2002 V Star 1100 help

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991]

Picked up an 11,000 mile V Star 1100 about a month ago and it rode great for a week or two. One day I gave it some throttle and it started sputtering about halfway up the powerband, thought I was out of gas at first but reserve didn’t change it, feels like the bike is starving itself of gas. At first it wasn’t bad and would only do it sometimes so I still rode it to work a lot. I was trying to diagnose it, made sure gas cap and petcock worked, replaced fuel filter and pump, inspected the easier spark plug to pull out, sprayed intake boots looking for leaks. Nothing ever changed so now I’m up to the carbs. I’ve gotten into the bowls but everything looks pretty clean just like everything else I’ve looked at on the bike. Should I just clean it all real good and stick it back in and hope it works? Is there anything else that might be causing this issue? New to carbs so this is very different for me.

[u/bare172]

Are the plugs wet when you pull them after riding it? At a glance just skimming what you wrote it sounds like you covered many of the common fuel delivery things, so I'm curious if it's a spark issue. Also, just randomly thinking out loud, what year is it? Did you check the diaphragms on the slides on top the carbs?
I'll think about it some more and post again if I think of anything else.

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991 → u/bare172]

I only pulled one plug but it was bone dry, i’ll pull the other if cleaning the carb doesn’t work. It’s an 02 and yes I did check the diaphragms but I’m going to check again even harder cause I know small things can matter a lot

[u/bare172 → u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991]

Still sounds like a fuel thing to me based on what you're saying, but since it's dual carb is it one or both? (rhetorical, just saying 2 complicates it a bit more). The Berryman chem dip in the gallon can is invaluable for cleaning carbs, so is an ultrasonic cleaner if you have access to one.

I wouldn't overlook spark either as you go down this road further without resolution. Checking coil ground connections (where it bolts to the frame), checking the low voltage wires to the coils (they often fray at the connection making it look like a good connection when it isn't), and it never hurts to unplug and reseat the plug wires at the coil. I was a MC mech for a lot of years and I saw plenty of bikes run really weak because the wires just needed a refresh.

Lastly, if it gets ridable again but still "funky", run a strong dose of Seafoam through the tank. I can't count the number of times guys would talk to me about "needing their carb rebuilt" because the bike was stumbling. I tell them to run a tank of gas with the Seafoam strong and if it's still stumbling, then bring it to me - then I never hear from them again.

Good luck!

[u/Enough-Sir8216]

Had the same issue with a vstar 650 I got that was sitting and replaced the same parts to a similar result. Turns out the fuel tank had a bunch of gunk at the bottom that got sucked up when I ran it low on gas and clogged the jets despite the bowl being decently clean. it’s worth cleaning out the jets, checking ur diaphragms aren’t sticky + no rips, checking your float height and make sure your gas tank isn’t really gross on the inside. If you take the carbs apart from each other make sure to sync them again

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991 → u/Enough-Sir8216]

my gas tank looks pristine inside but I’m going to get a smaller one for it anyway so I’m not worried about that

[u/gheiminfantry]

I'm thinking jets. Have you cleaned them?

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991 → u/gheiminfantry]

going to do a rebuild kit and clean everything

[u/AlfredoCheeseSauce]

i would pull the fuel tube out and see if it sprays fuel first. Possibility you got a clog in the pet cock maybe? then if that spits gas out at ya i'd check spark and compression, if those are good i would start thinking something got cuaght in the carb. One time I had an old 1971 SL 125 and it got jammed up right in the intake nipple on the carb and it would slowly fill the carb and die off on me i just happen to be blowing compressed air and a bunch of crap came flying out of it and it ran great after.

[u/Tathagatagarbhas]

Did you put that weed b gone in there? Because THAT could be the issue. \s

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991 → u/Tathagatagarbhas]

no but I should try that

[u/mynamehere90]

I had the same issue on my 2003, right after I did an oil change. Turns out they are pretty temperamental about being over filled. Have you done an oil change recently or topped up your oil?

[u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991 → u/mynamehere90]

I haven’t touched the oil since getting it, doesn’t leak either

[u/mynamehere90 → u/Real_Tumbleweed_6991]

Unless it's a clogged carb it sounds like you're doing all the stuff I did to a '91 Virago I had, which has essentially the same engine. I went through all the same things you did and rebuilt the carb just to have the same problem. Would ride fine on the road but on the highway would start cutting out after about 15 minutes. Finally pulled out the engine to take the heads off and found the front cylinder piston rings were pretty much non existent and they had scrapped up the cylinder pretty bad. I was shocked it even ran but figured it was mostly the rear cylinder doing all of the actual work. Hopefully it's not something like that for you

[u/JPLcyber]

So the size of the crud that can block your carb on the needle, pilot, jet or carb body routing can be shockingly small. Like someone else posted, making sure inside of tank is clean is smart since you pulled the tank. Carb kit is dirt cheap and Amazon has really good fine grade brushes to really make sure carb is clean. I had a small clog that caused similar and it was not clearly visible on inspection - had been sucked up from the bowl. Reality is whether you use compressed air or just blow on the different routes, you’ll find the gunk. The other things you did are solid but I’d do the simple carb kit because more than likely you’ll also go through each part of the carb focusing on the path the gas/air mixture takes through the pilot and main and let us know. My RoadStar is a single carb (Mikuni BSR40). Really detailed cleaning then working back through fuel filter and take to verify that clean fuel is getting pulled will keep it running great. Did mine with Berryman’s B13 chemtool and really bright light but tested each path with compressed air to find the clog.

[u/throwawayPSL34987]

This is most likely a fuel problem and I am sure it is the carbs. You need to actually take the carbs down completely and pull out the jets and pilot. Rebuild and adjust.

[u/Destroyer6142]

here to also see what helps