stupid stupid bike!

[1st bike]

i know it's not the bike, i know it's me, but still....all i wanna do is ride the damn thing. so it wouldn't start, and started running rich, so i figured i had a stuck float needle, and would run some sea foam through it and pray. apparently i did a very bad thing. now it is a bit#h to start, and if i let off the throttle it dies, and it has no NO NO power anymore. got it going around the block and no acceleration at all. which sucks, cause that is why i love the bike. it ran well for about two days after the sea foam. any thoughts at all? is this all carb related, or do i have a bigger problem? i'd really appreciate some help, my bike is about the only "me" time i have, and between work, travel and the kids, i don't get much of that to begin with. i just need the thing to start when i want it to start and ride when i NEED to ride....thanks men, i know you'll come up with something.

p.s. i almost had a very tod moment when i finally got it started i was so excited i almost took off in sandals and shorts. but my head got the better of me, and i went back in and changed while it ran/died on me.

[DGXSER]

Well, the first place I start is by looking at the plugs when it will not start like that. If it sounds/feels like it is almost starting, you can hear or feel some ignition going on then it tends to be fuel related. Electrical issues typically you just hear it crank on the starter and just turn with nothing happening.

Remind us, have you pulled the carbs and cleaned them up good yet since you go the bike? The seafoam seems to suggest you may not have. Seafoam is great for minor buildup or a small piece of crap in the float valve maybe. But, IMO, it is not really a substitute for pulling and cleaning a set of carbs that sat and had the old gas varnish up the insides.

[geobiker]

I don't know as much as some of the other guys on this site, but I have been tinkering with my 79 XS1100F for a few years off and on.

What I find suspicious is that you said it was running fine and all of a sudden it seems to lack power. From my experience carbs just don't decided to go out of wack. The running rich issue is probably seperate from the lack of power issue. Mine runs a little rich on 2 and 3 and bogs down a little between 2500 and 3000 rpm, but it has plenty of power once I get it above 3200 rpm.

As to the lack of power and hard to start, it could be something as simple as a plugged fuel tank vent, or plugged fuel filters, if the bike has them. If not that, then I would lean towards an electrically related problem. The stock fuse blocks on the XS1100 are a notorius weak point and if the electronic ignition module isn't getting enough voltage the coils will be putting out a weak spark.

There are also many other possible sources of problems related to the electrical system. This is a great site and there are many more people much more knowledgeble than me that can help you out. Good luck~!

[XSokieSPECIAL]

check the pickup coils

[dbeardslee]

so i figured i had a stuck float needle, and would run some sea foam through it and pray.

Easiest way to free a stuck float is to give the bowl a firm rap with the back of a large screwdriver. I'd check the pickup coils like Okie said, and I'd also run the resistance tests on the ignition coils with a digital multimeter. I had some coils crap out on me last year, and it looked for the world like a carb problem. Check your plugs like Don said, and clean them - that will make a huge difference in starting if they're fouled. When I first got mine, I'd carry a little wire brush around with me, and if it got hard to start I'd clean 'em where ever I happened to be, and it would fire right up. That's a temporary solution, though. If it's fouling plugs you need to find out why. Could be as simple as your mixture adjustment. Invest in a colortune, if you haven't already. Just some more stuff to think about . Where in Indiana are you?

[Welsh1100]

1st Bike

What you described sounds exactly what had happened to me. Not long after I bought my 79 xs1100f, I was riding along just fine. After going thru a toll plaza I suddenly started losing power. The more I twisted the throttle...the more lack of power I got. I limped it home and began looking it over. At first glance I saw a vacuum line was off the manifold on the left side. The tubing was "heat formed and had several visible cracks in it. I bought new tubing from an auto parts store (make sure it is rated for fuel and temperature). The inner diameter was slightly smaller than the original. A little saliva on the fittings and the new tubing went right on.
The bike responded perfectly on first fire up.

[coltrain5000]

check that all your header pipes are hot. You may have had a coil fail. Or a coil has lost power maybe?

[thewiz]

I would first try to isolate ...

cylinders to see if the problem were specific to one or more cylinders or whether is concerned them all equally.

Like the other posters said, pull the plugs and lay them in order and tell us what you see, color wise or whether they're wet or dry, tan or oily black etc. Consult a spark plug chart http://www.ngksparkplugs.com/tech_su...qs/faqread.aspor tell us what you observe. Also start the motor and quickly feel the pipes near the exhaust port for heat ... cold pipes can tell you that a cylinder is not firing.

Isolate and cure. Stay calm and read all the tech tips that might apply. PU coils, carbs etc.

Shouldn't have to remind you that these are thirty years old ... so, this is just my opinion, but ...spend quality time with your bike on the middle stand and it will pay dividends back while you're riding it.

[BigRed]

+1 for pick-up coil wires. Good news is that these are one of the easiest things to check on the bike... just four screws gets you under the timing cover.

Good luck.

[1st bike]

thanks guys!! I'll start by saying i'll borrow a meter and check the coils. plugs are easy to check, so i'll do that too! and heat to all the pipes...i think so, i honestly had the thought to check that, and not to be gross, but all i had was spit, so i spit on all the pipes and they all sizzeled, so i think i am good there. and insofar as the carbs are concerned, no i haven't cleaned them, so reguardless of the problem, they are going to be pulled and cleaned and i remember seeing a rebuild kit on here somewhere, so they are getting those as well. and dbeardslee, i am in indy, where is mansville?

[DGXSER]

Well, Mansville is wherever I am at!!...Ohh...you meant Mainville...

That would be roughly at Kings Island.

As to kits for the carbs, unless your just in a hurry, you may want to pull them apart and see what really needs replacing. Most of the jets can be cleaned and reused. I would recommend absolutely replacing the float needle valve and its seat while your in there. Those do wear and can cause serious pains later on. If you order kits, I highly recommend George Fix on Ebay. Tell him what year and model you have and he will make sure you get the right parts. Great guy to deal with.

[dbeardslee]

I'm about 1 mile south of Kings Island, close to the intersection of I71 and I275 north of Cincinnasty. Several other members and I get together pretty regularly in my mancave (including the one who types faster than me, and made the post before this ), so if you can get it over this way, I'd be happy to give you hand. If you haven't cleaned the carbs yet, that's gonna need to be done. If you don't do anything else, take the bowls off, and clean out the little jets in the bottoms. If you stick the tube from a can of carb cleaner in the hole at the bottom, you should get a very energetic stream from the exit point on the bowl flange. Make sure you point it away from you when you do it - car cleaner in the eyes really hurts - DAMHIK . Gravity tends to drag crud down, and that's one place that normally gets sludged up, but a thorough cleaning is best. The last time I cleaned and rebuilt a set of carbs for another member it took 9 hours - start to end of test ride. It's a little tight, but it can be done in a single day if you need help.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

Probably just clogged up with pink paint.....LOL

Karla Jones has a pink fairing that would match perfectly.

( couldn't help it....LOL)

[1st bike]

thanks greg, i've been looking for some accessories! dbeardslee, i may take you up on that offer....depends on how badly i screw it up. i am going to check the coils first, just to see if that fixes the problem, and then attack the carbs. I'll start with your quick fix suggestion and try just spraying the cleaner into them and see where that gets me, but at some point i am going to pull them, taking pictures and labeling along the way, so i don't mix anything up, and thanks to don, find that george dude on ebay and just rebuild them. i want to say the po did that already....told me he did anyway (well a shop in peru indiana, same place that did the paint should have done it), but we all know where listening to a po will get you....wish me luck gentleman.