QuestionMy 1981 Yamaha Virago XV750 won't run smoothly.
Two trips to the local motorcycle shop didn't help. They have changed the coils, installed rebuilt carbs and did compression checks. The bike sat up for two years. Cleaned the gas tank and creamed it. Carbs are clean and exhaust is not plugged. New plugs are firing good. Motor still runs rough and backfires a lot. What else can be wrong?
AnswerHi Chris.
When was the last time that the carbs were synchronized and the valves and camchain tensioners maintained and adjusted?
The Virago will self-adjust the timing as the carbs come into synch.
The valve adjustment and the cam chain tensioners must be done with the engine cold (room temperature). Get the repair manual to do this work. It has the specs and proceedures to do this work.
If the shop that you took the bike to hasn't checked these things then, chances are, you got ripped off. A good shop will check all of the possibilities before changing out any expensive parts on a guess.
If none of the tune-up work was done before they started changing parts, then I suggest checking around for other shops to go to for your work in the future. Ask other people about the different shops and how satisfied they were with the work that was done on their bikes.
Good luck.
FALCON
