Here's my first mechanical question guys. The Vara 1000 I bought has slight surging it low revs and the occasional backfire. Plugs or carbs? Any suggestions?
it could possibly be an exhaust gasket leak usually the middle one by the shock, its one of the few issues with the vara. if it is then theres lots of advice on the forum of how to sort it - i used a stronger gasket made by a forum member. unfortunately the middle gasket is the hardest to remove. hope this helps
Looks like the easiest thing to check first, will definitely have a look.
I've just replaced my gasket for the 5th time. I must get something a bit more durable.
For the first time when removing the header pipe there was some gasket left over which I was able to remove, usually it's disappeared completely. This lasted about 13,000 miles/20,000km before blowing.
Did this effect the running and cause my problem? Or is my problem not a problem and just normal on the early models, like mine, as suggested by someone else?
Cheers.
How will you get noticed and what is the symptoms for a gasket leakage?
Never changed on my '99 and it has 90000 km on the Odo.
Dunno If I'm fooling myself but I think I hear some air whistling from underneath in center. Noticed from several years of using that the vara runs much better after a fuel stop. Engine and exhausts cooling off and then it is going to a worse performance when the heat kicks in again.
Is it the same gasket to front and rear manifold?
Sending SB a PM
I had to replace my gaskets a couple of times but apart from the popping noise from the exhaust, I never really noticed any symptoms...... bike run perfectly well
You can hear it on the over run, it pops and crackles. I used to find it affected low speed running only, quite badly in fact, small roundabouts were a nightmare, BUT my bike didn't run very well at low speeds anyway until the power commander was fitted, the leak just made it worse.
This is the first gasket that has gone since fitting the PC and I have found that it just popped on the over run this time, low speed running was not affected like before.
I have now done 78,000 miles/125,00km on the bike and no other gasket in the exhaust system has failed at all.
Might have learned to drive with it cause feelin it is a lack of power in 2nd gear in tight hairpins and nearly always forced to downshift to 1st.
When I upgraded the exhausts to a more open system left gasket was really in a bad shape and with those new pipes I've got a silicon and better clamp.
Guess it will be a winter job, tear everything apart and also change leaking seals in gearbox
