Strange happenings

[The Lorax]

I was out on my XS thursday, going to my son's soccer game, it was about a 45 min ride one way. as I was coming into Waynesville OH, the bike started running really bad, acting rich. I had made some adjustments to the carbs a couple days earlier so I figured to lean it out a bit and go on. I had no tools on me so I was looking for a hardware store or an auto parts store. If any of you have been to Waynesville OH, there is nothing there except antique stores. the bike was running poorly enough that it began stalling. I finally decided to cut bait and run to the next town. as I was pulling out onto the main route through town, the bike really bogged down, I twisted the wrist, and dumped the clutch. the bike took off like a bat outa... the front wheel came up for a second and I was gone .
I ended up riding to Xenia, 20 or 30 minutes north, found a wal mart and pulled in shut down put the bike on the center stand. I immediately notice p puddle of very light weight oil on the ground at my rear wheel. upon closer inspection, the rear shock was leaking...profusely. I installed the shocks recently as one of my friends gave them to me (he pulled them off his 2003 electra-glide). I got the tools I needed, got the bike running better and limped it home. Friday, after work, I went to put my old shocks back on, and when I took the left shock loose, the lower eyelet was broken off. I found this to be both odd and humerous, I guess Harley parts just can't stand up to the flat out power of an "ancient" inline 4. I am pretty bummed about the shocks cause I really liked the ride they gave the bike, but it is kinda funny, thay don't last a hundred miles on a "real" bike hee hee. When I find my digital camera, I will post a picture of the offending part. by the way, I found I have a sticking float on #3 carb, haven't fixed it yet, but I'll get into it this weekend. have a nice day and ride safe

[roach25681]

I have 11.5" sportster shocks on my bike and absolutely love them. Sits much lower and rides much better than the factory shocks. Did the electra glide shocks bolt right on or did you have to modify anything? I had to grind down the circumference of the shock studs, and mill out the bushings in the shocks a tad.

[Ken Talbot]

Time for a look at those pick-up coil wires, Lorax.

[renegade_xs11g]

Speaking of Harley part on an XS

installed a set of softail mufflers, 3-400 miles after installing I had to reweld the inlet back to the muffler,
kinda ugly but it's hangin' in there now

[The Lorax]

The shocks did not bolt right on, the sleeves in the eyelets were too small and had to be removed. on the right side, the lower eyelet had to be ground down a bit in order to fit into the stock slot on the swing arm. none of it terribly challenging or traumatic, took an hour or two to modify the shocks as I chose to remove the sleeves as opposed to modifying the frame, hell, the shocks I took off had no sleeves in the rubber so I figure what the hell , put a couple pounds of air in them and off I went, they were nice while they lasted. and yes, I think I will be looking into the pickup wires as I leaned the idle mix out a little and the bike still bogs a bit, but kick it in the guts for a minute and it's all good int the hood. I guess I'll get into that sometime this weekend. have a nice day and ride safe

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Lorax,

Before you go tearing into the PU coils, fix your carbs first. A stuck float and flooding carb will cause your exact poor low rpm throttle response, but once you crack it open and it clears out the flooding, the mains hit and it runs like a rocket. I had the same thing happening to me during a rally run in the mountains, thought it was due to elevation causing it to be rich, but then found my #2 carb leaking...due to a misaligned fixed broken float post.....fixed properly, and worked like a charm! Just didn't want you to have to do more work than needed. Carbs first, IMHO!
T.C.

[The Lorax]

XSellent point, I will get that resolved, see how she runs and go from there. the whole reason I went into the carbs to begin with was that every now and again, and for some reason only in third gear, the bike would sputter a little, but as soon as I got a little higher in the rpm range, it went away. I did the usual stuff, checked passages, checked float levels (all about 1mm high) adjusted float levels...apparently not very well as the float on #3 now sticks a little (valve fully open) so, I have to address that issue first but I figure the pickup wires may be getting ready to go as it has been a little hard starting when cold lately and when it does fire up, it blows a puff of smoke out the tailpipe. the mixture is pretty close on all carbs, it just doesn't seem to want to fire right away when cold. I havent checked the spark as yet, but the plugs look by and large ok (XSept that #3 is showing a little rich...gee, I wonder why) so I think I have more than one issue right at the moment, one that has been developing on its own and one I created. either way, I got a little wor to do. Have a nice day and ride safe

[rickmc2000]

Originally posted by The Lorax
XSellent point, I will get that resolved, see how she runs and go from there. the whole reason I went into the carbs to begin with was that every now and again, and for some reason only in third gear, the bike would sputter a little, but as soon as I got a little higher in the rpm range, it went away. I did the usual stuff, checked passages, checked float levels (all about 1mm high) adjusted float levels...apparently not very well as the float on #3 now sticks a little (valve fully open) so, I have to address that issue first but I figure the pickup wires may be getting ready to go as it has been a little hard starting when cold lately and when it does fire up, it blows a puff of smoke out the tailpipe. the mixture is pretty close on all carbs, it just doesn't seem to want to fire right away when cold. I havent checked the spark as yet, but the plugs look by and large ok (XSept that #3 is showing a little rich...gee, I wonder why) so I think I have more than one issue right at the moment, one that has been developing on its own and one I created. either way, I got a little wor to do. Have a nice day and ride safe

I had the third gear sputter on my 78 XS11 and tried everything. Finally moved the clip up two notches on the main jet needle, and she solved the problem. Starts great, idles at 900 till warm, then 1100. Seems a little slower on top end, but worth it to have smooth, strong bottom end. Good Luck

[jeffe]

Hey Lorax...Bought my 78E in Waynesville, wife grew up in Xenia and I grew up in Jamestown. Have to meet there sometime. I currently live in Westerville up by Columbus. Good luck on getting it running right