can effect the Preformance you are describing.

[bluecycle]

Do you know the bikes mapping history?
Throttle body balance preformed lately?
TPS checked of late?
All these things can effect the Preformance you are describing.

nope i dont know any of that, i guess i will try and find someone down here that knows where to look at those factors   thanks

[leroy_can]

Hi, My first line of defence before I spend money would be Sea Foam. Also running the tank as low as you dare so you are sure you are rid of any old stale fuel is good. I have great faith in Sea Foam. So many people who's opinion I respected swore by it that I was recommending it before I had even actually tried it. Now I have used it lots and often have amazing improvements. Even with fresh gas you can get junk fuel from some stations at times.

[SLDMRossi]

It always helps to go back to the beginning. Before you start looking into fuel metering, have you checked the valve adjustment?

SR

[bluecycle]

Hi, My first line of defence before I spend money would be Sea Foam. Also running the tank as low as you dare so you are sure you are rid of any old stale fuel is good. I have great faith in Sea Foam. So many people who's opinion I respected swore by it that I was recommending it before I had even actually tried it. Now I have used it lots and often have amazing improvements. Even with fresh gas you can get junk fuel from some stations at times.

You know i thought about that today,  i have had great luck with seafoam.  I will grab a can tomorrow and try it out.  I have been contacted by a few forum members and think it will be solved one way or the other soon.     Thanks

[bluecycle]

seafoam and a 60 mile ride today,  i would say it helped a little but its still not right , so hopefully i can get some local experts to have a look soon.  Thanks for all the help

[Ncdan]

seafoam and a 60 mile ride today,  i would say it helped a little but its still not right , so hopefully i can get some local experts to have a look soon.  Thanks for all the help

At best Seafoam inspires wishful thinking. Fuel additives may assist it cleaning the system and that in itself is questionable. If the throttle bodies have gotten out of balance, valves out of adjustment or TPS out of adjustment due to higher miles or being tampered with, the only fix it a knowledgeable wrench. By no means down playing anyone’s suggestions, just never had any luck with fuel additives fixing a real to life issue with any of my bikes.

[bluecycle]

yeah it was a nice day and i wanted an excuse to ride so i thought what the heck.    Thanks  for the help   

[Ncdan]

yeah it was a nice day and i wanted an excuse to ride so i thought what the heck.    Thanks  for the help

I heard that! Any reason is a good reason to get a chance to take a ride👍

[andyals]

I had an identical problem with an XS1100 I owned back in the 80's.
Exactly the same symptoms.
Long story short.
It turned out to be one of the HT leads.
It's an easy thing to eliminate.
Wrap a few layers of electrical insulation tape around the lead where it goes into the spark plug cap, run the bike and see if it works.
It's not a permanent fix and if it is that it will go again meaning the offending HT lead needs replacing.
Worth a try

[Tom H]

With what andyals said, you could always try starting it in the dark and look for sparks from the plug wires.

I have never tried the Seafoam. But, I would think that it would take a bit to do it's job, provided it does a job.

Also, it could be a simple as riding it for a bit. New gas through the system does wonders.

Tom

[bluecycle]

I heard that! Any reason is a good reason to get a chance to take a ride👍

75 and sunny today too nice to pass up

[andyals]

With what andyals said, you could always try starting it in the dark and look for sparks from the plug wires.

I have never tried the Seafoam. But, I would think that it would take a bit to do it's job, provided it does a job.

Also, it could be a simple as riding it for a bit. New gas through the system does wonders.

Tom

A very wise mechanic once told me, never assume, and always start with the most simple easiest to eliminate elements and work back from there.

[stratoguzzi]

Had similar symptoms on my California Vintage...TPS is the most likely suspect. It gets worn in the idle to just above idle position from wear. I took it off my bike and cleaned it with Deoxit electrical contact cleaner. Just flooded it then blow it out with compressed air....repeat a few times. Now you need to reset your idle position voltage,or mark the position of the TPS BEFORE you take it off...

[ampm7]

Look inside the gas tank with a flashlight and make sure that it looks clean. In the case of my recent acquisition of a '98 EV, the gas tank was shot. A matter of fact the liner was coming up. I said to myself, 'not this again'! Luckily, I cut out the bad portion and cleaned the tank (KBS coatings) and re-coated the inside of the tank (KBS). Also, check the air filter if you have the tank off. Had to replace the electric solenoid petcock as the filter disintegrated in my hands and the petcock was filthy. Replaced with a manual from MG cycle. Replaced the fuel hose with Viton and put in a new fuel filter while I was at it. New plugs, and the bike runs quite respectable except the Guzzi surging in low gears especially downhill with partial throttle. Been through this before with my V11 and it is a problem. Next is a re-map and check of the TPS. If you can't do these things, keep looking for a reputable repairman. You would never know by looking at my bike that it had problems as it is very clean and the previous owner had taken care of it but couldn't in the last couple of years due to declining health.

[bluecycle]

took a  ride over to antmanbee's  today and he dialed in my guzzi.  it runs great now.   Thanks to him and ncdan for taking the time to help me out.  i learned some things today that will hopefully give me a much better understanding of my bike.   Alan really knows his stuff and couldnt have been any nicer.   Thats what makes this board special and makes owning a guzzi special as well.  Im not as tech savvy as Alan but i hope to be able to help someone someday with whatever comes along.   

[Tom H]

What ended up being the issue?

Tom

[Ncdan]

took a  ride over to antmanbee's  today and he dialed in my guzzi.  it runs great now.   Thanks to him and ncdan for taking the time to help me out.  i learned some things today that will hopefully give me a much better understanding of my bike.   Alan really knows his stuff and couldnt have been any nicer.   Thats what makes this board special and makes owning a guzzi special as well.  Im not as tech savvy as Alan but i hope to be able to help someone someday with whatever comes along.   

I told ya Alan was da man and ill volunteer him anytime you need him😂😂😂😂
Good friends are hard to come by these days 😉
Glad you fellers got your bike tuned up and ready head to head to my river house this spring to ride the Smokys👍

[antmanbee]

It really just needed a good tune.
Valves were set too tight, the right intake had no clearance.
The TPS was reset. It's base setting was off around 30mV.
The sync at idle and higher revs was off a fair amount.
The CO trim was at -16 and I reset it to 0.
Set the idle to around 1200.
No remapping needed. It seems pretty good now.

[Tom H]

Thank you for letting me know. Always helps to know what solved a problem

Tom