Pod question, yeah I know

[g15usmc]

Okay some history to start. I have a 1979 Standard, with a Mac 4 into 2 exhaust, and Emgo Pods. I rejetted the carbs 142.5 mains to compensate for the Exhaust and Pods. I did the Exhaust first and it ran really good with the stock airbox but wanted a little more umph and I figured Pods would help plus it would make it easier to get the carbs on and off. Well once I put the Pods on it started missing at 5000+ RPM and WOT. I pulled them off and looked at them closer and with the help of this site I found that they blocked part of the intake, but you probably already guessed that. I pulled the Pods off and ran it down the highway sans filters and Holy Smokes. It pulled like a freight train from 1000 to 8000 RPM. That's how I want it to run. So I pulled the Boots off of my airbox cut them down and used them as the boots for the Emgos. I figured this should be at least as good as the airbox, but no. It still misses at 5000+RPM and WOT. I pull the filters off and again it runs great. So I know the Pods are the problem. My question is if I switch to Mike's XS pods will they be better, and why? I am not interested in going back to the airbox. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Zack

i had the same issue and i switched to these... click on the pic... they gave me the results i was looking for...and less than $30 for all four... good luck whatever you do...

[Stepka]

Where did u get your seat?

[bigzack]

I put the 137.5 jets back in and as expected it didn't help. But what I thought was odd was it didn't make it any worse. It really didn't change anything, or at least not enough to be noticed. So now I'm questioning changing my jetting. Does anyone have an idea on what else to check other than the jetting? I am going to go through the timing and make sure the vaccum advance is working. Anything else?

[bigzack]

Where did u get your seat?

The seat is from roccitycafe.com the tailight is a '48 chevy truck tailight.

[natemoen]

Have you looked at your pickup coil wires?

[bigzack]

Pickup Wires

I went out to the garage and checked the timing and vaccum advance, both fine then saw Nate's post on the pickup wires. So I went back out and pulled on them one by one with the bike running and I pulled one of the blue ones clean off. It had been spliced before by a PO as had the orange. So now I will need to splice at least the blue back together but I would like more room. What kind of wire can I use to replace this, have read test meter wire, is that correct? Also is there anything to worry about when soldering these?

[bikerphil]

Zack, it's pretty straight forward, use meter wire and follow the tech tips. Leave enough slack to route the wires away from the moving parts.

[bigzack]

I got it soldered the rest look good so I'll leave them alone. I did take off the pick up so I'll have to regap it as soon as I figure out what .7mm is in inches. No metric feeler gauges, yet. Thanks for the help guys. I'll let you know what the progress is tomorrow.

[bikerphil]

Conversion is .027" courtesy Google.

[bigzack]

I got the pickups set last night and tried to fire it. It wouldn't start at all. Lots of poping sounds like the timing is 180 out. WTF??? Left it for the night. When I got home today I did some more digging on it all 4 pickups look fine now no breaks. Pulled the heat shield back to check the factory conections they all look good too. I did have to move the pickups in quite a bit to get to .027". Could they be too close? Did I cook something while soldering? Doubtful as I can't see any issues. Any ideas guys?

[bikerphil]

Depending how much of the P/U coil assembly you took apart, it is possible to install the reluctor 180 out. IIRC, it should be pointing towards the upper pickup coil when #1 cyl is at TDC.

[bigzack]

Phil,
I just took the top P/U coil off to get more room to work, soldered the wire and replaced I didn't move anything else. Until tonight when I took the whole assembly apart. I checked the Ohms from the plug behind the fuse block, 733 and 762. Then checked them at the ignitor, same 733 and 762. So the P/Us should be good. Then I checked the vaccum advance can, it starts to pull in @ 1cm/hg and is all in @ 7cm/hg. Seems okay. I then pulled the plate that holds the P/U coils off and lubed the centrifigul advance weights and springs. They move well but the springs seem pretty strong, no idea how strong they should be so I put it all back together re checked the gap on the P/U coils .027". So I fire it up it starts although reluctantly, and I notice the advance is not pulling in. I reached down and pushed the coils forward to advance and it smooths out. I shut it down and rechecked the vaccum unit same readings. does this mean I'm not getting enough vaccum fom the carb? And why would it change? I know the advance was working when I was having problems earlier today because I saw it moving as the bike was running. I'm so confused.

[bikerphil]

Sounds like the timing is off. If you didn't mark it's location when you disassembled it you might want to check it with a timing light. Try setting it in the center of it's travel limitations or a bit more CCW.

[bigzack]

No luck it just crancks now and won't even start. The closest I can get is a couple really loud back fires out of the pipes. Doesn't seem to matter what the timing is set at, I've tried from one end of the spectrum to the other. It only pulls about 1cm/hg when cranking. The battery is now dead from cranking I have it on the charger for the night now I'll try more tomorrow. I can't believe it has gone from ripping doen the road @100+ with a miss at 5000rpm to absolutely not running in the course of 2 days. I don't get it. I really don't understand why it has no vaccum now I'm scared that something internal has gone TU.

[bigzack]

I'm to the point now that i would love for it to run as bad as it did before. How sad is that?