What to do? Can't get it running.

[Krandall]

Alrighty, so... I got a 78' XS1100 for free from a friend of a friend. It had been sitting in a barn for 3 years. PO said it ran when he parked it, (was in car accident so couldn't ride it)

I got it. had a hole through the gas tank (rusted through)

I got a new gas tank, all new lines, new carb boots, and rebuilt the carbs (replaced brass floats w/ the plastic)

I replaced plug wires w/ a how to on here (cutting into coils) new plugs/boots.. I get a nice spark on all 4 cylinders.. I can get it to run when on half to 1/4 choke. let it warm up and I can take choke off. but the instant I even touch the throttle, it stumbles flat on its face and dies. blip the starter, it'll sit and idle like no tomorrow? Anyone have any advice for something like this? or things I should try?


-Randy

[CatatonicBug]

When you cleaned the carbs, did you REMOVE the pilot jets from the carbs? Those jets contol the fuel flow up to ~3k rpm, and without them, the engine gets no fuel at lower rpm's(except via the enricher circuit, which sounds like it's working well).

[Krandall]

Yup, I had pulled out all 4 pilots and cleaned them out. I even took (not sure what its called) but where the needle slides into on the main part of the carb body, I even pulled all 4 of those out as well.. Maybe I'll pull it apart once more to verify there's nothin stuck in there. frustrating as heck.

[oseaghdha]

I think your float levels are bad.
Seems like someone here said the plastic floats don't sit the same, so you have to adjust for them.

[dbeardslee]

I replaced the brass floats in my '79 with plastic and can testify that they are set the same as the brass ones - 24.5-26.5mm. Did you clean the small jets at the bottom of the float bowls? I'd also check the pickup coil wires - when you hit the gas the advance will start to move and if you have bad spots in the wires that's when you'll see it. You might also want to go through all your electrical connectors - particularly the ones with the red/wht wire - insure that they are all clean and lubricated with either dielectric grease or WD-40. Don't forget the connectors that are behind the fuse block mounting plate. It's also a good idea to check your electrics with a digital multimeter - there are plenty of threads that can tell you how. The carbs can certainly cause a lot of problems, but don't get tunnel vision on them - it takes a lot of different things to make it run right. You might also take a look at this thread.