State of things

[knewsom]

Originally posted by Firehawk
why no spark on all four cylinders when my truck was hooked to it?

These are spooky happenings, bro... Maybe you should do a bad ju-ju cleanse and sacrifice a rooster.

...or maybe the extra voltage messed something up...? *wince*

Good luck man, I feel your pain.

-Kris

[Firehawk]

How much can I get a live rooster for now-a-days?

[DiverRay]

Firehawk,
For the spark issue, I would check the following:
1. Kill switch ( it happens to EVERYONE!!)
2. main fuse. Do you still have the original fuse holders? If , plan on replacements.
3. ALL connections on the bike. I would buy a tube of dielectric grease and contact cleaner. Use the cleaner, put on a dab of grease, and reconnect.
This should take you through Thursday, and may help to get you running for the weekend.
Ray

[Firehawk]

I thought the bike wouldn't crank if the kill switch was on?

And I do have the original fuse box, which the headlight fuse clip broke on me last Saturday. But other than that, everything have worked with it. And the fuse in the ignition clip is good.

I find it odd that, without any change, that the bike would need to have connections cleaned all of a sudden. It fired fine last night. But I guess I'll go ahead and try that.

[DiverRay]

REPLACE THE FUSE BLOCK!!!!!!!!!!
You need to replace ALL the fuse connections NOW. That is probably the problem!!! If one fuse clip went, why are the rest still working??
Ray

[mikeb]

I have been following this thread and related others and decided to offer my take on the carb subject. It was said that the carbs were dipped but I didn't see where it was verified that all the o-rings that weren't removed are still intact. If the butterfly shaft seals were damaged from soaking (most likley) you will never get it to run right. Get the bike fired and idling as low as possible and give the carbs a shot of carb cleaner where the butterfly shaft exits the carb on both sides. Do this to each carb and listen for rpm change. If there is a change the seals will have to be replaced. If all seals are good I would look to the idle mixture screws next. I had similar symptoms with my 80 LG after my triple-triple clean. If the mixture is off far enough either way to cause the rpm to drop and you don't know it, you will compensate by cranking the idle screw in to try to get the proper idle rpm. This causes the butterfly to be too far open for proper idle circuit function and the rpm slowly climbs and doesn't drop between shifts. I fought with this problem for a while before I figured out what was going on. The cure was to lower the idle rpm as low as i could get it and then start adjusting the mixture screws. As I adjusted each screw the idle would increase as the proper setting was reached. Turn the idle screw to lower rpm down again and proceed to the next carb and do the same thing. I ended up being about 2-1/2 turns out so I had been too lean at idle. Since you stated you had been cranking on the idle screw I would check this out. As for the color of your pipes, they change color from being too hot not from ever being rich. They will first turn brown if a little too hot. If heat is greater they will then turn light blue and then dark blue. Different chromes will turn at different temps. It is not uncommon for a well tuned bike to have brown or even light blue pipes. Generaly stock pipes didn't turn at factory settings. Hope this info helps some.

[Firehawk]

It was indeed the fusebox, after putting in a new one, the bike's ignition fired away and after a bit of coaxing (as I usually require), I got it to start.

MikeB:

I haven't checked the seals yet, due to rain and whatnot. But I do have to say I think you might be right about the idle screw. I messed with that a bit and now it clutches and mostly derevs as it should, but I think I need a bit more tinkering with it. The mixture screws are all at 2 turns out, and it seems as though I'm too rich at start, so I might back them off and see if that helps me out. I'll let you all know how this does it after I get some time with the bike this weekend.

The problem I'm quite worried about, however, is that the ignition timing seems to be off at higher RPMs. I can't quite figure out why this is. It was fine, prior to me messing with the carbs and now it's not. I can't help but think I did something to the #2 carburetor and it somehow changed the vacuum to where it doesn't hold at higher RPMs causing the vacuum advance to give weird readings then. The bike seems to flutter then.

[LoserShoes]

Got the vacuum line hooked to the right place? Nipple on side of #2 carb, not to the carb spacer?

Steve

[Firehawk]

Yessir, I do.

[Firehawk]

Ok. So today, the bike wouldn't start. So I decided to determine if it's fuel or spark. I sprayed in starter fluid and it fired right up, and died shortly after. Sprayed in some more, and it fired up again and stayed running, although not well.

While I had the filters off, I noticed that it is blowing air back out through the carburetors. All four, only when I revved the motor though. And #2 kept popping, and occasionally #3 would too.

Timing is off, I guess? Or could something else be causing this?

[LoserShoes]

Have you done a compression check? Could be valves, bent or lash too tight.

Steve

[Firehawk]

Compression check:
#1 - 150psi
#2 - 150psi
#3 - 160psi
#4 - 152.5psi

I'd say that the engine is pretty sealed up with those numbers.

It has to be air being rerouted in the carbs back out. I'm completely tearing apart the carburetors, and recleaning them.

Wish me luck.

[Firehawk]

So, basically. I'm an idiot. The problem at start has been a LACK of fuel.

I tore into the carbs...again. All curcuits were clean. Everything was good and normal, outside of the two possibly bad float valves (but they don't apparently stick). And then I looked at the float bowl gasket, and realized that it was blocking a small opening for the fuel enrichner circuit. Same on all four. I visually checked the butterfly seals and they appeared to be good and sealing.

After doing this, and putting the carbs back on the bike, when I choke it, the bike starts up immediately. Without fail. And I am finally happy with that.

After riding around, hearing popping through all stages of decceleration, it is quite apparent I'm lean. So the floats will go back to 23mm.

And the ignition timing fault at the top end is still there. 6000+ RPMs, the bike runs like utter ****.

I'm not sure, but perhaps I did something wrong with the coil pickups. I'm going to check that tomorrow.

[DiverRay]

Firehawk,
If your lean, you won't have the fuel for top end. Fix the carbs/float level first, ride it, and then go on to the next fix.
Ray

[Firehawk]

You are correct, Diverray. Put the floats at 23mm, and then I put in some larger main jets (because I have some lying around ). It ROARED.

Now I just need some synching, and then I can start preparing for the 2nd gear fix.