2002 intruder 1400 cobra exhaust

[eagle1400semperfi]

Hi, just got a 2002 intruder 1400 w/37,000 miles. My question is the previous owner had it setting up for a while (like 3-4 months) before he purchased his new ride, anyway he put cobra exhaust on the bike an never jetted the carbs...now im a nubie to all of this an not a rocket scientist, but i have to keep the choke on halfway to keep the engine running as it warms up or sometimes i have to ride for 3 miles before i can turn the choke off to keep it running...an then it will kill every now an then. ok so what i think is the carbs need cleaning first of all, but with the cobra exhaust on the engine should i jet the carbs to match the pipes? after warm up it sounds like its popping spitting as a nubie it just doesnt sound rite, am i rite by saying the carbs are dirty an they need jetting? any info on this problem is greatly appreciated.

[Motorcycle Forum]

[Easy Rider]

sometimes i have to ride for 3 miles before i can turn the choke off to keep it running...

That in itself is not unusual.

Before you panic and throw money away, run some Berrymans B12 Chemtool through with a tank of gas. That should clean the carbs.
Also be sure that your idle speed is up to spec. It is NOT supposed to lope like a sick Harley at idle.

After that, if it still pops, a slight adjustment of the idle jets will probably make it better.

If the pipes have no baffles at all, I'd recommend putting some in before you screw around with jets.

Does it still have a stock air filter ?
Usually just pipes doesn't require jets.

[eagle1400semperfi]

No the pipes do not have any baffles at all, an yes the stock air filters are still installed...fyi ive never messed with the jets on any cycle but not scared to learn. i do not have a tach, can you tell me what idle the idle speed is supposed to be? Previous owner really kept a good maint log on this bike, seemed to know alot about bikes in general, he did mention jetting was required but never got to do it. But from what your sayin maybe i just mite not have to screw around with that at all. Thanks Easy for your reply.

[DrBob]

It is real easy to throw off the fuel-air mixture on an Intruder 1400 with open pipes, so I would say yes, you almmost certainly need to do something to the carbs if you plan on keeping those pipes. If you keep the stock intake then you probably do not need new pilot jets, but the idle mixture screw caps will need to be drilled and the screws adjusted, and the main jets might or might not need to be changed. Often you have to shim the coast valves/ needles also, to stop the bad popping on deceleration. Because of the different intake & exhaust paths of the two cylinders the two carbs will need to be set up differently from each other, so power tuning the 1400 is more of an art than a science.

If you want to really wake up your 1400, buy some K&N filters and follow the directions found HERE to 'uncork' your bike. This is a very common mod for the folks over at that site, and they will be able to answer any questions and assist you with any questions. You'll loose MGP, but the bike will run like a scalded dog.

Alternately, put stock exhausts back on it, and the bike will run great, get decent MPG, and last for well over 80,000 trouble-free miles- those Suzuki engineers designed a really good bike in the 1400, so there is no real reason to mess with it.