Don't say "I told you so"...

[cywelchjr]

- About the mixture screws- would it be the end of the world if I didn't mess with them? This is more of the same "I don't want to mess something up that is a bigger pain in the butt to fix later". Is there any way to (at least) get carb cleaner into where they are without taking them out?

My experience so far with BS34 III's (what the 80's have on them generally) is that the o-ring under the washer and spring on the mixture screw is critically important, and if it's shot (almost guaranteed at this age) you will have a really hard time getting a good idle. You can get the o-rings and all from MikesXS as the 80-82 650's use the same carbs as we do with the same mixture screw assembly.

PS: from what I have seen, all the 80 XS's use the same carbs, and share the same problems with them. Make sure to replace ALL the rubber parts in there, or IMHO you WILL have problems down the road if not right away.

[DGXSER]

IMHO the required replacement parts would be the needle valve and seat for the float, the bowl gasket (might get away with reusing it, but man will it suck to find out it seaps after the carbs are back on the bike) and the rubber o-ring on the mixture screw.

As stated, yep, you REALLY do want to get those plugs out and pull those mixture screws out. Those mixture screws are the primary tuning mechanism for these carbs. I'm willing to bet they will NEED to be adjusted when you are done. After cleaning my carbs up (that were not THAT dirty) and putting it al back mine went from three turns out to about 1-1/2 - 2 turns out.

[Lucien Harpress]

Alright, say I DO take the mixture screws out. What's the best way to get them back to where they need to be? Or is that what this article is for?

http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-tips/maintenance/carburators/179-adjusting-pilot-screws-by-ear-vs-colortune.html

[DGXSER]

Well, that tends to be a bit of a learned art. IMHO, reading your plugs is the best way to get to where you want to be. From what I have doen to date, I would say I can never hear the engine change much tuning by ear, and the one time I did a colortune I still wound up fine tuning by plug color after. The colortune will certainly help you get them in the right field of the ball park, but still not dead nuts on IMO.

So, if it were me, I would count the turns to bottom for each carb and note that somewhere, then clean and put them back in wiht new o-rings and set themt o the same spot as they were. Run the bike and see how the plugs look. Tune from there.

[Crazcnuk]

You fire the bike up, keep it running, raise the idle if you have to, but keep it idling as slow as it will keep running. You don't want it stalling while you do this.

When it is reasonably warm. turn each screw in until the idle drops/roughens noticeably, then backthe screw out slowly until the idle smooths out.

Do this with each carb, in turn. You may have to go over them a few times, but you will find that spot just before the idle goes rough, on each carb. Each time you go through the bank of carbs, if the idle goes up, lower it back down using the master idle screw.

When you are done, you should have a smooth idle, no popping, or missing and the engine should not sound like it is labouring, at about 1000-1200rpm.

Some people want all 4 set the same, I set them each where they need to be.

You can check it with the colortune , if you have one, but I am usually pretty close when I do it this way.

[stickman]

Hey, don't forget, after you get your carbs cleaned and before you reinstall them, you may want to clean out your tank, petcock and replace or install a fresh inline fuel filter. If your tank has trash, it will find contaminate those freshly cleaned carbs and add to your frustration. Good luck. Ed 81 XS1100