[Mentat Ix]

Well, guys, I put my shiny new exhaust on earlier this week and now there's trouble. A little background:

I drilled my stock exhaust a bit at first, no issues there. Then I got the Fi2000 CVT, installed that. No issues there. The old butt-dyno even told me it did some good with the low-rpm lugging through town.

Next I got the Baron's BAK put on there. That was a bit disappointing. The holes in the cover plate weren't tapped properly - I had to tap them out myself. For what that thing costs, you'd figure... well, anyway, I thought it made throttle response a bit snappier through the whole range.

Now, for the bit where it turns bad. I finally got my V&H Twin Slash Staggered pipes. In black. I put them on without any issues. They look fantastic. They sound great. But the bike's performance has gone a bit strange. It misses at odd times. Weird flat spots. If I'm accelerating hard through the gears, it's got some serious oomph and no issues. If I'm just cruising at 60 in 5th, it misfires at random.

It got really bad this morning when I was putting around in 2nd gear, 30-40mph. It was stuttering so bad I thought it was going to keel over. Quite a jerky ride. So I got home this morning and checked the spark plugs, and they're very, very white.

Obviously, I've got a problem. The question is, what else should I check before I start making angry calls to Cobra?

 

[dliszews]

Take a look at this thread. You may have a similar issue, which seems can be resolved by Cobra:

http://www.yamahastarstryker.com/index.php/topic,1279.msg18912.html#msg18912

I am running the Baron BAK and the cvt eliminated the problem I was having.

 

[johnboy]

I am running the v&h slash/staggered pipes with stock air cleaner and stock ECU. I have the same sputtering problm in 1st gear at 25mph and in 2nd gear at 35-38mph. Like you if i am accelerating through those zones, no problems and no problems in any of th higher gears/speeds.

 

[clar2001]

Can you post a pic of your plug ?

 

[Mentat Ix]

Well now I'm really confused. I pulled them out when the bike was still hot this morning and they were whiter than a sheet of paper, but after sitting all day, I have this:

Which one is the proper read :-? Sometimes I almost wish I knew what I was doing.

Thanks for the replies, guys

 

[clar2001]

Here is a couple of charts to compare to. The grey deposits on the white porcline are usly a sign of a lean condition, overall it looks pretty good , 2 plugs don't cost that much now that your mods are installed I would put in new plugs drive it for a while and then check again.

http://www.dansmc.com/spark_plugs/spark_plugs_catalog.html
http://www.classicinlines.com/sparkplugs.asp

 

[Mentat Ix]

Another question about the PowerPro CVT. The installation instructions say when it's working properly, the lights will behave like this: Turn the key on, it blinks "several times" then turns off. Turn the bike on, and the light comes on solid. Any blinking after that is bad.

So, mine does all this, except when it's running and I give the throttle a good twist, the light blinks off one time. Every time I twist the throttle, except if I really baby it. Is this normal?

 

[Mentat Ix]

Well, I'm puttering around double and tripple checking that I dont have any intake or exhaust leaks before I get Cobra tech support involved - I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the intake, and I haven't figured out a conclusive test for the exhuast yet... I started the bike up in the dark, no flames... there's no soot buildup anywhere... don't hear anything odd... blew some smoke around the exhaust ports and didnt see anything..

Anyhow, happened to get a good look at the pipes under the heat sheilds during all this, and holy crapola. The front header is bright blue for at least 10", and the back is blue for 2" or 3". I thought I noticed the fan running more than usual right after I put the pipes on, but I didn't think it was getting that hot...

I'm not even sure I should be riding this thing any more until I figure something out.

 

[clar2001]

Well, I'm puttering around double and tripple checking that I dont have any intake or exhaust leaks before I get Cobra tech support involved - I'm sure there's nothing wrong with the intake, and I haven't figured out a conclusive test for the exhuast yet... I started the bike up in the dark, no flames... there's no soot buildup anywhere... don't hear anything odd... blew some smoke around the exhaust ports and didnt see anything..

Anyhow, happened to get a good look at the pipes under the heat sheilds during all this, and holy crapola. The front header is bright blue for at least 10", and the back is blue for 2" or 3". I thought I noticed the fan running more than usual right after I put the pipes on, but I didn't think it was getting that hot...

I'm not even sure I should be riding this thing any more until I figure something out.

call Phil @ Cobra and talk with him he will lead you in the right dirrection.

 

[Mentat Ix]

Just got off the phone with Phil from Cobra - with a minimum of questions, he decided it was probably a bad unit and said he was going to make a new unit for me today, test everything on it and hopefully have it shipped out to me this afternoon.

8)

 

[bozzly]

I looked at mine last night and when reviing it does not blink, If all your connections are right then it does sound like you have a bad one. Hopefully you will be good once you get your new one. Good Luck, hope it all works out well for you and your bike.

 

[AHam]

I am running the v&h slash/staggered pipes with stock air cleaner and stock ECU. I have the same sputtering problm in 1st gear at 25mph and in 2nd gear at 35-38mph. Like you if i am accelerating through those zones, no problems and no problems in any of th higher gears/speeds.

I haven't made any changes yet but I've noticed that alot of you guys run your rpm's up before you shift. When I did that I got 24 mpg. I must be missing something.

 

[Mentat Ix]

:'(

Well, I just got back into town from a work trip and my replacement Fi2000 PowerPro was waiting for me. Had it installed in a jiffy.

Out on the test ride - no difference. It's still leaning out so much it starts sputtering at the same spots. :'(

Guess I'll be on the horn with Cobra again on monday. Don't have any idea where it will go from here - this unit was supposedly hand-made and function tested for all functions personally by Phil at Cobra, so I can't very well tell them it just doesn't work.

 

[bozzly]

That sucks. Hope they can help you get your issue resolved quickly.

 

[Ravenstryker]

My bike is doing this same thing ( I have the Vance and Hines also) but I don't have the Cobra Fuel Processor or the Power Commander as of yet. I was hoping that would fix my problem. I'm watching this to see what finally fixes it.

 

[sfcmcgan]

Well now I'm really confused. I pulled them out when the bike was still hot this morning and they were whiter than a sheet of paper, but after sitting all day, I have this:



[IMG]

Which one is the proper read :-? Sometimes I almost wish I knew what I was doing.

Thanks for the replies, guys
[/quote]That reddish around the bottom part of the plug sorta indicates the use of a fuel additive / octane booster. Are you running anything in the fuel?

 

[Mentat Ix]

That reddish around the bottom part of the plug sorta indicates the use of a fuel additive / octane booster. Are you running anything in the fuel?

Negative.

 

[clar2001]

I just called Phil at cobra and explaned the problem to him that some of it are having ,well wait and see what happens I guess ,he was going to talk to his boss.

 

[middleagecrisis]

I just spoke to Cobra and they want me to make sure there isn't an exhaust leak first, which I will do but this is really frustrating. I waited three months to get the darn thing and then it doesn't work like it is suppose to.

 

[CoalJack]

Well, my next purchase was going to be new pipes, V&H, but now I don't know. Is it at all possible that this is related to the V&H exhaust, I haven't heard anything about this issue with the Cobra exhaust. I wouldn't think it could be the exhaust but I'm not a mechanic in any sense of the word.