28th Jul 2008, 15:15
My wife has a 2004 Yamaha V-star Classic with less than 2000 miles. We love the bike but have experienced the problem with it running unevenly at low throttle and stalling out easily when starting from a stop. We had the carburetors taken off and cleaned, and it ran beautifully for about two weeks. Now we are having the same problem with it. We are also being told the problem is with the ethanol in the gas, but gas preservative does not seem to help. This is a popular bike. Has anyone heard of a solution from Yamaha?
Jim in Galesville, MD.
2nd Aug 2008, 17:49
Get the clutch adjustment kit sold by Seritec on Ebay. Makes all the difference in the world.
4th Aug 2008, 14:53
I bought my 2007 V-star 650 brand new. A week after I bought it I broke my shoulder and couldn't ride for about 6 months. When I returned to riding, I found it took forever to warm up (full choke for 5 minutes, then 1/2 for 5). It was also stalling at stops and just after acceleration. I had most of the other symptoms I read on this post as well (pops, etc).
I read this post and decided to try Sea Foam. I noticed the difference immediately! No more stalling on acceleration, no more stalling at stop signs/red lights. I'm not sure about the cold start yet.
I don't think I can get gas without ethanol here, but at least I can treat it with Sea Foam and Sta-bil. I am also going to shut off my fuel line and let it run out if I'm not going to ride it again in a few days.
Thanks for the recommendations!
14th Aug 2008, 16:09
I have a 2007 Custom V Star, and have had all the problems with warming up and cutting out, etc. Took it to the dealer and they finally had to drill out the pilots bigger in the carb. I am not sure what this means, but it has helped a lot. It does still take a long time to warm up though.
2nd Sep 2008, 12:54
I have a 2005 V-Star and had the same problems as the above back in 2006 after the bike sat for about two weeks. Took it to the dealer and was told the same thing that the fuel was the problem. After cleaning the carbs the bike ran great. I always have used carb cleaner or stabilizer when I filled the tank. I did let the bike sit for a week this year without any type of gas treatment and the problem has returned. Had a coworker with a carb Suzuki and he had the same problem with his bike and was told the same thing by his dealer.
10th Sep 2008, 19:55
I'm also having the same issues listed in these comments. I have a 2008 V Star Custom 650 and this is my first bike. Initially I struggled with starts, but then as I got more comfortable with the clutch, I managed to get really good, but in the past week I've been having more and more problems on starts, lots of backfiring and really sluggish performance in gears 1-4. I don't like riding past 50mph simply because it sounds like the bike is going to explode.
Weather here in New Hampshire recently has been all over the board, the past couple of mornings it's been around 60 degrees but during the day we can see temps upwards of 80. I have ridden to work (about 5-8 miles one way) every day since August 25th, so the bike hasn't sat still for long.
Short of the first fill up, I've been putting high-test gas in. Based on these comments I'm thinking I should pick up some stab-il or this Seafoam I'm hearing about.
17th Sep 2008, 09:10
In response to my comment above, I added some Seafoam and noticed a difference immediately. Stalls have been much less frequent (not non-existent, but less frequent). I add about 1oz per gallon of gas after each fill up.
25th Sep 2008, 12:05
I have a 2004 650 V-star classic. I commute 140 miles round trip 5 days a week. I have had nothing but problems with this bike since the second year I have had it. My bike currently has 51,349 miles on it. I have replace the final drive unit 4 times. Has anyone else had similar problems?
Another problem that I have experienced is once the air temperature is around 40 degrees, I can crank my bike, let it warm up for 4-5 minutes and then ride my 70 miles to work without a hitch. Once I get into the parking lot at my office, it will sputter and die as if I had just cranked it.
I loved my bike for the first year, but now I wished I had done some more research before I bought it.
18th Oct 2008, 11:23
I have a 2003 Yamaha V-Star 1100, I have been riding it for almost 2 years, and it has around 8500 miles on it.
Recently it had sit a couple of months, and I got it out to ride and had more trouble than usual getting it to start up and stay running. When I did get it going, it started backfiring and at times stalled out. The Yamaha dealership thinks it has to do with the ethanol in the gas, it's the same as I have always put in it, although I am not sure when they started adding the ethanol... They said they had been having a lot of problems with bikes coming in with the same complaint... I haven't taken my bike in yet for them to check... Has anyone else had these issues?
Sherry.
17th Nov 2008, 17:39
I recently bought (June) a 2008 Yamaha V Star 650 Custom. I have around 500 miles on it and now it won't start... It sat for maybe 3 or 4 days (before that it ran fine). When I turn the key to start it, it sounds like some pump turns on, which is normal, but when it does start for maybe 30 seconds or so, that pump or whatever it is isn't turning off and just runs the whole time the bike's on, which never happened before.
I bought some stabilizer and put it in the tank, and it started and sounded like it was doing something, then stalled and went back to doing the same thing, and when I keep trying it only seems to get worse.
I am very frustrated, I just moved to Florida for college, just got a job and now this happens. I have no transpiration nor the tools or know how to fix it. I would take it to a shop other than the fact I have no way to get it there and am afraid it isn't under warranty, being the ethanol deal. Someone PLEASE HELP!
Thank You
Brian.
24th Jul 2008, 22:29
Stalls are caused by the bike not being warmed up and clutch adjustment. One other thing I have learned is the valves on the factory bikes are set to a richer setting, and need to be leaned out.