#1 and #4 pipes glowing orange

[tarzan]

One other thing, a vacuum leak will make it run lean.
Check vacuum hoses, vacuum nipples, and carb boots for leaks.
Even throttle shaft seals can leak.
I would spray some wd40 or something like that around those areas.
JAT

[Ivan]

FWIW at a high idle like that my Jardines start to glow after a bit as well. They are single wall pipes and the heat going through them without airflow over them makes them glow just a tad. Not so much as can be seen in bright daylight, but in the dark they sure do get an eerie glow.

Just my two cents.

[WMarshy]

Yep, sounds like your first trip into the carbs is upon you. Take note of your jet sizes, maybe someone has changed to some non-stock sizes already. You can find the correct stock size here. Also, make sure all the needles are at the same height, earlier models (78-79) had 5 height settings to choose from, later did not. Because this bike was a basket case you might not have the 80 carbs and the differences between the early type and later are different. It might help to know the subtle difference so once your in them you can confirm which they are... Anyways, there is a nifty tip for adjusting idle mixture using propane that also works well for finding vac leaks. In anycase, this page will become your best friend very soon.

[justjoe]

It was getting dark when I was running the bike.So what Ivan says can explain the glow.All the parts were original to the bike.Seems everything was gold instead of chrome.It had 30k miles on it.I fired up the bike again and used a temp gun.After 2 mins.#1 and 4 pipes were 250 degrees at the turndown,and #2 and 3 pipes were 150 degrees.Looks like I need to pull the carbs.

[Mroadrunner3]

Hay Joe, i just went through my carbs, got the kits off E-bay buy now. got 4 kits for about $80.00 was well worth the money, i got my bike last year for 300, and the carbs were rotted out, got some other's off the bay and just put them on, ran for the year but not with out isues. so now after doing a good tear down and cleaning, new kits and taking time to make them right, i can hardly hold on to the machine, the kits had Factory jets, and needles, i am using a K&N air filter but did't seam to affect the running. just an idea.
good luck

[dbeardslee]

250 sounds right about where they should be - that's about where mine are in the middle of summer, so it's maybe a bit warm. That red hot thing sure got everyone's attention though . Evidently steel turns red at around 1000 degrees, and aluminum melts at around 1200, so you can see where everyone's mind was going with that one. Glad it wasn't as bad as it first sounded.