xs-o-s "help"

[ACE]

Hey there Strom,
i'm sorry but i had to laugh to.
i've had many near death experiances to, most i can laugh about now.
I'm trying to figure out where Slovania is at?
Keep up the good work.
ACE

[chopper]

slovenia is to the top right of italy......at the top of the adriatic sea it has borders with italy,austria,hungary,bulgaria,croatia and bosnia.

[TopCatGr58]

Originally posted by ACE
This is going to be a real learning experiance!
I started with Top Cats ideas. I hope your still there.
<SNIP>I did change to good coils, another ignition box, checked the timing, vacum advance, pick up coils should be good.
the wires i still want to check with ohm meter.
the slides in carb all seem to work.
OK, it still runs the same.
any gear when the rpms get to about 5000 it starts to miss when i open it up.
first taking off and crusing it runs ok.
So this is where Mr Chuck Olds seems to make sense.
When I got this bike it came with new 2 into 1 exaust, don't know what kind.
They took the air box off and put on single filters.
The carbs came off a good running 1979 f
Mine is a 1978e
The 1979 f is all stock.
this makes me think to try the old air box.
i'm not comfy yet trying to rejet this thing.
i checked the plugs which were new.
At idlie it seems real rich. not so running down the road.
the plugs have black around the edges but center and electrode are a real light tan, not quite white. am i right about being lean?
and what should i look for about running rich at idle?
i will try the air box next but any other tips, i'm all ears!
thanks for the good tips so far.
I saw dennis Kirk has rejet kits for our bikes to fit ones with after market exaust and filters but $113.00! WOW

Hey there Ace,

I'm still here, and it sounds like you're off to a good start at eliminating possible problem areas. You mentioned that the pickukp coils should be good, and the actual coils probably are, but you really need to check those WIRES, and not just with an Ohmmeter static, you need to wiggle and pull on the wires a bit, cause that timing plate rotates all the time, and those wires bend all the time, and that's where they can break down, get slightly broken so that they are contacting at lower RPM's when the vacuum advance isn't moving the plate/wires much, but at higher speeds, the unit turns, flexing the wires, and that can be causing intermittent signals to the CDI box, which "could" be causing your miss. The light tan color IS what you're looking for, a little black around the ring edge is no biggy. My center insulator was bleach white after I went to 4-1 pipes and Indy filters, which was TOO LEAN, had to go to 117.5 from 110's in my 81 carbs to get color, so I don't think you're lean at higher RPMS, and the rich at lower RPM's can be something you can adjust later, cause once you get it to running right at the higher RPM's, you won't be spending much time at idle!!!!!! And before I went to the bigger jets, my bike still pulled all the way to 8.5+krpm's, so a little lean shouldn't cause the kind of missing you're experiencing, again IMHO!

If you're running a ?2-1 set of pipes, do you really mean a 4-1, or 2 pair of 2-1, just without the crossover pipe? The 4-1 type pipes are desiged to give better scavenging of exhaust and reduced back pressure for better mid and higher rpm performance, with a slight decrease in low end rpm torque due to reduced backpressure. Not sure what you mean by it seems rich at idle, unless you think it's acting like it's bogging down, but if you're expecting it to rev like a 2stroke from below 1k rpm, it won't. These bikes are powerful and torquey, but I run mine at least from 2k on up, feathering the clutch until I get it moving and at a decent rpm range, not just dumping the clutch at 1 k and expecting it to pull like a tractor!? But if it is actually running rich at low rpm's the Indy filters will help, not hurt, vs. going back to the old air box, so I'd stay with the Indys, IMHO.

And as for rejetting if you need to go that route later, is much cheaper, you can get a set of 4 main jets and 4 Pilot Jets for $9.00 each set, which is about all you really need to tweak the carbs jets, along with playing with the main slider needle position, but that's later!! Keep us posted, good luck!

T.C.

[strom]

Originally posted by chopper
slovenia is to the top right of italy......at the top of the adriatic sea it has borders with italy,austria,hungary,bulgaria,croatia and bosnia.

Close... top right of Italy.
Borders to Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia. If you're ever in these parts, gotta take a look.
Not as poor as Italy (OK, that's my impression of Italy. I also think Venice is a stinking flying rat (pidgeon) infested tourist trap town. The mask stuff canreval could be interesting tho).
Not as boring as Austria (a bit too european, and almost no good-looking girls there)
Better roads than Hungary and Croatia is too... croatian. Some good beaches there tho, but so does Montenegro, which is way cheaper, especially out of season, etc...
If anyone plans to go to this part of the world, he/she is welcome to email me for tips.

LP

[ACE]

Thanks again Top Cat.
I'm off to look at the pick up wires.
The orange one looks like it had been spliced, there is a spot with small piece of tape and clear silicone.
If this fails i will try the old air box.
The good part is having my original 1978E i bought new and a 1979F for parts.
The exhust is a pair of 2 into 1. no clue what brand.
The color of plugs is not bleach white but any lighter of a tan they would be white.
Whan i got my first 1100 is was new and i really didn't do much to it but oil changes and the like.
now i'm blessed with learning the bike inside and out.
i've been away from bikes for many years but glad to see you guys have still been doing homework!
THANKS

[TopCatGr58]

Low Maintanence

Hey there ACE,

I, too, did very little to my bike the first 9years I rode it, never had the valve clearance adjusted, carbs synch or even cleaned, just replaced oil/filters, plugs, and tires, aside from adding a 4-1 set of pipes, and a new set of clutch plates years earlier, but then the tranny crapped out, parked it for 9 years, and then dove back into it...I've gotten lots of help from the list, web sites and such, along with the manual.....another shadetree survivalist!!!!!

T.C.

[ACE]

Hey everyboby!
It runs
Thanks everyone.
the FRESH gas i put in seemed to help.
Everthing else there was no change.
The later resort was to put the air box back on.
Two miles down the road i turned it home, i'm kind of illegal just yet, it ran fine.
ITpulled good and what is 6700 rpm mean in 5th gear?
My speedo cable is broke.
I guess i'm right in saying yo go to single indy filters i need to rejet the carbs?
I am alot happier now>
The biggest lesson i've learned is there was alot of drugs around in the late 70's.
Who ever came up with the stock air box was high on something bad.
These air boxes are a real pain to install.
Top Cat, Chuck Owens, Thanks!
And Strom, good luck.
maybe some of this will help

[slick]

One thing you might want to check is the vacuum avance hose. I had similar problems with mine. Try pulling the hose from the avance unit and riding the bike. Mine ran better without it than with (though it had a lack of top end power). The hose did look OK, but when I replaced it the bike ran great.

[strom]

The secret of putting back the stock air box is:

Lube the rubber thingies with some WD40, have a friend in front of the bike and he should hold it there. Meanwhile you grab the airbox and push it on the carbs while rocking it up and down and don't foget the bad language. It helps. Some of the rubber tubes are bound to get stuck in one place or another against the carbs. Use a screwdriver to go around the edge and push the whole thing on.
It took me less than 5min to have the carbs on. The carbs go on via the same principle.
BTW: It's 5 min work and another 5 to tighten all the clamps. Don't forget to turn them the correct way before reinstalling stuff.


LP

[ACE]

I have a tool from Craftsman.
Some people call it a cotter key tool,
I call it a glassing tool, I started out installing windows in tractor cabs with it.
It looks like a screm driver but has a hook on the end of it.
It is great to remove radiator hoses and install the piece of crap air box.
Sorry but this air box is , well, I don't like it.
Oh , that would be a screw driver not screm.
I couln't see a way to just switch air filters without removing the carbs for the size of this box.
I'll get over it.

[strom]

AFAIK you can open the airbox by undoing the four winged bolt thingies on the bottom of the airbox. Dunno if this works, but I'll give it a shot one of these days... gotta make me an air filter.

LP

[TopCatGr58]

To Rejet or not!?

Hey there Ace,
I put on a set of 4-1 pipes years with stock airbox ago, and never rejetted the bike, ran it on a few LDR's, and all over town and such, never burned a piston. I can't remember where, but there is a rejetting guide that talks about how many steps you may need to take depending upon the mods you add. Then, after I did my big bore rebuild, added Indy filters, and then took another LDR from Va. to NY and back, still no harm done, but inspected my plugs and they were rather white, so I then upped the mains for my trip to NC. Ran fine except when I got some bad gas, and the plugs have a nice tan color.

Adding Indy filters provides for a bit better breathing, and could cause it to be a little lean, but you're still running 2-1 pipes, which is very similar to stock config, so I can't see that you would need to go up very far in sizes, and probably would be able to get by with changing the mains only , vs. also the pilot jets. You could also possibly get by with just raising the float levels in the carbs a mm or two!?!?

But first, leave the Indy's on, run the bike for 10-20 miles or so at highway speed, and then kill the bike's engine at speed, pull in the clutch, and stop, pull the plugs and see what color they are. If they are bleach white, then you're too lean, but if they have a mild tan/gray color on the insulator, then you should be just fine!
HTH. Good luck. Congrats on getting it running right, also not sure about the RPM/MPH conversion, others here keep that kind of trivia better than I, I think that at 4k I'm doing about 65, on an 81 special with 16" rear.

[ACE]

I'm trying to figure out what else i did besides the air box to get it running right, but?
I left the vents open.
i do want the indy filters back.
I will work on this.

[strom]

Pulled the bottom part of the stock airbox and air filter just fine. Some gas was in there. Gawd I hate this mess... but I promise I'll love it when it runs OK.

LP

[chopper]

top cat my friend,that is not how you check plugs,if you were to follow your information all you get is a reading of the idle circuit.what to do is warm the engine to normal running temp,put a plug key in your pocket,find a steady incline(small hill)to load the engine,and run the bike flat out UP the hill,it must be FULL throttle,maintain this for 30 secs-1min,then whilst still flat out kill the motor(while you are still riding) clutch it pull in THEN check your plugs his gives a window into the engine so you can see what the mixture is like on the main jet(this only really comes into play around 2/3 to 3/4 throttle.initially its pilot jets,then needles) other than using a dyno this is the only way i know to correctlly assess your main jets,for the pilots i use a "colortune" for the needles i rely on experiance(ride the bike at a steady speed 1/2 throttle,till your "flat spot" kicks in then open the throttle slightly if it picks up you need drop the needles,if not try rolling back the throttle slightly if it picks up then you need to raise the needles....no offence t.c.