Hesitation, starting out.

[ryjb]

I have noticed a few things on my Magna that have slowly crept up on me.  When riding down the street I will notice the bike will have a slight hesitation from time to time.  This is happening when I am keeping my speed and RPM fairly constant.  Almost has the "out of fuel" feel to it.

Also one more thing.  When in 1st gear and letting out the clutch I am having to give it more throttle to get rolling.  Just wanted to see if anyone has any ideas. 

Thanks

[Greg Cothern]

Has your carbs had the shims installed on the needles?  When riding along on a stock Magna around 3500prm range you will feel this and the shims will take care of it.

As far as the power increase on bottom you might adjust your clutch. 

[Sledge Hammer]

+1.

Mine does this, too, Ryan. It is a "feature" of Honda's having to run the engine lean in that RPM region to meet emissions requirements. I need to shim mine also.

[ryjb]

I knew I was not alone. I do have the Dave Dodge shims sitting out in my garage.  I was planning on working on the carbs when winter rolls around.  I am sure I will have questions then.  Thanks

[hootmon]

There are instructions on how to do this on this site.. The only think I would add to those instructions is it tells you to push on the needle to unseat it.. I do not recommend this as you could bend the needle. There is a thread hole on the back side, take one of the screws that hold the cover for the needles and screw it into the back of the needle and pull.

I did the shimming without removing the carbs, but it is about as easy just to pull the carbs.
The shimming did help the hesitation some (added one shim).
I put in 105 mains and it helped even more and I plan to go to 42 pilot jets and I think that will fully resolve all hesitation.. (NOTE: I do have a couple of holes drilled in my end plates of the exhaust which leans things out even more)..

[Greg Cothern]

I agree Hoot that to thread a screw into the rear of the needle holder.  HOWEVER I have removed hundreds of needles with my fingers gently pushing them out without (knocking on wood) a single bent needle.