BBBBBB Tune up troubles.... HELP please

[xs11jack]

Well!!!!!?????

What about the girl, you rascal! I just know you didn't finish the story just to get us grinding our teeth.

[wgfrie]

I was just reading through the posts and your problem is similar to my own. My 78E was stored for a dozen years and when I revived it it never had the same old power. I had replaced the old rotted mufflers with slip ons and no crossover. last week I had a muffler shop install a crossover just behind the center stand and it really woke the bike up. More power, about 38 MPG and smother operation. I would recommend anyone with slip ons add a cross over.

[ross]

hey there dude.....

whatzup proctor1.......so now we get the whole story about whatzup..float levels are VERY important to the settings.....not sure what you have the floats set at, but 24-25 mm above gasket seating surface.......still hoping 2 get your way and set this s*cker up.....also want 2 check with my friend that knows your bike a bit more than i......local friend.....make sure we're sync-ing it correctly......but will try our best to find the "pucker factor" within the beast you ride!!..........talk 2 ya later....ross & crystal

[prometheus578]

"Dating woes..."

XS11Jack...
Like most of the dates I go on... the evening ends with the woman either slapping me... or spitting in my face.
Females are so predictable.

[proctor1]

bbbbb

Promethius sorry to here of your lady woes, but enough about you.
The oil change and replacement of #1&2 plugs has put me in a very happy place. Grin on my face and buggs in the teeth. I believe I still may have to adjust the floats in 1&2 but I'm screamin down the road very smoothly through all RPM ranges.
Questions: 1)Will the rich running of the carbs causing the black soot ultimately cause the pluggs to cease woorking (foul out)?
2) If I adjust the carbs before complete failure of the plugs, can they be cleaned and still used? I know that sounds realy cheep but I prefer to think of it as frugle.
Thanks again, Proctor.

[prometheus578]

Plugs foul due to incomplete combustion.
Get sooty carbon build-up.
What happens then is....
instead of spark jumping the gap, the electrical charge just "tracks" down the insulator cone ,(carbon being a better conductor than an air gap) and grounds itself out on the head.
Now, using a proper plug in a properly tuned engine, the plugs tend to clean themselves.
Fouling means, in your case, you're getting in more fuel than you can burn and get out.
Nothing wrong with being cheap... but plugs really aren't the place to do it.
Oh, you can take a brush and brush away the carbon from the tip... but there'll still be enough of it on the insulator cone that you couldn't reach... that it will still take less work to track across then it would be to jump the gap. Hence, no spark.
Plugs that have been fouled, and then an attempt made to clean, are sort of unreliable.
Ok.. say you clean and adjust the carbs again... and then put back in your "cleaned" spark plugs.
Oh, it runs a little better, maybe, but still misses, etc.
Good... now here's the question you're asking yourself:
Did you do a lousey job on the carbs....?
Did you do an outstanding job on the carbs and fixed the problem... but the plugs are loopy.
Many people have tore back into their carbs... just to find out it was the plugs all along.

OK.. that takes care of your questions concerning your bike.
Now, back to other important matters.

I was on another date one time, and when we....

[Ivan]

Best way to clean plugs is to use a propane torch and burn off all the crap. Oil fouled, fuel fouled, lead fouling, and all can be burned away. Just remember that you must first sort out the problem that caused it, lest ye dash thy foot upon a stone repeatedly.

Just turn on the torch with a medium sized flame, put on some gloves (saves lots of pain), and heat up the plug until the prong turns red, and the flame doesn't change color from the plug. Avoid handling the plug until it cools, the insulators can crack fairly easy at this point.

Hope this helps.

[proctor1]

I'm really glad you didn’t end that last post with "one time at band camp...." Thanks again Prometheus. I'm glad I can always count on a smile after your posts. Other events this weekend prevented cab job so it looks like I may find out just how long it takes to get to the center of, sorry I spaced out , what I meant is see how long it takes to really foul the plugs. I rode today and she rode great but took out plug #1 and it's completely black.
Thanks for the smile, Proctor