Bike problem

[oldyam80sg]

Help my 1980 XS1100 SG sat in my storage for the winter.I put stabil in the tank and started the bike up occasionally.When i got ready to take it around the block the bike hesitated and acted like it was low on fuel.Got it home and filled the tank and added carb cleaner and some dry gas.Same problem and i removed the carbs and cleaned them out.They werent too bad so i reassembled everything, and now when you pull the choke out all the way, the bike doesnt want to idle.When the choke is halfway pushed in the bike wants to die.Checked compression-ok the vent is not clogged in the tank.I cant figure out what is wrong.Plugs are not oily and nice tan color. Please help!

[trbig]

Did you actually pull all the jets out and spray them out along with all the orifices? There's also a small one down in the lip of the carb bowl itself. This is the one for your enrichener circuit. Don't try to remove that one... but a good dose of carb cleaner should make it shoot back into the bowl. If it's plugged, it won't idle on choke. Sounds like things are still plugged up a bit to me. Just because the bowls don't have much sediment in them, doesn't mean the tiny jets don't have trash in them. That personally would be my first plan of attack.

Tod

[midnight1980]

Re: Bike problem

[i]i removed the carbs and cleaned them out.They werent too bad so i reassembled everything [/B]

soyour saying yah didn't really do a total cleaning of the carbs and thats the problem..

[Ken Talbot]

Oldyam - if you haven't found it already in the tech section, you may want to read this article about cleaning carbs. It will give you a good idea just how involved you need to get when it comes to cleaning carbs. If you shortcut on any step along the way, you will most likely have to go back in and do it all again. Some guys take a lot of tries before they finally get it done right. If you run into trouble, just ask - help is readily at hand just about any hour of the day.

[cajun31]

Drain the carbs when setting up

Hey Oldyam,

Stabil in the gas tank is good for the winter, however what you should do is drain the carbs when you store the bike, that way you don't have to worry about the gas gumming them up. Get a tricke charger for the battery and you don't have to worry about starting the bike up through the winter.

Once you get the carbs all cleaned up and synched you will find my suggestions to be better then having to clean those carbs. Not that doing them is that difficult, it is just a lot of work that takes away from your riding time.

[oldyam80sg]

Thank you for all that have replied.Someone was interested in buying my 1100 and i took some shortcuts.I plan on keeping it thanks to this website. Getting back to the trickle charger, I put the bike on a trickle charger when it sat in my Moms garage but when i came home from Germany(US ARMY). the bike went into a storage unit that does not have electricity in it. I will let you know how i made out.Thanks again!

[Kurt]

Shortcuts are a good way to work a lot harder later.

[fredintoon]

Clean 'em good or clean 'em over.

Hi Oldyam,
adding my voice to the chorus, those carbs are a swine to clean. Do what the tech tip sez and don't miss a step. About having your bike in non-powered cold storage so the battery dies of neglect; the battery is removable, right? Take it home and keep it under your bed & plugged in to a trickle-charger. Put it on a boot tray to save the rug from possible damage.
With Saskatchewan's 6 month riding season, over-wintering a bike battery can be a chore. When I was running smaller bikes it was easier to neglect the old battery and buy a new one in the spring.
Coming to grips with the appalling cost of that huge, funny-shaped XS11 battery promotes battery storage to task #1.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[oldyam80sg]

Thanks again.Next time i will remove the battery.Work, up and coming divorce and other things let my winter time maintenance lapse.Will let you know what becomes of my fixings.Up until last year the bike was in my Moms garage,trickle charger attached and the bike was started every 2 weeks.Does not take too long for something to be neglected, but hopefully the bike will see better days.

[oldyam80sg]

The enrichener circuit in the float bowl- exactly where is it? When i remove the float bowl and see this- would this cause the bike to not idle correctly?I pull out the choke and when the bike starts to warm up i push the choke in halfway.Thats when the bike starts to bog down.Would this cause the idle problem? Is the enrichener circuit in all 4 bowls?

[John]

It is the small port in the edge of the bowl that the thin brass tube, that protrudes into the bowl area, sits in when it's assembled. There is a very small orifice in it, that can clog very easily. Use a smal thin strand of copper wire to clean it out. Don't use a drill or anything made of steel, as that can enlarge the orifice.

[Ken Talbot]

There's a picture of the float bowl spooge hole in this thread

[oldyam80sg]

I took the carbs off and cleaned all the tiny crevices and enrichener circuits out.I was able to shine a lite through the hole and see where it leads to.Put the carbs back on the bike.It started no problem and seemed to idle better.Not 100% but better than last time.The bike did not die whan the choke was pushed in.I put some seafoam in the tank and will see if that does anything.Does anyone know the exact size of the 4 screws on the bottom holding the float bowls on?I have to replace them and will probably go with allen head screws.Also the bike does have a little back fire going on.Not severe but what causes that?

[HobbyMan]

lean mixture. Probably caused by dirty carbs or cracked intake boots. Those screws can be retrieved from your local hardware store or even lowes. I just put new cheese head screws on because I don't take them off that often. I got a bunch because a lot of things on the bike like the neutral switch use the same screw. THey are all just different lengths.

[Yamaniac]

pretty sure they are 6mm. and either 10 or 12mm long. I took mine with to match up.