Spent a full day trying to fix a weird idle on my old Virago

My 1985 Yamaha Virago 700 started idling super rough last week, and I figured it was just the carbs. I spent about 8 hours over two days cleaning them, checking the jets, and even replaced the intake boots. Turns out the real problem was a tiny crack in the vacuum cap on the intake manifold I didn't even see at first. Has anyone else had a simple vacuum leak cause that much of a headache on an older bike?

2 comments

2 Comments

hill.mila23d ago

Used to think vacuum leaks were overblown until my own Shadow started running like garbage. A split hose the size of a fingernail clipping was the whole problem. Now I check those first every single time.

jessereed23d ago

Honestly though, is a tiny leak really that big of a deal? Cars seem to run fine with small issues all the time. Tbh it feels like mechanics hype this up to charge for extra work. Maybe your Shadow just had other problems that got fixed by accident. Ngl I've seen cars with way worse vacuum lines that still started and drove okay. Just seems like an easy thing to blame when the real cause is harder to find.