damn bike shop.......

[raider]

ok,maybe this is all on me,but i doubt it.......cause i'm too mad right now to admit it and i need to vent!!!!

took the xs into a shop here in edmond ,ok oh around the first of april....got it back,finally,15th of may....got it home ,wouldn't start up again......made them get it and fix it right.....picked it up yesterday....this morning,won't start,again!!!!!

now,the work they were suppossed to do was rebuild and clean the carbs....ok fine.....the bike cranks,just won't turn over...almost like its not getting any spark or fuel....now what THEY are telling me is the battery is dying thats why it won't start.....that it starts just fine for them there is nothing wrong......i'm just a little p.o'd here......nothing was wrong with the battery or starting until they worked on it.......

sorry for venting but i waited over a month,paid them more than what i paid for this bike and i still can't friggin ride!!

argggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[Dragonrider]

Don't forget that "Prime" position on the petcocks...my Midnight Special wouldn't fire after sitting a while unless I primed it a moment (engine turning over wasn't enough vacuum right off to open the octopus...)

[raider]

hmmmmmmmmm.......i'll give that a try when i head to the house at lunch before i go pay them a PMS visit...........

thanks

[xssiveone]

If it's the battery, as they say it is, hook booster cables up to your car battery. You DO NOT need to start your car for this. If the bike starts up, then the battery is certainly suspect. The ignition system on the XS is such that it will not fire if the battery gets too low, even if it has enough juice to crank the engine over.

[TADracer]

If they adjusted your float level too low, the needles will not be off of the seats enough to let any gas into the bowls. The engine will turn over but never fire. Have you checked to see if fuel is getting into the bowls?

[prometheus578]

My bike has a short that's draining the battery"

"Sir... you need a new battery."
"But I just put a new battery put in it!"
Oh, the bike cranked, all right, just wouldn't fire.
Hooked a jumper to it, fired right up!.
Mr. "I just put a battery in it" 's battery was put in four years ago.
(Engine has to crank fast enough to move a volume of air sufficient to draw fuel.)
If you don't mind the questions....

nothing was wrong with the battery or starting until they worked on it.......

Why did you take it to a shop? Ran badly? Wouldn't start?
Why did you tell them to clean the carbs? What were the symptoms?
How old's the battery? (not that that really matters... can you crank the p!ss out of it, or does it peter out after a few trys?)

[Geezer]

If the starter jet passages in the carbs aren’t clean but the rest is as it should be, the bike will run great warm but won’t start cold for anything. Try a short snort of starting fluid in the air-box. If she fires up, odds are that’s the problem.

Geezer

[raider]

prometheus------
to answer your questions, i took it too the shop because i'm not brave enough to rebuild carbs.....it was pouring fuel into the air box all the time upon starting.....

battery i put in this past fall......cranks forever......

i did manage to get it started,rode for about 5 miles,then it started sputtering and trying to die......felt very similar to when the air box was filling with fuel Before the "repair".....so once i got home and checked,...sure enough,fuel in the air box.....

needless too say,i'm still not very happy today...........

[cajun31]

You say you took it into a shop? What kind of shop? A Yamaha dealer or something else? Many of the mechanics either don't like to work on these old bikes or don't know how. You would be much better off reading through the tips on the site and do the carbs yourself. They are really not that difficult. At least you would have the piece of mind knowing that you care about what your doing versus someone who doesn't. Just my 2 cents for what it's worth.

[prometheus578]

"If at first you don't suck seed...."

Raider, take it back to the shop. Did you tell them that it was filling the airbox when you first took it in? One reason fer not starting is that it's flooding and foulin' the plugs. After getting carb work... carbs shouldn't flood(Duh... we all know that)
That's why I'm so anal about carbs, 'cause I don't want any of my work coming back to me for me to redo fer free.
Tell them to quit dickin' around. You want new float needles and to have the floats set. And tell them not to put them back on the bike till they bench test them and see that they don't leak.
Tell them that Prometheus is pissed that they're dickin' you over!

"Don't make me come down there for you either, Tough Guy!" (Frank Rizzo)

Next time.... do them yourself. Really easy to do, just takes time, and that's what you're paying the shop for, their time.

[mro]

May need to tell them how to set float height too

Hardest part of doing the carbs yourself is getting em off......
and on the bike.


mro

Alternative theories:

Bike won't start: Has a head ache
Needs to wash hair

[Czekus21]

You may want to also check the routing of the fuel lines. there are only two fuel intakes on the bank of four carbs. There are four fuel lines from the tank. It can be a little confusing not knowing how the lines are supposed to run. The upper "T"'s on the carbs go to the air box. The lower "T"'s are for feeding fuel. If they're not like that, No amount of float adjustment will help. I'm sure that fuel line routing was a topic here on the forum awhile back. You should be able to come up with a diagram by doing a search.