My first project

[petejw]

hi stevestrom,

just a cpl of things came to mind,

an engine burning oil makes it really hard to read
plugs, can be hard to tell the difference between a sooty
plug and a plug carbonised with burnt oil,

a rich or lean condition can foul a plug with a smokey engine,
if the engine is running lean
it will run much hotter, things expand more than they should
and the oil begins to thin out fouling the plug.

the plugs u have pictured tho, all 4 look different
when u rebuilt the carbs did u use all stock settings?
did u sync the carbs when u put them back on?
are all float levels exactly the same?

when u honed the engine, did u give the cylinders
a nice cross hatch pattern?
this is important for the rings to seal correctly.

with the head, did u replace the valve guide seals?

when u checked for leakage did u fill the ports with fuel
to check for seapage between the valve and seat?

other than the smoke, how is the engine running?

if the bike seems to be running good enuff to ride,
id be runnng the engine in as soon as you can,
starting and stopping a rebuilt engine isnt good as
the chance of the cylinders glazing becomes greater.

[crazy steve]

The numbers you are getting on your engines seems really high, I have little experience with this stuff but from what I have read these engines should be around the 150psi mark when warm. Don't the numbers go up as the pistons expand in the cylinder? I wonder how high your numbers would climb with a hot motor and a little oil?

I'm personally not sure a warm engine will translate into higher numbers. Yes, you should get better ring seal if the motor is warm, but you've also got the factor of how much the aluminum cylinders/head 'grows'. I know on Harleys that their cylinders can get up to .1" longer from full cold to fully warmed, so that will affect compression ratio quite a bit. If the rings are sealing, oil makes little difference in the numbers.

Are my numbers really high? Can't say for sure, as I'm not quite testing under the same conditions as if the motor was in the bike. It was mentioned that carbon build-up can cause high numbers, but I doubt if it would cause them to go that high without showing problems. None of the plugs that I pulled showed any signs of detonation or other distress that you would expect if the compression ratio was excessively high.

But after running these tests, I'd say you just need to break-in the rings..

[petejw]

another thing came to mind,
what engine oil are you using?
freshly honed cylinders and new rings need
a mono grade oil to run the engine in,
using normal oil can cause the cylinder bores to
glaze causing the engine to smoke.

[stevestrom]

another thing came to mind,
what engine oil are you using?
freshly honed cylinders and new rings need
a mono grade oil to run the engine in,
using normal oil can cause the cylinder bores to
glaze causing the engine to smoke.

Well I learn something new everyday! I just put the regular 20W50 stuff in after I put the engine back together. Since I have fuel in the oil from a rich running problem and I have to change the oil now anyway, what do you recommend?

How soon could the cylinders glaze? The bike has been run maybe a total of 5 mins since it was put back together.

Thanks for the help! It's nice to recieve since I am a total newbie at this rebuilding stuff.

[petejw]

head down to ur local auto store,
its a straight 30 weight oil,
the same stuff used in lawnmowers etc,(small 4 stroke engines)
ive also noticed valvoline sell oil specifically for running
in engines again its a straight 30 weight oil,
not sure what the difference would be between
the 2 oils, (maybe even less detergents) if u cant get the oil specifically for running in engines
then the straight 30 will be fine.

with regards to glazing, hard to say
the oil shouldve been put in
straight away before the engine was started and the engine run in.
start and stopping the engine, incorrect engine oil, doesnt take much,
just read ur post again if its only 5 minutes running time u might be ok,
make sure ur carbs are sweet, change the oil and take the bike out for a good
hard run.
heres a link i posted a little while ago about running in engines

http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28520

also dont forget to retorque head bolts and adj cam chain if uve
fitted a new head gasket.

who did the honing of the cylinders?

[stevestrom]

There are still a few things that I have to button up on it before I can take it on the road, legally. Just finished resetting everything on the carbs again so they should be good now (fingers crossed). I'll get that oil and change it up.

I did the honing of the cylinders myself. I was told that it should be done if the pistons are coming out of the cylinders. Did quite a bit of reading up on it before I did it though, made sure to not to take off too much material and left a good crosshatch. The whole bike had been sitting outside for at least 8 years without running, but it only has about 20,000 miles on it.

[daveyg]

So... Haven't heard much but interested in how it's all turned out...

[stevestrom]

Working on making it street legal at the moment so that I can take it out and run it in. It's getting close though. Need to paint and reassemble front brake calipers (rear is done). Signal and tail lights are currently in the mail. Still have to wait a bit so that I can afford the new speedo and shocks. Then the seat needs to be covered. I'll give pictures when the brakes and lights are installed, but can't give anymore info on riding until it's ready for the road. I am hoping to have it road ready within the next two months.

[roccet]

i love it.. great color combination .. good looking bike!!

[stevestrom]

Well still working on getting the bike road worthy. Here are a couple of pictures of the bike now. I mounted a tach, installed the front signals and headlight wiring, bled the rear brake and made a bracket to attach the rear tail lights and plate.









I still have to put on new shocks (when they get here), put a cover on the seat, wire in the tail light and rebuild and mount the two front calipers and master cylinder.

So close but so far

[natemoen]

Very nice! What's your exhaust? What are you doing with your old shocks? Anything wrong with them?

[stevestrom]

Very nice! What's your exhaust? What are you doing with your old shocks? Anything wrong with them?

Thanks! I haven't had a good look at the shocks yet. They are pretty bouncy (lots of spring, very little shock) not even sure if they are rebuildable. I have nothing planned for them but they do not suit the style that I am going for. I am getting coil overs and didn't see the point in spending any money refurbishing the stockers.

Pretty sure the exhaust is a Mac. There are no markings on it, but it did come off an xs1100 special. I like the sound of it despite what I have read about the macs on this site.

[petejw]

Thanks! I haven't had a good look at the shocks yet. They are pretty bouncy (lots of spring, very little shock) not even sure if they are rebuildable. I have nothing planned for them but they do not suit the style that I am going for

not sure of the type of shocks u have, but if they have adjustable dampening,
try turning them up 1 or 2 notches and see how they go.

the bikes coming up a treat. :-)

[natemoen]

Let me do some research and maybe if your shocks are for sale I may be interested....

[cywelchjr]

Let me do some research and maybe if your shocks are for sale I may be interested....

Those look like XJ air shocks which are rebuildable and are air adjustable. I have a set of them on my 80G and very much like them. There is an article in the tech tips I believe that tells how to rebuild them. I'm not sure if I can tell but it looks like the air line might be missing. If this is the case, they would likely have no oil left in them and of course wouldn't do any damping. If he is willing to sell them and they are what I think they are, I would consider them a good upgrade. Be aware that you may need to clearance the eye on the right lower side a bit to get it to fit in on an XS, but it's not too hard to do, and you would have to either flip them around 180 or or remove the helmet lock to make room for the air line to go over the frame under the seat.