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GET THE LEAD OUT HIGH-MILEAGE ST13QO NEW METZELERS? DYNA SUPER GLIDE T-SPORT

RAY NIERLICH

Fill ’er up with ethyl? Or what about just plain old regular leaded gasoline? Reader Rich Birbiglia wants to feed his Virago 920 a proper diet.

VIRAGO SIN PLOMO? NO PROBLEMO.

Q: I just picked up a beautiful 1982 Yamaha Virago 920 with under 10K miles. After putting 2,000 miles on it, I noticed the inside of the side cover calls for leaded regular. I know older BMWs need the valve seats changed for unleaded, but it never occurred to me that a 1982 bike may need it done also. My question: Do I need to add lead to the gas, or can this bike survive with unleaded? And what year in general were Japanese bikes unleaded compatible?

RICH BIRBICLIA CLIFTON, NJ

A Japanese bikes have never had any problems with unleaded B fuel. Your Virago will run until the next millennium on unleaded. You are correct that air-cooled BMWs had a bit of trouble with unleaded fuel up through the 1980s. Valve clearance would disappear. The earlier engines would wear out the seats, but after 1981 (and a change to a harder seat material), the valves went away instead. Then BMW changed from 45to 30-degree seats to give a wider area for better heat transfer. Problem solved, right? Not exactly. The shallower seat angle wore out valve guides quickly. BMW decided better cooling for the heads was the way out of the box, and now we have the “Oilhead” generation. By the way, “lead” additives haven’t had real lead in them since the EPA banned the stuff in 1996.

CHEAP FIX, PLEASE

My 2005 Honda ST1300 (ABS) with 148,000 miles on it has started to act up. I am getting a complete interruption/hesitation in power at exactly 4,250 rpm when the throttle is closed or very close to closed. If I happen to try to open the throttle at this very specific rpm, there is a bog and a bucking before it catches and then accelerates smoothly. The weird thing is that the tachometer needle will dip suddenly, sometimes all the way to zero, in sync with the hesitation. If I accelerate to above 4,250 rpm, close the throttle, and let the bike decelerate back through 4,250, the tach goes nuts (drops/dips, again sometimes to zero for an instant) for a moment and then becomes steady again once through that rpm. Since the bike is in gear while decelerating, there’s no way the engine rpm are actually jumping about like that. The problem will occur in any gear, just has to be 4,250 rpm and a closed or barely cracked throttle. There are no error codes in the computer, and except for this issue the bike runs perfectly. I pulled and cleaned the ECU connectors, tested the ignition coils, and the throttle position sensor. I have traced the wiring harnesses for signs of abrasion or damage and found nothing amiss. I’m hoping for a cheap fix.

IEFF BERTRAND CYCLEWORLD.COM

A H Aren’t is the tachometer we all! The vital going clue nuts here H at the precise time the hesitation occurs. The tachometer signal is being interrupted when the fault occurs. This is going to be repetitious, but I can’t stress it enough, check the grounds first! Don’t assume they are okay because they look okay. Pull every ground, inspect closely, wiggle and pull on the eyelets to check for breaks in the wire next to the eyelet. If proven okay, clean it and refit it tight. If you’re not too percent sure the relevant ground is good or it is too hard to access, run a separate jumper wire in parallel for a new ground, just to test.

Next, check the harness connectors from the main harness to sub-harness and also the gauge connections. It is possible that at 4,250 rpm there is a particular harmonic vibration causing your symptoms.

RE-TIRED CHIEF

I have a 2000 Indian Chief and have been using a Metzeler ME880 tire. Can I run an ME888?

LARRY LONG CYCLEWORLD.COM

Yup. Metzeler says the ME888 is replacing the ME880. And good news: Metzeler says the ME888 will be a longer-wearing tire. ETU

GOT A MECHANICAL OR TECHNICAL PROBLEM with your beloved ride? Perhaps we can help. Contact us at cwservice@cycleworld.com with your questions. We cannot guarantee a reply to every inquiry.