carb cleaning

[ross]

hey there xs11 forum....i'm going thru the carbs, tear-down, clean all the parts & carb body, replace the pilot jets (clogged), replace the bowl gaskets....re-assemble....do i have to get the carbs synched or not....pretty sure i will have to back the idle adjustment down.....any advice in this matter wlll help as i have it all torn down now....thanx in advance...bike idled ruff last season and carbs were not cleaned last 7k miles...ross

[corey]

The best thing I've found to do is "bench sync" the carbs before putting them on the bike. This is the last thing I do after cleaning everything twice (or thrice) and reassembling. By bench sync, I mean to take a feeler of some sort (a bread tie without the paper works well) and slide it between the bottom of the carb throat and the butterfly. To find the proper spacing, you want to feel for just the slightest amount of resistance: you don't want the tie to slide without any friction, but you don't want to feel a lack of resistance either.

To do this properly and get the carbs synced, you must do them in the proper order. Sync the pairs (1/2 and 3/4) and then sync the pairs together. One pair comes before the other too. I think you must do 3/4 first and then sync 1 to 2, and then sync both pairs together.

You should check out the tech article (http://www.xs11.com/tips/maintenance/maint35.shtml) for a more detailed explanation. This process will get the carbs sychronized enough for the bike to run. Actually, in my experience, it was good enough to run on for an extended period of time. However, it still doesn't beat the mercury sticks as far as accuracy goes.

Good luck!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ross,

It's been posted before, can't remember if it's been added to the carb tech tips/bench synch tips, but another method is to use the 3 small holes in the top of the carb throat/engine side! You can see the butterfly plate closing over one of the holes, just use the adjusting screws and set each butterfly plate so it covers/reveals the same amount of the same hole and you'll be very close bench synch wise!
T.C.

[ross]

corey & topcatgr58...thanx for the advice....i knew the xs11 forum would have the easier ways to figure this out...will consider both options...ross

[81xsproject]

I find that getting each butterfly to where it just stops allowing a bright light to shine through while looking from the filter side works really well, too.

[skids]

Don't forget to spray out the jets in the bowls. Inline filters will help. New fuel hoses can be a plus. New needles and seats can help if needed, at least clean/polish the seat. New gaskets are generally not needed. Be careful of the rubber parts including the butterfly seals.

[corey]

I thought about mentioning those damned butterfly seals after I posted. On my first rebuild I zapped those things with carb cleaner. As a result I had huge vacuum leaks and poor POOR gas mileage.

As a further bummer, I found that those cupped little o-rings cost $40 for a set of 8! BOO HISS!

[ross]

corey, now ya got me worried....i made sure to remove all the rubber off the carb before cleaning it...can you give the exact location of the butterfly seals on the carb body....i'm pretty sure i got them, but now ya got me thinking....and it's hurting my brain.....ross

[corey]

Sorry for the mind scramble Ross.... they are located on the ends of the butterfly shafts, two per carb. If you take the butterflys off and remove the shafts you are bound to see them. They are basically just o-rings, about a quarter inch, that have a c-channel running on one side. This c-channel faces outwards towards the other carbs or the outside of the carb bank, depending on which carb you are looking at.

In my opinion, if you are going to soak your carbs you need to take the shafts out. Otherwise those little critters are fried. This is what happened to me on my first go round.

If they are messed up, you can get 'em at Mike's for, like I said, about $5 each.

[ross]

corey....do you mean un-doing the lock washer, removing the nut, throttle cable hookup, spring, and then pulling that shaft out after you take the screws out of the butterfly plate?....finally got a warm day to get out there and really look at what u r talking about....also, is there a trick to getting that spring off and then back on in the same position?....right now i'm looking a carb #3....i got the guts soaking right now....not sure yet, but i might need mike's address to order the d*mn o-rings....i'm not gonna soak carb #4 until i hear back....hopefully i haven't made a simple worse....thanx in advance for the help...ross

[red bandit]

Go to mikesxs.com

If you are disassembling the entire carbs including the butterfly shafts...you are doing a whole lot more work than you need. All you need is spray carb cleaner, spray it in the little holes, let it sit a few minutes, spray in some more, repeat for about 1hr and they will be clean. But it's your bike, do what you feel it needs.

[ross]

red bandit....now that sounds a whole lot easier and safer to do....that mikesxs site is very cool....will keep that in the bookmarks...so i am assuming that since i soaked the carb in the carb cleaner, that i fried the o-rings on that shaft?....i hope not, but this is not looking 2 good for the home team is it....or should i just reassemble and hope that all is well...sounds like the rest will be cleaned using the red bandit line of thinking....thanx 2 all for helping a lowly xs'er...ross

[red bandit]

Not sure how long it takes soaking in carb cleaner to do in the seals, but if you soaked em overnight... I'm sure they are no good. If you only had em soaking 15-20 min. they might be ok.

[ross]

red bandit...luckly, i only had them in for 15 min exactly.....blew it out real good and dry.....then let it set overnight on some clean rags....plan on still shooting it with some spray carb cleaner just 2 make sure i got everything....i'm still waiting on corey 2 hear his thoughts also.....but thanx for all your help.....is there anyway to find out before i put them back on the bike??....i saw the seals on mike's site...ouch...thanx again...ross

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ross,

I believe I remember FredinToon posting about reconditioning the seals with mineral oil?? IF they were only soaked for 15 minutes, and then cleaned and dried, then you should be okay.

As for checking them, that's usually done with the carbs on the bike, and then with it running/idling squirting some carb cleaner or WD40 or even spraying some propane or butane gas around the seal areas and listening for an engine rpm change, either up or down.

But with them off the bike, and wanting to diagnose them before having to put them back on the bike, well let's see how creative we can get!?

If you have a shop vac, connect the intake/engine mounting side to the vac hose, have the butterfly closed and possibly even something over the filter side bell opening, turn on the vac, and then use something you can see, like light smoke from a cig, or piece of incense, and see if the smoke appears to get sucked in around the shaft seals??

That's my idea, any others?
T.C.