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2002 Honda shadow Sabre VT1100C2
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Makeda New Member2002 Honda Shadow Sabre VT1100C2 - Starts, Idles, But Bogs/Dies on Throttle. Need Advice
Hey everyone, I’m hoping someone with experience on these Keihin dual carbs can help because I’m running out of ideas.
Bike: 2002 Honda Shadow Sabre VT1100C2
Timeline
The day I bought the bike, it stranded me on the highway about an hour from home. The engine started bogging badly, and I had to keep the throttle open just to limp it home. If I let off the throttle, it wanted to die and probably would’ve left me stranded.
The very next day I removed the carburetors, completely cleaned them (removed the floats, float needles, jets, cleaned all passages thoroughly), and I never touched the throttle linkage during that first cleaning.
After putting everything back together, the bike ran great.
Later, I removed the carbs again for another inspection, and the throttle linkage got stuck and the butterflies shifted out of alignment. Ever since that happened, I’ve been fighting this problem.
Current Symptoms
- Starts immediately every time.
- Idles normally.
- Both cylinders will idle on their own if I isolate them.
- The rear cylinder seems stronger than the front.
- Both butterflies now open at the same time after I corrected the linkage.
- The bike still won’t run right.
Original symptom
Before I messed with the linkage, the bike would actually ride.
However, after one hard pull, it would immediately start bogging, lose power, and act like it wanted to stall. Once it started doing that, it would barely take throttle anymore until I stopped and let it recover.
Current symptom
Now it starts and idles fine, but as soon as I give it throttle it bogs, sputters, and dies. It starts right back up immediately after stalling, but only idles.
Things I’ve checked/replaced
- Compression test is good on both cylinders.
- Coil resistance checked and within spec.
- New spark plugs.
- Diaphragms removed, inspected, and seated correctly.
- Floats and float needles removed and cleaned.
- Jets cleaned multiple times.
- Fuel line has good flow.
- Petcock has good flow.
- Fuel tank had rust inside.
- Old inline fuel filter was completely clogged with rust and debris.
- Cleaned the tank as best I could.
- Installed a new inline fuel filter in the correct direction.
- Fuel is now clean/yellow.
My Questions
- Could the throttle linkage still be mechanically out of adjustment even though both butterflies begin opening together?
- Could the carbs simply be badly out of sync?
- Could one float height be causing this?
- Could one carb still have a partially blocked transition or main circuit even after cleaning?
- Has anyone seen a VT1100 Sabre do this after the linkage was disturbed?
At this point I’m trying to figure out if I’m overlooking something obvious before I buy another carb assembly.
Any advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance
