About a few months ago I spilled a few ounces of gasoline on the gas tank
and it went to the front of the tank and under toward the front cylinder.
I flushed it with water a while later not right away. This may or may not have
something to do with the symptoms I am having now. I pulled the choke lever
and heard a clunk and the vtr ran ok. Now pulling the c/l does not produce the
clunk and the vtr will crank without starting until the clank and then the vtr
starts ok. If I am real gentle with the accelerator I can stay out of the clunk
window and avoid it.(while warming up the vtr) If on the other hand I
accelerate hard the clunk happens from the front cylinder and I am stuck in this
cycle. At 4k rpm in first gear the clunk is loud enough to be scary like a bat
hitting the front cylinder. The choke does control the rpm when closed they
drop. Does anyone have a clue to what is going on.

 

I think what happened is that your choke fitting broke. I don't think it's related to the spilling of the gas though, as the choke cables go from one to two and terminate at the carbs, which are located under the airbox. The fittings to the carbs are plastic and are quite fragile. If one broke then *I think* this will introduce air into the idle circuit making the bike run lean, and off sync with the other carb. This will give you the clunks that you describe and will also essentially render the choke useless.

 

Hawkrider:

Thank you so much for your input. I got to get this fix before the good
weather gets here.