My VTR250 seems to be lacking power?

[BikingBrit]

Hi guys,

I've had my 1998 VTR 250 for about half a year now and have mainly used it to commute to the city. However when I want to go out for a ride with the guys my VTR struggles to keep up. The main problem seems to be a lack of torque, it just has no power. My friend even has a VTR himself with twice the mileage and is completely falling apart, yet his has way more power and torque than mine. The only difference with my bike however is that it has had a twin exhaust system installed. Although it looks and sounds pretty damn mean, is my twin exhaust setup (as opposed to the stock single exhaust setup) making me lose power? Or could it be something else? Not only does it lack in power but it also seems to struggle once I hit 120kph.

Any help will be greatly appreciated ;)

[nzspokes]

How much do you weigh?

When was it last serviced?

Do you carry a heap of stuff?

[JimO]

my boys had a 98 VTR went well ounds like yours has a problem

[BikingBrit]

How much do you weigh?

When was it last serviced?

Do you carry a heap of stuff?

I weigh 80kg and don't carry anything of significant weight so I don't think weight is the problem. My mates who both weigh 70kg have ridden it and have the same problem.

It was last serviced around 4 months ago and it really hasn't been ridden that much since.

[AllanB]

Spark plugs, air filter check them both.

I presume your twin pipes are muffler to some degree and not just open pipes?

[BikingBrit]

Spark plugs, air filter check them both.

I presume your twin pipes are muffler to some degree and not just open pipes?

Yeah they have mufflers, not straight open pipies

[FJRider]

Hi guys,

I've had my 1998 VTR 250 for about half a year now and have mainly used it to commute to the city. However when I want to go out for a ride with the guys my VTR struggles to keep up. The main problem seems to be a lack of torque, it just has no power. My friend even has a VTR himself with twice the mileage and is completely falling apart, yet his has way more power and torque than mine. The only difference with my bike however is that it has had a twin exhaust system installed. Although it looks and sounds pretty damn mean, is my twin exhaust setup (as opposed to the stock single exhaust setup) making me lose power? Or could it be something else? Not only does it lack in power but it also seems to struggle once I hit 120kph.

Any help will be greatly appreciated ;)

What cc bikes are the "other" guys riding ... ??

Torque and power are two entirely different things .... and you do only ride an 18 year old 250cc honda.

It is not wise to compare all 250's (even the same model/year) by mileage. Your model would have had a busy life pre-LAM's ... who can really say how it was ridden prior to your ownership. It only takes one owner to thrash it ...

Any change of exhaust systems on your bike should not alter it's performance to the degree of power loss you believe it is down.

What known engine work has your friends bike had .. ??

Aside from the bikes on the LAM's forbidden list ... most well worn 250's "struggle" after 120 km/hr.

Get/do a compression test ... the results will shed some light on the "issue" ...



Perhaps it's time for a bigger bike.

[BikingBrit]

What cc bikes are the "other" guys riding ... ??

Torque and power are two entirely different things .... and you do only ride an 18 year old 250cc honda.

It is not wise to compare all 250's (even the same model/year) by mileage. Your model would have had a busy life pre-LAM's ... who can really say how it was ridden prior to your ownership. It only takes one owner to thrash it ...

Any change of exhaust systems on your bike should not alter it's performance to the degree of power loss you believe it is down.

What known engine work has your friends bike had .. ??

Aside from the bikes on the LAM's forbidden list ... most well worn 250's "struggle" after 120 km/hr.

Get/do a compression test ... the results will shed some light on the "issue" ...



Perhaps it's time for a bigger bike.

As I said, one of my friends rides the exact same bike. His has 80,000km on it whilst mine has 43,000km, and his has a lot more power and I struggle to keep up with him. My other friends also ride other 250's.

[Askor]

Is it running on both cylinders? Easy way to tell is to see if the headers get hot at the same time when you start from cold

[BikingBrit]

Is it running on both cylinders? Easy way to tell is to see if the headers get hot at the same time when you start from cold

Well there's definitely combustion coming out of both exhausts but I'll check tomorrow to see if both headers reach the same temperature at the same time, great idea :) thanks

[kiwi-on-wheels]

Could also be time to change air filter and clean the carbs

[nzspokes]

Well there's definitely combustion coming out of both exhausts but I'll check tomorrow to see if both headers reach the same temperature at the same time, great idea :) thanks

Yes but if the 2 pipes are not connected then that could be where you are losing power.

[F5 Dave]

Try put a 1mm washer under each needle to richen the mixture to see if it is better or worse. Often different exhausts require different mixture.

But clean filters service first.

[Ender EnZed]

Does it run any better if you have the fuel tank cap ajar?

[gsxr]

If all else fails $1.00 reserve on Tardme and let someone else sort the problem .

[BikingBrit]

Thanks for all your comments guys.

Alright so I've gone over the bike and both spark plugs look good, I'll replace them anyway since they're really cheap. The air filter however looks pretty dirty and needs replacing, I'm guessing this could be at least part of the problem. On that note, does anyone know where I can find an air filter (for a 1998 Honda VTR250)? I can't find one anywhere online so I guess I'll try calling the Honda bike shop tomorrow. I'll probably clean the carbs as well, however I've never done this before so any pointers would be great.

[awayatc]

Airfilter? Google is your friend....
Can you give it a good clean, with compressed air?

if you never done carbs maybe just start with a can of carb cleaner....have engine run and squeeze into intake...rev it to stop it stalling..

am still suspicious about your exhaust....
does it have removable dampers at the end.?
If so are they all blocked up?

after you change filter (honda shop should have one) and it still doesn't go....
can you swap exhaust with your mate? Just to try?

you said it been serviced recently, and yet has a dirty airfilter...? Hmmm...

[Drew]

Dirty carbs don't usually present with just a general lack of power. It would normally be hard to start, or not rev, or die when ya touch the throttle.

On my wife's VTR, one of the choke/richening plungers was jammed and that caused me no end of grief. They're pretty easy to get out with the tank off (which Honda have made harder than it bloody needs to be in all!).

[BikingBrit]

Airfilter? Google is your friend....
Can you give it a good clean, with compressed air?

if you never done carbs maybe just start with a can of carb cleaner....have engine run and squeeze into intake...rev it to stop it stalling..

am still suspicious about your exhaust....
does it have removable dampers at the end.?
If so are they all blocked up?

after you change filter (honda shop should have one) and it still doesn't go....
can you swap exhaust with your mate? Just to try?

you said it been serviced recently, and yet has a dirty airfilter...? Hmmm...
Yeah obviously the air filter wasn't changed, but the oil and coolant was.
The exhausts look fine to me, I'll take a picture of them soon if the air filter doesn't fix the problem. Still looking for an air filter as well, found one for $70 bucks online and it's from overseas :( Waiting for Honda to get back to me, I'm hoping they'll have one cheaper.

[kiwi-on-wheels]

Found an airfilter for an old cbr on aliexpress at a reasonable price

[BikingBrit]

Been a while but I thought I'd do a catch up post on this just in case anyone else experiences a similar problem.

So I put in a new air filter (which it really needed) and it only cost me $50 from the Honda Motorcycle shop, but this didn't really fix the issue (although it does feel a lot 'healthier' now). I then gave it a good hard think on what could be wrong, and when I was fiddling around with the clutch I realized something was wrong (I slapped myself on the head for not checking this earlier). When releasing the clutch, the lever doesn't fully disengage and sticks, thus causing the clutch to slip a bit. All I did was give the cable a little bit of slack to compensate for the lever sticking, and voila, my bike has significantly more power than before and feels 100x better. I am a tad concerned about the clutch being damaged/worn from being ridden whilst slipping for however long it was but it feels good for now and I'll be keeping a close eye on it.

Thanks for everyone that commented and gave suggestions :)

[F5 Dave]

Oh well good to have a resolution and you will know how it feels if the plates get over worn in the future.

[Drew]

Oh well good to have a resolution and you will know how it feels if the plates get over worn in the future.

I would expect to see heat damage on the steels.

Doesn't need to be slipping to have symptoms of damage. Graby and not fully disengaging is symptomatic of warped steels.

[actungbaby]

Thanks for all your comments guys.

Alright so I've gone over the bike and both spark plugs look good, I'll replace them anyway since they're really cheap. The air filter however looks pretty dirty and needs replacing, I'm guessing this could be at least part of the problem. On that note, does anyone know where I can find an air filter (for a 1998 Honda VTR250)? I can't find one anywhere online so I guess I'll try calling the Honda bike shop tomorrow. I'll probably clean the carbs as well, however I've never done this before so any pointers would be great.

http://www.econohonda.com

07 884 8810

malcom will sort you out