Sputtering????

[gkey]

I am new here, and a new rider (after a 20+ year hiatus).  I have a 1984 Magna VF700C with a little over 19,000 miles that I just purchased last week.  It seems to me that it runs great, but when I am accellerating up to speed it tends to "sputter" a little.  What would you guys suggest I check, in order of least expensive to most??

[Curtis_Valk]

Run a couple of tanks of gas through it treated with "Sea Foam".  The folks up north that store their bikes in winter and sometimes have gunked up carbs swear by it.  I have no personal experience with the product, however.  Good luck.

Curtis

[ThomasMagna]

Not sure what sputtering means, but when I first got my bike I thought it ran great, but it had a hard time in the mid range rpms. I put in new plugs and then it REALLY runs great.

I don't know about Sea Foam, I put Sta-Bil in my tank in the winter. I was able to get in a few hundred miles over the winter when the weather was "nice." I carried a bottle with me for filling up which I did after every ride.

Try the gas thing, Curtis knows more than I for sure. It doesn't take much to take a plug out and look at it and see what you think.

[gkey]

I know this is another neophyte type question, but how do I know which plugs work in my bike?  Considering it has almost 20,000 miles and has sat for a year, it probably wouldn't hurt to replace them anyway.

[MagnaMan]

Well you can't trust that the plugs in your bike are correct. My Virago had car plugs in it when I bought it. Probably because they were easy for the previous owner to get and were only one "number" off of the original, but they were totally different plugs.

If you can get a hold of a 1st generation owners or service manual you should be able to verify their number and then cross reference that. Or call your Honda dealership. They may also stock the plugs.  If not you can try looking them up on sparkplugs.com.

[ThomasMagna]

My Clymer manual for 700-1100 cc, 1982-87 list the NKG DPR8EA-9 sparkplug for all sizes and years. That is the standard. They have one for cold weather and one listed for "extended high speed." If you want the other designations let me know. Some folks are using Iridium plugs. I don't know anything about them though.

[silveradocowboy]

I use SeaFoam and swear by it, I use it in all our bikes, trucks, and other power equipment.

[Blue 82 V45]

What is sea foam and were do i get it?

[silveradocowboy]

Here is their website to explain what all it does......http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm

NAPA and AutoZone carry it, other part stores should too.

[Shortround]

Yamaha also carries a excellent carb cleaner. Used in the tank or as a cleaning compound.