Help!

[CA]

So and idle mixture screwtip broke off in my number 1 carb, I had it drilled out by a machine shop and when I got it back it seemed everything was fine until i screwed another screw in and it only could go down about 6 turns (vs. about 9 turns on the other screws) I simply put it back together and wanted to check it out. It ran and idled on fully closed choke which it never did before which was awesome, except while trying to synch the barbs with the homemade vacuum synch the engine died and won't start, my brother says its prob running rich and fouling up the spark plugs so I am about to go get my new ones....

What can I do to compensate for that number one carb? and what is a good idle that I should be shooting for? I am a little confused right now...

...i did do the pre-synch...

...any help would be appreciated as I am out here right now!

[fredintoon]

Hi CA,
we did that on my son's '79 XS750 (same carbs) and it ran fine after.
But you say your '79 XS11SF won't run at all now? It aught to still run on the other 3 cylinders, right?

[CA]

I am full of shame...

It ran out of gas....

Hey I hadnt had lunch and on my way over to MCd's i realized hey that tank was light...

so here we go...any input about the mixture screws would still be helpful...hopefully what fredinton said will hold true!

[fredintoon]

Hi CA,
first check out the salvaged carb's needle hole. Could the shop have left some metal shavings in there? Once you've checked that, check if the repair damaged the thread the needle screws into. Use the old busted-off needle to check the threads. With it's skinny little tip pre-busted you can reef on the old one to see if it will ease up any of the threads in the hole that the repair process may have damaged without risking the tip on the new needle.
After our repair the needle setting was NOT the same on the fixed carb as the smallest drill we could use was a 1/16" rather than the correct 1mm (0.0394") but the bike runs OK just the same.
And stay out of McD's. All that grease & chemicals can rot your brain.

[tarzan]

Could the first few threads be gone from the removal at the machine shop?
I would say if it screws in and you can see or feel the tip of the screw come through into the venturi of the carb,it wont matter.
When running,can you screw it in until the idle drops off or is there no change?

[CA]

Discouraged

THanks for the replies but the mixture screw is the least of my worries now...today i got a call and the guy putting my tires on said that my front brakes were sticking....long story short my left front caliper is sticking a lot, i can even hear it when rolling sometimes and the disc gets blazing hott, so i guess its not releasing at all. How hard is it to rebuild? How long? Or should I just buy new front calipers? THe MC seems to be working because we unscrewed the bolt and fluid came out...so I don't know at all. I don't anything about brakes at all! I mean I did the carbs but I dont know anything about this.....

I am getting discouraged...a guy offered me 1300 for it today it crossed my mind because I am just worried I will never have a good running bike...its one thing another another...

[DGXSER]

If you handled the carbs, the brakes are cake walk!! Not sure you can get a new caliper and any you buy used will most likely need the same work as your old ones.

There are a few things to look at here, first is the "spooge" hole in the MC. There is a tech tip here

http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-t...oge-holes.html

You want to make sure that hole is not plugged. Then, I would definitely pull your front calipers one at a time and clean those. Two things to watch here, one is how to get the piston out of the caliper. Most folks just pull the caliper off the bike, then with the line still hooked up, pump the brake handle to push the piston out of the caliper. Watch you dont let the MC drain out of fluid, and also do NOT get your fingers between the piston and the caliper, shove an old rag in there to catch the piston.

When you have the piston out, make sure you pull the o ring that sits inside the caliper out and clean all the gunk out of the groove it sits in. That is the most often heard reason for these brakes locking up like that. Clean the groove really well, clean the o-ring with clean brake fluid, and clean the caliper out well, then reassemble using the same parts (most often they are fine to re-use). Repeat on the other side after you put the first caliper back on. Also be sure to flush clean brake fluid into the lines.

Most likely, this will fix your brake issues, and should only take an evening to do both sides, and only cost you the new brake fluid. One other item to consider is replacing the old brake lines.

We all get worn out fixing things some days, especially when things are not going well, but if you keep at it, you will have a great running bike and the satisfaction of knowing you did all that work and it is truly YOUR bike then.

[tarzan]

DGXSER is right, the brakes are simple.BTW, sometimes you have to scrape hardened gunk off that oring in the caliper then wash with brake cleaner.
Yea and I agree ,most guys feel overwhelmed at first with all the things that crop up.But look on the bright side,if you already did the carbs and you tackle the brakes,then most likely you'll be past the real hard stuff.UHH- unless you end up needing the second gear fix.lol. But seriously this stuff aint rocket science, it just takes patience and time.So hang in there,you maight even make some new friends.
Good Luck, Rick

[CA]

Here we go...

Thanks for the encouragement guys...I will try and tackle them ASAP...thanks for the info DGXSER. I suppose I should just do the MC then the calipers...are the calipers pretty straight forward to disassemble and reassemble? My clymers doesn't tell you because they say its "too hard" Is there any tutorials on here? I looked and couldn't find them. One day maybe we will tackle what sounds like a cylinder missing (I think its just the spark plugs)

[DGXSER]

Cylinder missing could be as simple as a synch of the carbs or any number of things. Lets get the stopping down first then we can tackle the miss.

Yes, do the spooge hole first, that may fix the problem, but honestly, cleaning the calipers is so dang easy, there is no reason not to. I will say, definitely hit the bolts and the bleeders with blaster before you try to loosen them. Hate to have a bleeder snap off.

Disassembly of the caliper is very straight forward. On the special, you pull the nut off the top of the bolt that mounts the caliper, then pull the plug out the bottom and remove the single mounting bolt. Slide the caliper off the rotor, pads and all. When you see the pads, don't worry, they are supposed to look like that. Remove the pin holding the pads on. Then remove the clip ring holding the dust cover in place, and remove the dust cover. Now is the time to remove the MC cover and have some brake fluid handy. While the brake line is still attached, squeeze the brake lever to push the piston out. Just keep pumping and it should push out, don't forget to add fluid to the MC so it doesn't go dry. Like stated, don't get your hand in there as it may POP out with force that could hurt your fingers. You may need to wiggle it a bit to get it the rest of the way out, but not to bad from here. Now just use a small screwdriver or some other device to get the O-ring out of the caliper carefully so you dont damage it. From here it is just clean...clean...clean...and then reverse for re-assembly.

[CA]

Brakes - Check

Well it took me half the morning and half the afternoon but I cleaned my splooge hole cleaned my left front caliper (that was the culprit) and bleed the brakes like crazy. It took them some riding to begin to firm up but they have, and the discs are about the same temp now, not too hot at all, and shes rolls a little too easy!! haha. So it seems like that is taken care of for now, good thing today because today some idiot decided to slam on her brakes with three bikes behind her, one of my friends almost fishtailed, but my brakes did just fine!

I found that I was missing a cylinder because of a severely fouled (really dark/carbon build up) and so I replaced it with a half used plug and man she really goes on all 4 cylinders!
Now after a day of riding (about 70 miles) I have noticed some things which will need to be addressed I only got about 60 miles on 3.5 gallons of gas. yes. I was shocked when I had to go on reserve while driving ( ya i was cranking her but still.) I have a low end sputter, like I basically have to keep it about 3K rpm if I want to move, but after that she goes pretty smoothly, but even the guys riding with me noticed the sputter, especially the low end. 2k-3k. So my guess is I need to crank down my idle mixture screws quite a bit. I am worried about the one that is only down 6 turns, but I think I will use fredington's advice and use the screw that was already broken off and see if I can clear out the threads . But with that gas mileage it seems they could all use a good full turn?? And I suppose once the spark plugs aren't fouling from being so rich maybe that will heal my low end sputter?? I have new ones but I should probably wait to put them in huh?

THoughts?

Thanks! She getting healthier every day!

[tarzan]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news but if one caliper was gunked up and sticking the other one is probably right behind it.I had to disassemble all the brakes on mine.Also had to do the same on my last XS.The last thing you want is to have a brake lock-up at a street light or while riding.Its hard to move one once stuck.I have had to do it once on the side of the road.Now that you have one done, the others will go fast.

As for your plugs fouling,you may have your floats a little high.But like you said maybe just idle mixture.I would idle the bike as low as possible,then screw the mixture screws in one at a time till it starts to stall,then back it out till it smooths back out and then out another 1/4 turn.Then go to the next screw.Also need to sync the carbs.

[CA]

True...

Yea I plan on doing the other one soon, just didn't have time today and I just finally got it in riding condition so I had to give in to the perfect temperature.

Ya I synched the carbs pretty closely with the vacuum gauge. Maybe I need Nashville_Bill's help...Hopefully the mixture screws will do it, I dont feel like pulling out the carbs anytime soon again...but o well.

[Ken Talbot]

If you're getting poor mileage, low-end sputter, and a lack of performance below 3K, you've still got dirty carbs. The difference you noticed from running on 3 plugs to running on 4 - you'll see that much and more once your carbs are clean. Then, when you get it properly sync'd, you see another improvement. It just keeps geting better!