What did you do to your bike today?

[fredintoon]

JAT.......when the bike gets loud and you hear something clanging down the road behind your it might be a good indication you need to pull over and check the bike.

Hi Greg,
or it might be an indication that one should get out of Dodge before the sheriff shows up.

[BongoBob]

Bought it!


Now to figure out these pesky carbs...

[BA80]

The carbs ain't that bad once you figger them out Bob.

Welcome to the madness.

[jwhughes3]

Got those blasted steering bearing races cut out and have the new ones freezing overnight.

John

PS welcome Bongo Bob.

[BongoBob]

The carbs ain't that bad once you figger them out Bob.

Welcome to the madness.

Heh, thanks. at start-up it seems to be running on only cylinders 1 and 4, with 2 and 3 being dead cold. revving it up at neutral idle seems to help. but when i go and put her in gear, and head down the road, i'm only getting up to 2k rpm.. Needle jet? I wonder if the PO ever re-jetted after these weird aftermarket pipes were added..

[motoman]

Heh, thanks. at start-up it seems to be running on only cylinders 1 and 4, with 2 and 3 being dead cold. revving it up at neutral idle seems to help. but when i go and put her in gear, and head down the road, i'm only getting up to 2k rpm.. Needle jet? I wonder if the PO ever re-jetted after these weird aftermarket pipes were added..

Welcome Bob! See way too many folks right away go to carbs if having issues. In the automotive world, the 'rule of thumb' is ignition before fueling/carburation as far as diagnosis........always. Tis true with bikes too. The jetting is fine with those exhaust, Those are Jardine slip-ons and have enough back pressure, so running lean is NOT an issue. Your issue IS either a bad coil(unlikely but not impossible), or a broken pick-up coil wire, which the latter all lies under the left side ignition cover. At this point, I'm gonna let another member jump in with how to resolve either of these issues. First one is a wire swap dance for diagnosis puposes and second one is an actual visual and more importantly an acual wire tugging sequence. Other than that, looks to be a nice unabused 78 ya got there. Looking like it does, my STRONG advice at this point is leave those carbs alone! Other than adding some SeaFoam to your fuel if it hasn't been run in a while, fixing the ignition issue I'm bettin WILL resolve its running issues. Again, from the outwardly looks of the bike, don't screw with those carbs. If the need eventually arises, I highly suggest you do a whole bunch of reading on THIS site pertaining to these carbs, how they work, what little quirks show up and how to resolve them pertaining to the carbs. Also, very important during any mechanical or electrical changes that only ONE thing be done at a time with testing each change before moving on to another one. Also, don't forget the most important part of that bike.......the braking system's state of condition. When properly running, these ole' XS's can easily out power their braking system, even when the braking is in top condition. They are not one toe one finger stopping bikes like the newer systems are. Alot of folks here replace the ancient/old front brake lines with stainless lines and throughly clean brake system, specially since the front brake IS your main stopping power. Careful, and enjoy the journey here, as your in for a ride AND education from a place that no dealer or shop can compete with, knowlwdge wise. Alot of us here have had these bikes since their conception and theirs not one area whether it be electical or mechanical that someone or many here can't give you the correct help. Don't be afraid to ask...........before diving in. Can save you a big headache and keep problems from multipling into a FUBAR.

[Schming]

Mock up Completed

Nice "E" Bob

First time my '80G has had 2 wheels in 12 years.

[BongoBob]

Welcome Bob! See way too many folks right away go to carbs if having issues. In the automotive world, the 'rule of thumb' is ignition before fueling/carburation as far as diagnosis........always. Tis true with bikes too. The jetting is fine with those exhaust, Those are Jardine slip-ons and have enough back pressure, so running lean is NOT an issue. Your issue IS either a bad coil(unlikely but not impossible), or a broken pick-up coil wire, which the latter all lies under the left side ignition cover. At this point, I'm gonna let another member jump in with how to resolve either of these issues. First one is a wire swap dance for diagnosis puposes and second one is an actual visual and more importantly an acual wire tugging sequence. Other than that, looks to be a nice unabused 78 ya got there. Looking like it does, my STRONG advice at this point is leave those carbs alone! Other than adding some SeaFoam to your fuel if it hasn't been run in a while, fixing the ignition issue I'm bettin WILL resolve its running issues. Again, from the outwardly looks of the bike, don't screw with those carbs. If the need eventually arises, I highly suggest you do a whole bunch of reading on THIS site pertaining to these carbs, how they work, what little quirks show up and how to resolve them pertaining to the carbs. Also, very important during any mechanical or electrical changes that only ONE thing be done at a time with testing each change before moving on to another one. Also, don't forget the most important part of that bike.......the braking system's state of condition. When properly running, these ole' XS's can easily out power their braking system, even when the braking is in top condition. They are not one toe one finger stopping bikes like the newer systems are. Alot of folks here replace the ancient/old front brake lines with stainless lines and throughly clean brake system, specially since the front brake IS your main stopping power. Careful, and enjoy the journey here, as your in for a ride AND education from a place that no dealer or shop can compete with, knowlwdge wise. Alot of us here have had these bikes since their conception and theirs not one area whether it be electical or mechanical that someone or many here can't give you the correct help. Don't be afraid to ask...........before diving in. Can save you a big headache and keep problems from multipling into a FUBAR.

Thanks for the tips My poor computer was overloading itself the past few days, as i've had just about every other link on this forum open, trying to suck in as much information as i could. My first bike was actually an 81 xs850(I do kinda miss that triple roar!) I meant to pick up a can of seafoam, so that will be top priority, if that doesn't sort things out I'll check the coils to chase out any gremlins, and i'll resist the temptation to touch the carbs.

And yeah, after playing with a Honda ST 1100 for a year, i'm definately going to have to watch myself on the brakes. I've already bled them and they seem about as strong as they're gonna get with the stock rubber lines on them. SS lines are now on the shopping list.

This bike is a baby though, sat for years in a hangar with only 5k on the clock. The Original Pilot died, and the pilot's son sold the bike to a friend of mine. I was surprised to hear of it's short history, as i'm in aviation myself..

[natemoen]

Yeah Bob, your problems is going to be electrical at least to start.

Cylinders 1 and 4 are paired on 1 coil and 2 and 3 are paired on furniture coil. So you need to first check the pickup coils on the left side under the engine cover. You will see the pickup coils there and 4 wires. Start the bike and just start moving those 4 wires around and see if the other 2 cylinders kick in. For starters read through this thread and follow it.

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=543

Next check your ignition coils. Using a multimeter set to ohms check the small wires coming off the coil should read 1.5 ohms +/- 10%. Then remove the spark plug caps and put the meter leads on the spark plug wires, should read 15,000 ohms +/- 10%.

Do that stuff to start and let us know what you find.

[Schming]

Started on the Carbs.

Besides paint, it's the last major task that needs completed to get her road worthy after 12 years of hibernation.

[Schming]

All clean, ready to reassemble as soon as I recieve the new B-fly shaft seals and diaphragms as I found pinholes in 3 of them:





Pinholes are right at the edge where the bend is:









I ordered new diaphragms from http://jbmindustries.com/

Gettin' closerer

[GLoweVA]

This bike is a baby though, sat for years in a hangar with only 5k on the clock. The Original Pilot died, and the pilot's son sold the bike to a friend of mine. I was surprised to hear of it's short history, as i'm in aviation myself..

Bob,
Sounds like it needs a good pilot type name, like 'The Red Baron' or something like that.

+1 with everyone else's plan, check the ignition out first, then once you know it's firing on all 4 then if there's still performance issues then figure out which carb is acting up by temps of the header pipes. (the bad/dirty one won't sizzle as much when sprayed with water) (even then it may just need an adjustment with the sync or idle/mix screw)

Good luck and I guess it may be safe to say 'welcome back' afterall, you did have an XS before. (even if it was just an 850)

[Jdwags]

cold here

Its pretty cold and wet here, I did get some of the things near Rusty to start the revival... (Bionic Man theme here), we have the technology, we can rebuild her.... we don't have the money......

Wanted to relive my youth, and just sit on her and make noises... but it makes the neighbors nervous.

[Poprock]

Welcome aboard! The PNW is a great place to ride, and you have a machine up to the task. You will benefit from cleaning every pin and socket in the wiring system. DeOxit is the cleaner you want. The main plug from the alternator melted on mine. Geezer saved me. Oregonmotorcycleparts.com is your best friend on electrical issues. If your battery gets low on water, it's because of resistance in the charging system. Something is getting hot and it will melt at the most inconvenient time and place. Clean all the electrics after sorting out the coil pickup wires and the carbs & brakes.
Oregon Vintage Motorcycle Rally, May 3-4, Benton County Fairgrounds, Corvalis. Wonderful thing to see and hear.

[jetmechmarty]

Welcome aboard! The PNW is a great place to ride,

Yeah, if you're a duck!!

Welcome aboard!