XS11 Newbie

[Namreoz]

I got a pair for $22 each at a local shop today. Took the bike for a little ride close to home. (no registration/insurance yet..wanted to make sure I could get it to run). - Next question...

1. She is running a little strange. I have to have the choke all the way out in order to start and stay running. After about 10 minutes I can move it in a little bit...and i mean a Little bit. Is this normal? Then after it has run that long, it sometimes stalls out when I give it gas too quickly. - I put some carb cleaner in today and putting more in tomorrow.

2. When gas switches are pointing forward, I have gas and can ride it. When they are faced pretty much anywhere else, gas starts leaking out. I can find anything in the manual about this. Any ideas from the veterans?

[fusionking]

Easy does it

Time to stop riding and begin reading and wrenching.....IMHO...HAHA . On my bike foward is off ,down is run, back is prime ,and up is reserve. Sounds like you need to rebuild petcocks and check out fuel lines. Then maybe move on into the carbs if the lean idle don't go away. Also carb sync will help once most of the bugs are gone. LOTS of carb tips on this forum just get into it and enjoy! (and be careful in the shop and on the road) Keep us updated and get insurance NOW....DAMHIK

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Namreoz,

Just cause they squeezed the brake with the caliper not on the disc doesn't mean that it "blew" the seal. It could just mean that the piston was pushed out of the well until the fluid leaked out. You have to take the piston out anyways, to clean the innards, you can inspect the rubber seal, if not pitted, then you can clean it up, and then coat it with brake fluid and just reinsert it back into the caliper, put the dust cover on, and it's retaining C-ring, and then just get some new pads, and bleed it and you should be good to go!!!!

T.C.

[Namreoz]

fusion king - I have put about 4 miles on the bike and over 20 hours of wrenching in this week. I know there is something wrong because forward is off on my bike too. - Didn't see anything in my manual about it. I just got the bike monday.

TopCat - I put the new brake pads in today. My machanic was positive they were blown, but he was wrong...they just needed bled like you said. - I think I'll have a "pro" look at the carbs sometime next week and try and fix the gas lines myself before then.

- Thanks guys. - Nam

[TopCatGr58]

Hello again Namreoz,

Well, as you have seen, "Mechanics" don't know everything, and most of the time with these bikes, they know almost nothing!!! You're better off working on it yourself!! I re-read a few of your earlier posts, and putting carb cleaner and running only 4 miles isn't any way to try to clear up or clean the carbs out. Secondly, you need to be a little more specific about the symptoms you described. Like, you said that the petcocks were "pointing" forward, sometimes when the handle is pulled towards the back, it looks like an arrow, and so could be interpreted as "pointing" forward coming from the end of the handle thru to the petcock and thru it towards the forward direction. But we all describe the position of the petcocks as the location of the "handle".

You said any other position and you have leaks, but exactly where, from the petcocks, from the carbs?? Most likely your rubber seals/valves inside the petcocks are probably all torn up and they will need a rebuild. There are kits, but you can get some large neoprene washers from a hardware store, and with a single paper hole puncher, you can make your own inner valve/ washer. There is a little O-ring around the end of the petcock handle/valve, be careful when removing, and a wavy pressure washer underneath the plate holding the metal valve in place.

Now, being a special, does it still have the OCTOPUS, a little metal gizmo attached to the carb tops where all the hoses are running to from the petcocks and then down to the carbs?? If so, it, too may be defective. Easiest/quickest cure is to get rid of it, but you'll just need to remember to turn off the petcocks when you stop, .vs their flow being controlled by the vacuum valve inside the Octopus.

These carbs get gummed up quickly when they have sat with gas in them for even modest periods of time. Your best bet is to get a bucket of carb cleaner, and pull them off, keep them bolted together, but pull the tops and bottoms off, pull the jets and stuff, and give it a thorough cleaning, just don't use the cleaner on the rubber inlet valve or needle valve which is under the float needle assembly. Get a manual, search lots of threads here, and then get your hands dirty!!!! You'll be better off for it!!

T.C.

[Namreoz]

The petcock handles are facing forward..looks like off to me in order to run and the gass looks like it is running off the back of the tank. Most likely NOT from the carbs. I will have to look closer. Defenetly sounds like I need to rebuild the petcocks. I'll try and get a kit at least ordered tomorrow. Is it possible they got messed up by someone turning them all the way around?

I'll check into the OCTOPUS thing tomorrow...didn't notice that. I've become very familiar with this bike since monday, but I still have a lot to learn. I was hoping I would not have to pull the carbs out, but I know your right. I'll fix the gas line situation first and let the carb cleaner run though and see how she is running. Then I will clean the carbs if needed...it will be a good learning experience.

- Thanks for your input T.C.!!!!!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Namreoz,

If you look at the petcocks, there is a little plate and it has some writing on it, should say PRI-OFF-RES-ON. With the handles facing forwards, you're on Prime, which feeds fuel directly to the carbs bypassing the octopus, so if it will only run in Prime, then your Octy is probably not functioning properly. Yes, if the bike sat a long time, the rubber valve can get hardened, etc., and turning the petcocks around can smoosh and tear the rubber valve and mess up it's functioning. As I stated earlier, instead of waiting for the petcock rebuild kits, you can pull them apart yourself, and make that rubber gasket valve, just get a large washer as thick or a little thicker than the OEM.

You can bypass the OCTY, pull it off, and use the supplied fittings to route the two outlets from each petcock into a Y fitting, and then to one of the inlets for each bank of 2 carbs. Highly recommend you get a cheap little inline fuel filter for each side. These tanks can build up crud and rust in them, and after you clean your carbs, you don't want them getting all gunked up again with dirty gas!! You may even want to look into relining the tank!!

BTW, if your bike didn't come with an owner's manual[it's not a service manual though! :-( ], there is a link here in the LINKS section where you can D/L one for your 81SH in PDF format to use, I scanned it and put it up there!!

T.C.

[Namreoz]

Hey, I found out were the gas is leaking from. It is coming right out of the air filter compartment. ??? What the heck does that mean? The engine is running great, but soon as I turn the gas to on or reserve and give it some throttle, gas starts coming out of the air filter compartment. Please Help.

[ratbyk]

Fuel in air filter

If you have fuel in the air filter it means that the needles and seats controlled by the carb floats are not shutting off the fuel flow when the float bowls have reached their proper running height.
Possible dirt on the seat stopping needle/s from seating, possible a float that no longer floats, possible floats set away too high. In short you have one or more carburetors flooding.
Strongly suggest you repair before you have a fire. Easily started with a simple back fire out of a carburetor.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk

[Namreoz]

I think carborator repair is over my head. - I am going to take it out and bring it somewhere. Thanks for the help, I can tell it is definetly the #2 carb that is flooding. - Nam

[Namreoz]

??????

OK, while I was taking the carburetors out..I was almost done and I noticed somthing. The "vacuum advance hose from the No. 2 carburetor" is split at the end and has no type of connector. This is most likely causing the #2 carb to flood and leak gas into the air filter right?! - I put a picture up at http://www.zoerman.com/vah.jpg

[ratbyk]

Split Hose

Wrong!
This vacuum hose has nothing to do with the fuel flow into #2 carb. The picture does show that you should get some fuel and vacuum hose and make up new hoses throughout. 20 plus years of hot/cold/UV/fuel etc have deteriorated the rubber beyond safe use.
There should be a small brass tube sticking out for that split hose to connect to. Look around. Possibly you pulled it out of the carb base while man handling the carbs off. It should be there somewhere. If found you can stick it back in with a little JB Weld or epoxy.
Now that you know that #2 carb is your flooder pull the float bowl off and check the bottom for crud. How dirty it is should tell you how for you will need to go on carb/s cleaning to try and solve the flooding.
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk