Prescription for sick Volusia

[natandrew]

Hi,
My 2003 Suzuki Volusia 800 has been in storage for the past six months. Along with performing regular maintenance I replaced my air filter with a
K&N filter. I ran the bike only yesterday and found it to be sluggish, unresponsive and lacking power especially with quick acceleration. Could this be a direct result of new filter or should I be looking elsewhere for cause of this problem. Bike seemed to perform fine before air filter was replaced.

Please advise

Thanks
Darrell

[iamgumby]

Hey darrell. Did you prep the bike with any kind of fuel stabilized before you stored it? If not you might have some 'snotted up' fuel issues. EFI or carbs? Was your K&N preoiled?

[natandrew]

I used stabilizer in gas before storage,
the bike is carbed and the K&N was indeed pre-oiled. I will run the bike without new filter and if problem still exists it must be a fuel or carb issue as you suspect.
Would a bad spark plug give me the same problem?

Thanks for this.

[joert1]

Could be bad gas from sitting 6 mo. Might try some seafoam in the tank to clean things up. Also did you rejet after installing the K&N? Could be running a little too lean.

[iamgumby]

Could be bad gas from sitting 6 mo. Might try some seafoam in the tank to clean things up. Also did you rejet after installing the K&N? Could be running a little too lean.

+1, and yeah, check the plugs. Be sure to read them as they can tell you a lot about how things are buring - you want to see a brown to tan color.

[pintslayer]

Funny story.

One spring a customer of mine brought his 1500 Vulcan into the shop with the exact same complaint. He said he used Sta-bil in his fuel, but me, the know-it-all mechanic didn't believe him. I pulled the airbox lid off, preparing to clean the carb, and about a million sunflower seeds fell onto my bench! A mouse thought the Vulcan's airbox would be a perfect place to stash his dinner for the winter. The guy rode his now sunflower-seed-free Vulcan home, and the next winter when he stored it, he put a rubber snake on the seat of the bike. Presto, no more rodents.

Oh yeah, we were talking about your bike...

Did you pre-oil the filter, or did it come out of the box pre oiled? If you over oil a K&N, you can occasionally foul a plug. Don't ask me how I know this. Hey, if a little's good, a lot must be better, right? :)