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Aaarg! 
Help - I cannot for the life of me get my lil' 400 to start up on these cold mornings - esp after a good night's rain (and it's not even that cold!!). I am getting spark and fuel delivery, but no go. Any suggestions on what factors are involved, or general cold starting suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I usually close up the butterfly's overnight (this bike doesn't get to sit under cover over night, i know, it's probably just mad at me) and after opening the flys in the morning, I lean the bike to the right and left and hold it for a while (dirt biker told me this tip - might be unecesary for street bikes?), hold open the throttle for a while to let the fumes float around. Then I open the choke all the way and, well, I haven't gone after the starter marbles yet, but I usually try five short cranks with the starter button to get the engine turning around. If that doesn't work (and since the winter's come along it hasn't - worked occaisionally this summer, marbles notwithstanding) I then go to the kickstarter. I start with the throttle closed and after about five to ten kicks I will usually get the headlight on and a backfire or two, sometimes through the carbs, sometimes through the pipes, sometimes real loud and sometimes a little fart. If it doesn't go I then try kickstarting with the throttle wide open. As a last resort I run start it, popping it into second. This usually works, but no luck this week. The headlight comes on, and it will chug for a little bit as I push, but no Vroom Vroom. Unfortunately the nearest hill is a couple of blocks away... Any suggestions?
On a related note, my idle is not so stable. Sometimes it will sit and idle steadily while I put on my gloves and gear, sometimes it will breathe a little and die after a while. Mostly I just keep bumping the throttle when it starts to fade below 1000 (1200 is idle spec.) I have recently set the valve clearances and statically timed the points, cleaned the carbs some - nothing fancy, compressed air and carb cleaner. The diaphragms had no holes/tears and I balanced/synchronized them. I thought maybe turning the idle screws in a quarter turn might help, but I didn't notice much change. Also, the idle sometimes doesn't want to settle down from advance, it'll stay around 35-4000, I'll start to slip it it into first to bring it down. I recently took apart the ATU and retorsioned the spring and relubed the parts. Every other week or so I'll use a little of Redlines Fuel additive and roll around the neighborhood for a half hour or so keeping the RPM's under 3000 to work the pilot and main jets.
Should I just go back to square one?
The bike has some 24k, hasn't had a top end job - doesn't need it I don't think - and was otherwise running fine a couple of weeks ago when I tore it down I-5 from Oakland to Palm Springs at about 80 most of the way. I suspect the farting through the carbs is the timing, I just got a Gunson Timestrobe, so maybe that will help to fine tune the setting. Maybe I just need to advance the timing a little from spec? It is a 25 year old motor... Any tips or guidelines on advancing the timing would be appreciated.
On a positive note, my '79xs1100sf is running great!
Thanks Everyone!
-Patrick Kennedy
p.s. I have been using a synthetic blend for oil. I have seen that people in this forum recommend against it for the 1100's - should I follow the same logic for the 400 and switch to regular oil?
Help - I cannot for the life of me get my lil' 400 to start up on these cold mornings - esp after a good night's rain (and it's not even that cold!!). I am getting spark and fuel delivery, but no go. Any suggestions on what factors are involved, or general cold starting suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I usually close up the butterfly's overnight (this bike doesn't get to sit under cover over night, i know, it's probably just mad at me) and after opening the flys in the morning, I lean the bike to the right and left and hold it for a while (dirt biker told me this tip - might be unecesary for street bikes?), hold open the throttle for a while to let the fumes float around. Then I open the choke all the way and, well, I haven't gone after the starter marbles yet, but I usually try five short cranks with the starter button to get the engine turning around. If that doesn't work (and since the winter's come along it hasn't - worked occaisionally this summer, marbles notwithstanding) I then go to the kickstarter. I start with the throttle closed and after about five to ten kicks I will usually get the headlight on and a backfire or two, sometimes through the carbs, sometimes through the pipes, sometimes real loud and sometimes a little fart. If it doesn't go I then try kickstarting with the throttle wide open. As a last resort I run start it, popping it into second. This usually works, but no luck this week. The headlight comes on, and it will chug for a little bit as I push, but no Vroom Vroom. Unfortunately the nearest hill is a couple of blocks away... Any suggestions?
On a related note, my idle is not so stable. Sometimes it will sit and idle steadily while I put on my gloves and gear, sometimes it will breathe a little and die after a while. Mostly I just keep bumping the throttle when it starts to fade below 1000 (1200 is idle spec.) I have recently set the valve clearances and statically timed the points, cleaned the carbs some - nothing fancy, compressed air and carb cleaner. The diaphragms had no holes/tears and I balanced/synchronized them. I thought maybe turning the idle screws in a quarter turn might help, but I didn't notice much change. Also, the idle sometimes doesn't want to settle down from advance, it'll stay around 35-4000, I'll start to slip it it into first to bring it down. I recently took apart the ATU and retorsioned the spring and relubed the parts. Every other week or so I'll use a little of Redlines Fuel additive and roll around the neighborhood for a half hour or so keeping the RPM's under 3000 to work the pilot and main jets.
Should I just go back to square one?
The bike has some 24k, hasn't had a top end job - doesn't need it I don't think - and was otherwise running fine a couple of weeks ago when I tore it down I-5 from Oakland to Palm Springs at about 80 most of the way. I suspect the farting through the carbs is the timing, I just got a Gunson Timestrobe, so maybe that will help to fine tune the setting. Maybe I just need to advance the timing a little from spec? It is a 25 year old motor... Any tips or guidelines on advancing the timing would be appreciated.
On a positive note, my '79xs1100sf is running great!
Thanks Everyone!
-Patrick Kennedy
p.s. I have been using a synthetic blend for oil. I have seen that people in this forum recommend against it for the 1100's - should I follow the same logic for the 400 and switch to regular oil?
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