Shifter question

[Incubus]

The really good news is that Succubus, the lovely 1979 XS1100F, runs under its own power. The torque is impressive enough so that I was very happy to be wearing very loose pants so that my excitement was not readily apparent to onlookers . Hot damn, this baby s sexy. Succubus has all five gears. The clutch does not slip and the gears are strong - no hint of popping out. This is based on a very limited trial run of about one mile around the neighborhood. I have one last issue before I tune in the carb and go for a good long shakedown cruise.

The bike upshifts great. Downshifting, hewever is not yet there. The shifter lever does not spring back on the downshift by itself, so I know I don't have the spring on the shifter arm aligned correctly. The spring is not grabbing anything on the downshift so return is not there. The legs of the springs are on either side of the peg on the case, but I haven't yet figured out how to put the spring on the shifter arm itself so that proper tenson is exerted in both directions. I alwasy have this issue, whatever the bike. With shifters I am a certifiable moron - which isn't a fair comparison to morons.

Anyway, I have the spring positioned to that the ends of the legs are closer to the case, not the shifter arm. Am I supposed to spread the legs of the spring to straddle the pegs on the shifter arm? That seems to spread them to wide to be effective.

Does anyone have a picture that would show me the correct positioning of the spring in the shifter arm?

I am so close I can taste it....

Patrick

[Incubus]

Never mind. I was sitting there pondering when the 6-year-old girl next door wandered over and said, "Hey mister, wouldn't that work better if you put the spring this way?"

Of course, she was right.

Thank God for small children and the assistance they can provide to fools like me....

Patrick

[randy]

Hey, Patrick,

Sign her up!

[John]

We can call her 'Guru in Waiting'.

Succubus, will it be ready for the ride to Houston next week?

[Incubus]

Succubus has a very unhappy pilot circuit right now. Once warmed up, it doesn't want to idle below 3,000. Over 3,000 she is very powerful, but it dies below there. I'm pondering the issue now while the battery recharges. I synched it by setting the throttle stop screw at 3,000, but setting the air jets is proving to be challenging. I'm open to suggestions.

The air jets are intact, the jet needles are there and undamaged. I started at 1.5 turns out. I'm thinking I may have valve issues, although they were all within spec. I may also have vacuum issues. It's a puzzlement.

The way it stands, it doesn't look like Succubus will be ready next week, but I have my Honda 750 in reserve. It's running great.

Patrick

[Ken Talbot]

Originally posted by Succubus
I'm thinking I may have valve issues, although they were all within spec. I may also have vacuum issues. It's a puzzlement.
Patrick

Actually, Patrick, I really doubt if you have valve issues. That would not cause a performance issue like the one you've got. A vacuum issue might be part of your problem, but it doesn't sound like it to me. You know where I'm going with this, eh?

Yup, I'm leaning towards carbs.

Start of repeat:
I know you said youve been through them a couple of times already, but you're going to have to do it at least one more time.
End of repeat:

Copy the above as many times as it takes to get it right. Sorry..

[randy]

Wait just a minute. Succubus, you say you synched HOW? Have you actually synched with guages?

Start there, a proper sych should steady the idle. Then you can move to the pilot tweaking.

[Incubus]

I synched them with four vacuum gauges. At 3000 rpm they were running 20 in each. I had to slightly adjust one to two and then three and four to one and two, but they were even when I was done. Came back to level when I revved it a couple fo times.

I'm getting very odd readings from the plugs, too. No. 4 looked perfect, like I'd sent hours adjusting to it. No. 1 was very sooty. No. 3 was wet and No. two was sooty in back and a clean patch of tan on the front. Very odd. I've little doubt that it's the carbs. You should feel it over 3 grand. Oh. My. God.

Come to think of it, likely everyone on this board has felt it over 3 grand. Sorry.

Patrick

[randy]

So how is the synch at idle? poor? You've synched it for 3 grand, no wonder it's good at 3 grand. Try synching it for a good idle. and go form there

[Incubus]

I should have had Penny, the little girl next door, come over when I was cleaning the carbs. She might have mentioned that soaking the slow jets in carb cleaner is not good enough if you don't make sure, afterward, that light can pass through them. From my experience, if light can't get through, gas likely won't get through either.

Guess what, three of four were still clogged. I'm soaking them again. I might have a runner tonight or tomorrow.

Patrick

[prometheus578]

I should have had Penny, the little girl next door, come over when I was cleaning the carbs

There's nuttin' like a girl named Penny puttin' in her two-cents once in a while.
Once dated a female police officer named Penny...
"Hey, Copper!"
Yeah... I remember "Copper" well. Poor girl... had a tarnished reputation. Never did amount to much.
We didn't date too long, had some problems in... well, you know.
(I could never decide if I wanted heads or tails)