the $64,000 question is....

[planedick]

Again...

Let us not forget to properly synchronize the carbs. If they're not properly synched all sorts of problems will arise. One of those is the black plug on one cylinder......

[ross]

holy water is running low....

hey there folks....update to this thread....

diver ray....used your diver ray hydrotest method and the valves held for over 30 minutes.....took 1.5 holy water's to finish...

ken...i did re-sync her to get her all set up and adjusted the pilot screw for #1 in 1/2 turn....not sure if it change anything...will let u know next update.....idle did go up a bit, but not much.....also nipped 1/4 inch off the #1 wire to get better connection.....

topcatgr58.....thanx again 4 the patch...looks great....did the plug change and switched the wires.....this was the results.....



that eliminates the coils.....i have not done the spritz test yet.....i did drain the tank..

pulled the carbs (for the third time!)

....re-cleaned the float area....took the float valve and seat out....soaked them for awhile in whatever gets ya thru the night (carb cleaner), blew them off, triple checked that they seated any which way they need to seat....re-checked the float levels

i even notice that the level of fuel on the floats was un-even...


straighten that out....made sure the float had proper clearance within the bowl....i even checked the float in water to make sure it did not leak.....all is good....

soccer4m...thanx 4 the compliment....wood clamps come from me working in a wood shop...have my own and they just looked like they would do the trick....made the stand out of scraps i had laying around the man cave....got the idea from ken talbot and just put my own twist on it....sorry, but i'm a cheap b*stard and if i can make it for free, why spend $$$???....i find that with the shutoffs there is no question regarding the gas tank dumping into the engine....been there, done that....this way when i shut her off & kill the valves, i know for sure that i will have as much gas as when i got off....but now that i have been messing with the carbs, its seems that the petcocks are working just fine...go figure...this octopus is foreign to me...i have read about it and seen pictures, but don't own one.....thank goodness....funny thing is that i love octopus...not to eat, but to throw on the ice......DETROIT RED WINGS!!.....finally as far as using water to check the carbs, i'm not sure about that one....firstly, gas and water have different specific gravities...meaning that they weigh different.....i would never even think of testing my carbs with water......the "holy water" i'm referring to is actually the bud dry in the back ground of some of the previous photos.....hehehe...

planedick.....i have sync'ed these carbs 3 times (with the twisty tie method)....what is this madness you speak of the "black plug on one cylinder"....please do tell..you have my attention....can it be cured?......(maybe with a lap dance and 2 beers?)....

lessons learned:
carbs can be removed in 30 minutes....
each float bowl holds 2 oz. of gas.....
a previous thread talked about "t-ing" the 2 petcocks together and using the one side as first reserve and the opposite side as second reserve.....each reserve holds only 18 oz......do the math.....

thanx 2 all for the help....i'm stumped......flustered and confused....ross

[planedick]

Synch

Bread tie synch won't get it. You got to do a real synch with a proper synch tool with the engine running. I think motion pro mercury tool is the best for the job, but then I've never used the expensive models. Once you do it you will know what I mean. It just makes the bike run sooooooo much better. I think a better way to bench synch them is to turn them over and set all the butterflies to cover half of the first hole in the idle circuite. But you still need to do a proper synch after you get it running. Basically, you need to acheive the same vacuum on all carbs at idle.

[egsols]

Yes, a proper sync is vital. I thought my bike was running good last but did a sync on it anyway. Holy crap what a difference!

[egsols]

Hey Ross,

Just looking at the picks, is it me or are the threads on the number 1 plugs a lot dirtier that the no. 4? Is the plug seating correctly?

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ross,

Okay, the plug wire swap didn't change things, so that eliminates the ignition, which leaves Carbs, or intake/exhaust!

As for presynching, instead of twist tie method, if you'll look down into the throat of the carb on the engine side, on the TOP side, you'll see 3 holes clustered together. Use the hole closest to the engine and adjust the butterflies so that they just barely close/cover part of it, do them all to the same amount, this will give you a very close PreSynch!

Keep at it, you'll get it!
T.C.

[ross]

gonna get it right....

hey there folks....thanx 4 all the help....once again good ideas, eyes and ears.....well i finally am gonna break down and buy a set of vacuum gauges.....gonna hook them up and see what happens....exactly what should i be looking for (measurements?)

planedick...yea i've been feeling the bad juju from just using the bread tie, so after i did that, i turned the idle screw back to where she was and check how each butterfly was covering that hole...they all looked about the same......hope fully the gauges will do the trick.....

egsols.....yea, got that holy crap feeling when i finally got all the rust out of the carbs......but i know there is more....i think what i'm looking for is HOLY F*****' S***!!!...i know she has got the kahunas to blow both me and the ol' lady right off the seat.......just gotta find them....as far as #1 plug being dirter, i noticed this when u mentioned and all i can tell ya is i usually use a drop of clean oil on the threads of each plug...makes them easy to get out when the time comes....i will double check the seating to the cylinder and make sure it is clean....
other than that, i will have the vacuum gauges this weekend and hope to show results....if anyone has advice about using vacuum gauges please feel free to tell war stories.....thanx once again in advance....ross

[egsols]

Hey Ross,

I use the one vaccuum guage set up I found under the tech tips.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...=&threadid=986

I don't know if I would trust 4 guages at once unless you have a way of making sure all guages are calibrated to each other.

I used the method as described and my bike (which at the time was running good, or so I thought) ran amazing afterwards.

The only thing I could add is to make sure you have good vaccuum hoses and they fit snug over the nipples. I originally did mine with some cheap hose and they expanded as the bike got warmer leading to some leakage.

Might want to run a fan at the motor when doing the sync so it doesn't overheat.

[John]

Gauges

I had bought a set from JC Whitney, and they seemed to work ok, but they must have sat in a warehouse for quite a while. When I set them up, the hoses all split at the ends as I was slipping them over the fittings on the carbs and the restrictor valves. I had to get new hoses before I could even use the gauges.

[boyat68]

"I don't know if I would trust 4 guages at once unless you have a way of making sure all guages are calibrated to each other."

Would not this be a simple matter of hooking each gauge to number 3 carb and reading the out put of each?

I have a set that I check against the reading of No. 3 and both stay the same, therefore I assume that the readings are accurate.

[egsols]

I have a set that I check against the reading of No. 3 and both stay the same, therefore I assume that the readings are accurate

That's exactly what I meant. I was taught never to trust anyone or anything. I have had too many "new" parts, out the box, fail. I have a digital micrometer that when checked against an old fashioned one, differs by a few tenths!

[Flatlander]

Air in tubes?

I was looking at the pics with the tubes, when you were adjusting the float level. I think that I can see air in the #2 & #3 carbs. And by looking at the pics #2 & #3 are off. Air in the tubes will do this. If this is happening to you start over, by shutting off the drain and clearing out the tube. Don't try and push the gas in the tube back into the float bowl, this will only over fill the bowl and you won't have a propper reading next time, because the bowl can be over filled with the gas from the tube and give you an false reading on the float height.
Hope this helps.

[ross]

this is gonna s*ck......

hey there folks....here's the update....

flatlander...thanx for the sharp eye, i was feeding fuel into the "t" between the carbs and letting it settle into the float bowls just like it would on the bike....did notice that it took a few seconds to get the fuel levels up to where they should be....i figure right around where the screws meet the float bowl area...even a little under, but not under the head of the screw.....rechecked and all was full.....

john..didn't mess around bought all new hoses....like i've said before, i learn from wisdom when i see it...thanx.....

boyat68....was thinking about what you said....having dealt with gauges and calibrations for 18 years, i figure the one gauge method is best....no matter what the gauge reads, it should be the same for all cylinders....same gauge, same reading.......

egsols (& nashville_bill).....thanx for the way to go.....egsols...you sound like you have learned from experience and paying for stuff you really didn't want to...i hate that.....like said above, i agree with your one gauge method as no matter what, the gauge should read the same once they are all sync-ed.....as also mentioned new hoses for everything.....here's the setup so far......



gonna hook her up 2morrow and get this s*cker running right.....even my "motorcycle" buddies are quite interested in what i am doing.....they have no clue as their bikes are all new, but they do have that puzzled look on their faces.....also have box fan setup for ventilation.....will update ya when i get her done.....hope 2 make a 140 mile ride (don't laugh) saturday to meet another xs11 member...thanx for all the help and let me know if i missed something.....ross


p.s. notice the thread end of the expansion chamber to store all the parts and also the curled corners of the clymer manual....signs of genius......

[Flatlander]

Don't know a better way to get you there.

I wish I knew how to just have you pick right off of this post. Here is how I found it and I think you can benefit from this thread.
Go to the members lounge, then go to the bottom of the screen, type the word balance in the search box, then go to "DYI carb sync tool" and read.
Good Luck.

[egsols]

Ross,

Looks like you are in good shape. You will be amazed how smooth it will run after being synced. As for your buddies, I've gotten used to that around my place. When working on the XS it's pretty normal to have a few bystanders, each one with a brown bottle or can in one hand, a smoke in the other, and on their faces, a total look of bewilderment.