State of things

[skids]

You know, there is one more thing that can cause a carb to run way rich or overflow and that is inadequate carb venting. The 78 and 80 models vented through a hose to the airbox, and also from the inlet bell to the bowl mating area next to the starter jet brass tube. A plugged hose causes over-richness or flooding. I am not sure about this part, but if your gasket didn't have the hole punched for that other breather hole next to the brass tube, couldn't that also cause problems???

[prometheus578]

"Is it spring, yet?"

Idiots should not be allowed to touch an XS1100.

Guess I've got to sell mine, then.

Two floats weren't as "springy" as the other two when I adjusted them last night.

The springy-ness is from the little spring-loaded pin that sticks out of the float needle. If the needle's pin isn't as springy as the others, get new needles. They can get crap and gas/varnish in there causing them to stick. I've loosened them with carb cleaner before, but that may only be a temporary fix.

[Yamaniac]

I should be getting a merc stick next week. If you are still having problems and can't get it figured out, give me a shout (email or pm) and I run down to try and help.

Although.... I was having probs with my bike getting below 30 mpg. think I have that straightened out, but just to let you know I am not real good at "tuning". I can, however, run the merc sticks and get them right.

[Firehawk]

Well, I went out last night and the bike started up, almost right away. I was happy. However, it still has the aforementioned problems of idling high, especially when I'm clutching.

If the carbs are out of sync or anything of that nature, would that affect the vacuum advance for the ignition coming off of the second carburetor? I seem to have problems with ignition timing at low range (0-2k) and at high range (6.5-8.5k). I did not have this problem prior to messing with my carburetors. Maybe a new hose is needed?

And Yamaniac, that sounds good, although it's a bit of a drive and with the way it's running I don't know if I trust it to meet you halfway.

[Yamaniac]

It'll be a good day ride to go down and back.
May just head on down to Ark City and see some family, also.

[Firehawk]

I did the 'pre-synch' as outlined on the site. It didn't really do much of anything to change the problems I'm having. They were all pretty much synched, at least well enough by that process.

I found that it starts a lot easier if I hold the bike at 1/5 turn throttle and don't use the fuel enrichner. I'm assuming this means I'm running too rich at start, still? Maybe some air curcuits are still clogged, somehow.

Also, I have a slow leak from a petcock now. I rebuilt it, but found that all gaskets and such were good. After putting it back together, it actually leaks a bit worse than it did before. Only thing I can think of is that spring that is to hold the seat in place is weak and not doing it, allowing gas to flow through regardless of vacuum.

I've also noticed that the pickup coil plate flutters at idle, but advances smoothly, and the way it acts at 6000+ RPMs, I'm wondering if it's fluttering then, too. I'm thinking that if it is, there is something wrong with the vacuum advance, though I'm pretty sure the diaphragm is good, so is it possible that if something wasn't holding up in the carb correctly, that it would affect this?

Yamaniac, that sounds good. Though, I think it'd be better if you held off until I got everything all good and ready to go, as there's no point in syncing the carbs completely and then I have to take them back apart and whatnot. If all goes well, since I have some freetime over the next few days, perhaps I'll get this all figured out.

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by Firehawk
Also, I have a slow leak from a petcock now. I rebuilt it, but found that all gaskets and such were good. After putting it back together, it actually leaks a bit worse than it did before. Only thing I can think of is that spring that is to hold the seat in place is weak and not doing it, allowing gas to flow through regardless of vacuum.

Did you check the 'spooge hole', AKA vacuum release orifice in the housing on the vacuum side of the diaphragm? This little hole allows air to flow back in behind the diaphragm once the engine vacuum dies, and allows the spring to push the diaphragm and o-ring over to shut off the fuel flow. If the hole is blocked, there will still be a vacuum fighting against the spring and preventing shut-off.

The trouble spot is inside the round brass hole you see in the bottom left corner of this photo.

[Firehawk]

It didn't looke blocked or anything of that nature, but I didn't spray any cleaner through it attempt to clean it. The petcocks looked to be tip top. What happened was, I put it back on the tank, filled the tank back up. It wasn't leaking at this point. I think put it into "PRI" to make sure it was flowing and then switched it back to "ON" and then it just sat there dripping gasoline every 5-10 seconds (never timed it).

I'm probably gonna go ahead and tear apart the carbs completely, again, and give them a good spray down. And see if some air circuit somewhere is still clogged. I can't think of any other reason why the bike starts right up if you just turn the throttle up a bit.

[knewsom]

hmmmm....

*scratches head* well, I've been drinking Stella all afternoon while workin' on the Baboon, and I tend to think "outside the box" when I've had a few, so I'm just throwing this out there as a shot in the dark, but WHAT IF maybe somehow the wrong size pilot jets were installed? Have you PERSONALLY replaced them?

I'm no guru, so really, just a shot in the dark - it stands to reason that if too large pilot jets were installed it wouldn't idle right (wayy too rich), and would only want to start when using the proper mixture from the original main jets..?

EDIT: PS, I have 4 extra pilot jets from Mikes XS (size 42.5) - I accidentally ordered twice as many as I needed - so if you need some, just let me know and I'll hook you up.

[Firehawk]

I have personally replaced the pilot jets and they are at 42.5. But I appreciate the thought.

[Firehawk]

Alright, well I've done the bread tie synch, as I said. And I went through and made sure all the diaphragms had sealed from when I had them out earlier, as I wondered if perhaps that was the problem.

It will kind of hold an idle now, at least for longer periods of time than before. I think that was part of the problem. Due to rain and it getting dark (my headlight fuse pins broke out so no night riding), I had to call it quits.

It still will not idle down after acceleration. If I clutch, it will hold whatever RPM I clutched at. Since the bike is muffler-less, idling at 2000-3000 at a stoplight is very, very loud.

As it's warming up, I can hear popping in the intake manifolds. But as it warms up, that goes away.

If only I had the money to do the EFI conversion...

[Yamaniac]

Fire,

just let me know when you are ready. I need a good excuse to take off for a day or two.

[DiverRay]

Firehawk,
You NEED to put carbstiks or vacum gauges on the bike and sync the carbs. Until you do, it probably will not idle correctly. The other cause would be a vacum leak, but you have already checked for one?
Ray

[Firehawk]

Yeah, I checked for vacuum leaks. There doesn't seem to be any...I went and made sure the diaphragms were sealing properly in the carbs, and they seemed a little loose in their seating, so I used some vaseline to hold them in place as I reattached them.

Today, there is no spark. Even when I'm jumping the bike.

If it's not one thing, it's another. No spark, all four cylinders. The fuse is alright. There is enough charge (with my truck jumping it). The battery is only a year old, yet seemd to have no charge when I went out this morning after it started fine last night. It seems as though the battery is probably bad, and I could/should have it checked. And probably replaced. But why no spark on all four cylinders when my truck was hooked to it?

[Firehawk]

And also, the spooge hole wasn't clogged. I blew carb cleaner through it, and it shot right out without a problem.

I stretched the spring out to give it a bit more force on the plate, and that didn't seem to have an effect, sadly.