Xs1100 Rebuild thread!

[SLKid]

Hey yall
I finally got a real start on gettin my XS runnin. Currently, she starts, Idles, and even shifts gears. Got bad beads on the tires, so no actual rides. Came with the EMGO Pods which are a PITA from what I've read on here. So I'll probably order new Pods cause it didnt come with an Air Box.
When I giver her throttle with the pods on she sputters and backfires and acts all crazy. So i'll clean em first then try again
Question
I have extra carbs and i went through mine and put the same jets and needles in all 4 carbs. Is that advisable? I saw in the handbook that 1 and 4 are the same and 2 and 3 are different.
I'm runnin EMGO Pods and a MAC 4-2 system. Any thoughts on what my jet sizes SHOULD be?
Like I said ima clean those pods, readjust the chain tension, and i still gotta do a Valve check, Sync, and Colortune. Just wanna get her in the ball park before I do anything crazy with her.
-Chris

XJ700 Xs1100 Ninja500 82F150






Buddy Neale and my gf Lexy workin on Intake and gettin the brakes unstuck. Thank god for those guys

[CatatonicBug]

I have extra carbs and i went through mine and put the same jets and needles in all 4 carbs. Is that advisable? I saw in the handbook that 1 and 4 are the same and 2 and 3 are different.

That is completely advisable. Most folks run that way. It has been determinied that there is really no real benefit to running the center cylinders richer than the outer ones.

[cowboybob998]

Pods

Hey yall
I finally got a real start on gettin my XS runnin. Currently, she starts, Idles, and even shifts gears. Got bad beads on the tires, so no actual rides. Came with the EMGO Pods which are a PITA from what I've read on here. So I'll probably order new Pods cause it didnt come with an Air Box.
When I giver her throttle with the pods on she sputters and backfires and acts all crazy. So i'll clean em first then try again
Question
I have extra carbs and i went through mine and put the same jets and needles in all 4 carbs. Is that advisable? I saw in the handbook that 1 and 4 are the same and 2 and 3 are different.
I'm runnin EMGO Pods and a MAC 4-2 system. Any thoughts on what my jet sizes SHOULD be?
Like I said ima clean those pods, readjust the chain tension, and i still gotta do a Valve check, Sync, and Colortune. Just wanna get her in the ball park before I do anything crazy with her.
-Chris

XJ700 Xs1100 Ninja500 82F150






Buddy Neale and my gf Lexy workin on Intake and gettin the brakes unstuck. Thank god for those guys

Get rid of those EMGO pods, if they have the lip inside of them they will block off your air jets and give you a fit,

[cowboybob998]

pods

You can get the pods at Mike XS or APE Raceing, round oval pods for 50 0r 60 bucks

[fredintoon]

Hi Chris,
about the photos; they show no front fender, then a chrome one and finally a black one? Do NOT run without a front fender as it also works as a fork brace.
A real fork brace (Tkat's brace is good) will also help the XS11's skinny forks flex less.
and fer chrissake have your buddy pull his pants up
As others have posted, trashcan the EMGO pods, they block off the carbs peripheral air intakes.
The pleated oval pods from MikesXS (note that the price buys all 4) work great and they also have XS stamped into their ends which adds a certain touch of class to the bike.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey, you guys need an eye exam!

In the latter photos, it shows he's put on the LOWE's Velocity stack mods to be able to run the Emgo's without the lip interference, so for NOW he can just clean them and work on other steps to getting it running better.

What size jets...mains/pilots, cause with Pods and those aftermarket mufflers, you may need to go up a few sizes...are possibly runnng LEAN, but not sure....? Can you eventually get it to run strong once you get the rpms up a bit and can get the throttle open into the mains????

Also, have you verified that you are hitting on all 4 cylinders....water spritzed on headers and get flash steam from all of them, or are any colder/cooler??

T.C.

[cowboybob998]

Blind !

Hey, you guys need an eye exam!

In the latter photos, it shows he's put on the LOWE's Velocity stack mods to be able to run the Emgo's without the lip interference, so for NOW he can just clean them and work on other steps to getting it running better.

What size jets...mains/pilots, cause with Pods and those aftermarket mufflers, you may need to go up a few sizes...are possibly runnng LEAN, but not sure....? Can you eventually get it to run strong once you get the rpms up a bit and can get the throttle open into the mains????

Also, have you verified that you are hitting on all 4 cylinders....water spritzed on headers and get flash steam from all of them, or are any colder/cooler??

T.C.

Yep im about half blind, lol, have to take two pare of glass's where ever i go, one for seeing and one for reading.
I have the oval pod filters but ya know i am thinking about doing V stack thing any way, move those pods back to fill up some of the dead space, ya think it might help it run better ?

[SLKid]

Cyl 1 Seems to be a little cooler. A buddy of mine said he was seeing heat escape from the header port, which means i gotta tighten that up. And no, when I give it throttle, she gets up a little bit, then boggs down no matter how much i give her. Just coughs and sputters and tries to die.
I think the 20 year old Clutch cable may have something to do with that, but we'll see.
When i first started her up yesterday it blew white smoke everywhere until she warmed up. Then no more smoke. Wonder if I have leaky rings. That would suck..
-Chris

[slow mo]

hi kid

hi and welcome! i run the mikes xs pods with no problems,,i will suggest that you look at the pick-up coil wires for breaks as they are quite often the problem,,inspection of the wires is easy as shown in one of the tech tips ,,ride safe ,,slow mo!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Chris,

The clutch cable will have nothing to do with how the engine can rev, especially in neutral! Instead of cleaning the Pods, try cleaning the carbs!

I see that you seem to be keeping it at a STORAGE facility. If it's sat for a while, then the fuel has probably gotten all gummed up in the small passages of the carbs pilot/idle circuits, and you will need to do a thorough tear down cleaning to get them working properly, otherwise you'll be chasing your tail trying to tune a clogged set of carbs!

What Slo Mo pointed out is another big common weak link in the ignition systems of these machines, but get the carbs right first, and you may get surprised at what it will do. The #1 colder cylinder can also be a carb problem.

T.C.

[SLKid]

Lol thanks TopCat! But i am a VETERAN Xj700 owner and Trust me, I know how picky these carbs can be. I've already figured I'll do another thorough carb clean just to make sure. Better safe than sorry and without and airbox cleaning the carbs is a snap

Slo Mo,
The first time I looked the coil pick ups had been spliced before. So, i figured, that cant be it. Fired up the engine, touched the red wire and she died. So I spliced back into it, had to add extra wire cause there was almost none left. Now she purrs rather nicely. So, thank you!

Ok warmed her up after the splicing, and did a compression test on all 4
Pulled and grounded plugs
Wide open throttle
Full battery
and between the 2rd and 4th crank, she was up to 125-150 on all 4.
So im guessing no probs there. Might re-check after she runs a bit more to make sure all oil is out etc. THIS is what I was really worried about.

NOW! Next problem.
I've known the petcocks leaked since I filled it with gas the first time. Not a lot, but a nice drip drip. And when she's runnin she coughs, and white smoke and backfire and it seems almost impossible to keep her runnin with throttle. During Idle she seems fine, little sputter here and there. So I decided to open the gas cap. No change. Turned it off, filled up the carbs ALL the way, and unplugged the fuel line.
Hit the start
And gas POURED out of the petcocks. I'm talking like the falls. So disconnected the vac lines (Cause my stupid self forgot) and fired her up.
NO white smoke. NO coughing. NO Backfiring. Sounded perfect. (well as far as perfect goes without valves, sync, and colortune)

So would I be correct in my assumption that new petcocks are in order?
If so, where can I purchase new ON OFF Petcocks for my girl

Sounds like the petcocks are FLOODING the engine causing it to sputter and die and backfire.

Also when I crank it up fast she blows a little bit of black smoke out of Cyl 3&4. Wonder why?

Thanks for the time guys! And listening to me ramble. So far i love this bike and I cant wait to get her on the road! My little sisters graduation is on June 17th and I'd like to ride this bad boy down to see her.
-Chris

[DGXSER]

So would I be correct in my assumption that new petcocks are in order?
If so, where can I purchase new ON OFF Petcocks for my girl

You can get rebuild kits for these yet on Ebay I believe. Pingle I believe makes some you can fit to the tank. Or IIRC Parts-n-more has them also.

Sounds like the petcocks are FLOODING the engine causing it to sputter and die and backfire.

Well, I guess the XS is different than the XJ700 because on the XS (and any other carb system really) the petcocks do not control how much fuel goes into the carbs and therefore the engine. The petcocks only control IF fuel is flowing to the carbs. The float needle valve in the carb controls how much fuel comes in.

From what you have explained, it does sound like your float valves are not being closed on one or more carbs. This will cause an extremely rich condition while it is running.

Also when I crank it up fast she blows a little bit of black smoke out of Cyl 3&4. Wonder why?

Probably the carbs where the fuel is not being shut off and is running rich, black smoke.

[natemoen]

I would agree. it's not the petcocks that are the problem (could be a problem, but not thee problem) necessarily, it is something within the carburetor, floats valves, jets...) that's causing the fuel issue.

[jwhughes3]

I like how..

Buddy Neale and my gf Lexy workin on Intake and gettin the brakes unstuck. Thank god for those guys

Chris,

I like how its the GIRL working and your BUDDY cutting up and goofing off!

Keep that girl!

John

[TopCatGr58]

Hey again,

Well, from your description, what looks like others may have not picked up on, but I'm wondering if you have the hoses connected properly?

Your profile says 80 Special, but your bike is an 80 STANDARD, as far as I can see from the forks and tank. The 78-80 carbs have 2 sets of inlets, the LOWER ones which are the fuel inlets, the UPPER ones are the bowl vents only and no fuel lines should be connected to them, but they need to be OPEN to air/vent, otherwise if capped off, will cause the carbs to flood.

A few folks have reported that their petcocks were damaged and fuel would leak thru the vacuum control diaphragm thru the vacuum hose and into the intake boots vacuum ports!

As stated, IF the float valve needles and seats are working properly, the carbs should not flood no matter what the petcocks are set to.

Sounds like another trip into the carbs is needed to check a few things, the float needle valves and seats, as well as verifying the floats are actually floating and do not have pinholes in them and are sinking.

If you can't clean/polish your current metal float needle valves and seats to get a good seal, then instead of replacing them with same buggy metal ones, get the XV920 float seats and VITON/rubber tipped float needles, you'll need both the 920 seats and needles, the needles alone will NOT fit in the OEM seats...they'll get stuck!

T.C.