New Bike Hesitating / Sputtering

T

treytexag_imp

Running like a top
Thread starter
CB11 Team, I picked up a '14 DLX today, brand new, been sitting on the showroom floor with gas in tank since June 2014. 16 - test miles - on the odometer.

The bike runs pretty good at higher rpms, but at low speed when I accelerate from around 2,000-3,000 rpm up from 2nd and 3rd gear, bike seems to sputter and hesitate.

I spoke to the mechanic at the dealer, over 1 1/2 hours away, he said that before I picked up the bike today, he drained the gas from the tank and lines and put new in. He said the bike "needs to have a few tankfulls of gas run through it". He said he did not clean the injectors - whatever that would mean . . .

Does this seem right guys - the new DLX CB11 simply needs gas run through it to "clean it up" from sitting so long or is this "baloney"?

Please let me know what y'all think.

Trey in Houston
 
Trey with todays gas I think it would be prudent to run a few tanks through. I seriously doubt if the mech disconnected the fuel hose, and removed the tank to drain the gas. I would even go so far as to throw in either some Seafoam 1 oz per gallon, for the first couple of tanks . If there is an issue after that see the dealer.
 
injectors could develop deposits from gasoline that would prevent injectors to spray in a uniform pattern bettween them. I highly doubt this would be the case though but I also would want to find out what you come up with or better yet just have the dealer deal with it eventually.

goodluck!
 
Thread starter
OK Ferret, I'll go get some Seafoam - what in the heck is it BTW? Something to clean FI's, available at an auto parts house?

Thanks again gents, nice to have help as close as the nearest keyboard!!

Trey in Houston
 
It could be that some water may have gotten into the tank with a partially filled gas tank sitting there so long or (if the bike has a charcoal cannister) that you may have overfilled the tank and gotten some fuel into the charcoal. Do the symptoms improve after 30 minutes of riding or are they constant at low speed?

+1 on the Sea Foam recommendation and running a couple of tankfuls of premieum fuel through the tank to get rid of all the old fuel.
 
Yes seafoam is cleaner and fuel stabilizer. I get mine at autozone in gallon jugs, since I use it in 3 motorcycles, 2 mowers,a weed whacker, a leaf blower, a snow blower and a chain saw. Have had zero fueling issues since I started using seafoam for storage and for the first couple of tanks in the spring. Good stuff imo.
 
Seafoam is good multi purpose stuff and is also a fuel stabilizer. The best agent to clean fuel injectors however is Techron. It's an additive in all Chevron and Texaco gasolines (Chevron owns Texaco now) but to clean plugged injectors you need a higher concentration. Any Chevron station and most auto parts stores sell bottles of straight Techron. Use the highest concentration recommended on the bottle (cost is about $25). Porsche dealerships also sell it as their special fuel additive but it's the exact same Techron (Chevron makes and bottles it for Porsche) you can buy for less money at a Chevron station. It's the best fuel additive to clean plugged injectors and carbon deposits by far IMO. Try it, it works and it's cheap.

Chip
 
Seafoam my go to product on all equipment, saws buggies generators,etc . I also use it on the boat can't say enough good stuff about it. I buy it at Northern Tool about $ 6.00 a can .
 
I'll echo what ferret said. Since I've used Seafoam in all my bikes and yard equipment when storing them, I've never had a motor so much as hiccup.

If you still have gas in the tank that came with the bike, I'd go so far as to siphon the gas out into a gas can. You can then dump that into your car or truck's gas tank. Then refill with a name brand premium gas with some Seafoam added. It's too easy for the mechanic to lie to you over the phone saying that he drained and refilled the tank and lines.

Today's gasoline with the ethanol in it starts to turn to varnish in as little as 3 or 4 weeks.
 
Also...don't pour the entire can in your tank as it's designed to treat a cars tank and that much would cause a lean condition in the bike.
 
Thread starter
ClassicVW_imp said:
I'll echo what ferret said. Since I've used Seafoam in all my bikes and yard equipment when storing them, I've never had a motor so much as hiccup.

If you still have gas in the tank that came with the bike, I'd go so far as to siphon the gas out into a gas can. You can then dump that into your car or truck's gas tank. Then refill with a name brand premium gas with some Seafoam added. It's too easy for the mechanic to lie to you over the phone saying that he drained and refilled the tank and lines.

Today's gasoline with the ethanol in it starts to turn to varnish in as little as 3 or 4 weeks.
Click to expand...
Wow, varnish - that doesn't sound good at all!!
 
xNE0x_imp said:
Um, I would be taking that bike right back to the dealership.
Click to expand...
The more I think about it, you are right. It's not a bike that was traded in. The bike is brand new sitting on the floor with gas in the tank for maybe 8 months? (Whether or not the gas was replaced, it still sat with gas in the tank) Why would a dealer put gas in a bike that's going to be on the showroom floor? Did they prep the bike for a potential buyer or maybe someone took it on a test ride and then no one used it for months? Either way, it gives me serious doubts about using that dealership.
 
treytexag_imp said:
CB11 Team, I picked up a '14 DLX today, brand new, been sitting on the showroom floor with gas in tank since June 2014. 16 - test miles - on the odometer.

The bike runs pretty good at higher rpms, but at low speed when I accelerate from around 2,000-3,000 rpm up from 2nd and 3rd gear, bike seems to sputter and hesitate.

I spoke to the mechanic at the dealer, over 1 1/2 hours away, he said that before I picked up the bike today, he drained the gas from the tank and lines and put new in. He said the bike "needs to have a few tankfulls of gas run through it". He said he did not clean the injectors - whatever that would mean . . .

Does this seem right guys - the new DLX CB11 simply needs gas run through it to "clean it up" from sitting so long or is this "baloney"?

Please let me know what y'all think.

Trey in Houston
Click to expand...
if that mechanic actually did drain the gas, they may have already new this bike was having a problem and hoped this would cure it .. I would definitely be taking the bike back if the sea foam doesn't work...good luck brother
 
Thread starter
I may trailer it back out to the dealer for a look. Its cold and wet here now, so it'll be a few days until I can put some miles on the bike.

Not sure why the bike was sitting for so long, but I guess it's not unlike the other 50 bikes sitting there on the showroom floor there, or any other Honda dealer. They put them together and put them on the floor so people can look, touch, sit, and feel the bikes I guess, idk, I've never been a salesguy. Nevertheless, and for whatever reasons (test rides I'm guessing), the bike was gased up, and presumably, we know the rest of the story.

This particular '14 DLX was the last new '14 DLX in Texas. I chased a number of leads trying to find a '14 DLX over a few week period, and I located a demo unit in Kyle, TX, the new unit I bought here in Texas, and another new unit in Lafayette, La, 4 hours away. So for me, wanting a '14 DLX, my selections were slim, and this was the best option for me.

A week ago, I took time off work, and drove 1 1/2 hours to look and ride the '14 DLX. Loved it for all the reasons you already know about. BUT . . . . it was sputtering a little bit when I rode it - sales guy at Honda dealer said " . . its been sitting up, I'll have my mechanic look at it . . ". Fast forward a week, I took another day off work - second vacation day :( - and drove down 1 1/2 hours to pick up the bike - did that yesterday.

When I get there the mechanic has the bike in the back working on it, and the mechanic pulls the bike out front and rides the bike up the ramp onto my trailer. I walk out to chat with him and he told me it runs good now, no sputtering, I drained the gas, should be good-to-go etc. At that moment, it started drizzling, so we quickly put installed the tie-downs on the bike before I left.

When I got the bike home, I took a short ride 'round the neighborhood, and that's when I discovered it still sputtering and then I phoned him.

After that long story, I guess I will run some tankfuls of gas through it and see what happens. The bike is under factory warranty of course, and I may just take the bike back down and drop it off for the dealer to repair. . . I guess we'll see . . .

Thanks for all the input gentlemen, I really appreciate it.

Trey in Houston
 
Yeah I'd splash some Seafoam in it with some good fresh gas and see what's up after several tankfuls. It also won't hurt to zip it to full throttle and back down quick after you get a couple hundred miles on it.
 
That's why I encourage everyone to do a full walk around of your new bike with the sales rep. If you spot anything wrong with it, or after you take it down the road an issue arises, you need to drop it back off to them. The longer you wait, the more likely they are to not do something about it. A buddy had a bad experience in this fashion, he bought a new bike and had issues from day 1. He took it back to the dealer multiple times, but they never did fix the actual problem. Instead, they kept giving him the run around, and when he decided he wanted his money back... Well, the dealer argued he'd owned the bike too long. Hate to see something like this happen to anyone else.
 
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