Dont Get Rid Of Your Bike Just Beacause Of The Carbs!!!!!

[firstxs1100]

RECENTLY I PURCHASED/TRADED for a 79 xs1100 standard
dude said carbs were leaking. took apart and cleaned found 2 that had gas in them. one main jet broken. replaced with new 137.5 jets and put back together. after much putting on and taking off. i finally asked on here if anyone worked on carbs. i then got aquainted with the RED BANDIT aka jim aka XStremely XSive.
if anyone needs help email him he is suppurb at helping. he has been a great help to me and i thank you that jim.
anyhow got through cleaning and synching the best i could and still no luck. what is wrong with this thing i asked. i kept at it and finally found the problem. i took the fuel lines off and put my blow gun tip to the gas line i then opened the gas tank LID BE SURE TO DO THIS FIRST then i blew through them i noticed no bubbling from the tank what does that mean you may ask yourself. well simple i had the petcock set at the on position not much gas in the tank so none going through the petcock in the on position. sometime and most of the time it is the simple things that will get you fooled. the fix for me was to put on reserve instead of on position. this thing sound like a great big crotch rocket. but it will probably be a whole lot more comfortable to ride. i will keep youall up to date with what happens from here.

AS FOR ALL OUT THERE THAT ARE CONSIDERING GETTING RID OF THERE BIKE JUST BECAUSE OF THE CARBS DONT DO IT ASK QUESTIONS BECAUSE THIS WEBSITE HAS NOTHING BUT PEOPLE THAT CARE ABOUT KEEPING AN OLD CLASSIC ALIVE AND WELL. THEY DONT MIND TO TAKE TIME OUT OF THEIR DAY TO HELP YOU.

[GrandPrix46]

You didn't set it to "prime" before the first time starting it up?

[firstxs1100]

prime answer

i did set it to prime. as a matter of fact when first starting to work on this bike. when trying to start the bike in the on position i had to move the petcock to the prime position to get it to run. it was only after administering air to the gas line that i found out my ignorant mistake of not having enough gas in the tank to flow through the on position tube. although i did put more than a gallon of gas in the tank it still did not bring the gas level above the highest tube in the tank. the forum of petcock perdicament shows a schematic to get the idea of what happened in my case.
this is not the same setup i have but it will give you an idea of what i am talking about tube heights.

[Axel]

Just a Thought

Do yourself a favour and put a can of Seafoam in with that gallon of gas . Run it long enough to get it into the carbs (10 mins) and let sit for days . You may be surprised with the difference .

[subike]

Sitting here reading this made me laugh at myself.
I have just put the XS back togeather after a rebuild, all went as panned no problems. I put ONE gallon of fuel in the empty tank and started her up, I did prime her first as you should.
She ran like sh1t. W T F. All the signs of a blocked jet, so pulled the carbs, cleaneed everything again, put her back togeather.
No improvement. Then I thought, ONE gallon is the reserve!
So I tossed another gallon in the tank.
Hit the starter.....she purs like a kitten.
Ahhhh, so it was off on a ride to find some Hardly Devistatings.