Trying to figure out the issue with my Sabre
 

I recently purchased an 05 Honda Sabre 1100. It had sat for awhile and I've got it going a little better but still having a lot of issues with it. So far I changed out the gas and ran seafoam through the bike which did help some. Screwed with the idle for a bit and the fuel screw on the carbs but neither richer nor leaner seemed to help the issue all that much. It idles well outside of the hiccups with choke fully on, but struggles massively even when hot once past half choke(it struggled a lot more before seafoam). Once it's hot and I lessen the choke it has a ton of backfire, hiccups, and seems to consistently want to die but a quick throttle pull helps it stay on. The throttle itself takes time to lower RPM's after being pulled. I don't smell a lot of fuel from the exhaust so don't think it's running too rich.

The bike was kept in a shed and well maintained before the older guy had issues and couldn't keep up with it. It sat for about 8 months. Very little rust on the bike it looks almost brand new so don't think I'm dealing with heavy rust in the tank either from what I could see.

I drove it from the person I bought it from back to my house. It died half way there after sitting at a stop light. Then I push started the bike and got it the rest of the way home. At higher gears it actually runs very smoothly with very little issues. Once it goes into lower RPM's and gears though it really, really doesn't like being on.

I plan on changing out spark plugs tomorrow(only day off) and cleaning out the carbs and fuel lines. Any other things I need to do while I have the thing disassembled to make sure the issue is fixed? I'm losing my mind not being able to ride this bike!

Re: Trying to figure out the issue with my Sabre
 

I don't have a definite answer for you but I had a V45 Sabre once upon a time and when it sat for a long time the carbs would become very problematic. They had to be disassembled and thoroughly cleaned. I still miss that bike. It wasn't as fast as some of the modern offerings but was smooth as silk. Fuel injection would have really improved it.

Re: Trying to figure out the issue with my Sabre
 

The other problem I had with my Sabre was when it sat under a cover or in a friend's barn for awhile the brake caliper pistons would develop a little corrosion ring that kept them from allowing the pads to fully retract. It was like riding with the brakes partly on. They'd get hot and smelly and ruin the pads. I had to take those apart and sand/clean them... probably should have been replaced. But I sold the bike by then. Mine was a much earlier version (1983) so perhaps they improved the caliper design later. Just some things to check with your new used Sabre... Good luck.