[ScrappyDo]

I'm having power problems with my VT750DC. About a year ago I had the valves adjusted. Since then it has trouble taking off. It likes to stall out and when you restart it and give it some gas, it will usually be fine. I started using high octane gas and was then told that I shouldn't be using that, I should use the regular stuff. I've tried additives to clean out the carbs, with no success. This weekend I went out and all of the sudden I lost power and couldn't get it restarted. I checked the gas and found that I had enough in the tank. I started it up and continued down the road. Soon after, it died again and this time the battery died while I tried to restart it. I had some friends look at it that know a little more about bikes than me and they thought it could be a number of things, but I'm thinking the carbs need to be replaced or cleaned and that the fuel filter should be checked. Any thoughts? And how hard is it for someone with some knowledge of the bike to fix it?

[smkeatr]

Welcome to the site!

Pick up a factory service manual and you shouldn't have much trouble doing some of the work yourself and trouble shooting some basic problems. Carbs can be cleaned and perhaps rebuilt if needed but rarely replaced. Fuel filter should be checked and cleaned as well, very easy to do yourself. How old is the gas in the bike?

[ScrappyDo]

The gas in the bike is about a month old. What type of gas should I be putting in? I've heard high octane and I've heard low octane.

[smkeatr]

My manual suggests 87. I've experimented with 93 to see if it clears up any popping on decel. It worked on one of my Shadows and not on the other. I've got 2 '06's.

[ScrappyDo]

Thanks for the advice. I've ordered a service manual, hopefully that will make things easier during the fixing process.