Does this sound off to you?

[natemoen]

I don't need to split the carbs to soak them?

What are you going to soak them in?

[petejw]

u dont need to split the carbs to soak them,
but dont soak them in anything toxic as it will
eat the rubbers of the butterflys seals and fuel t's and cause
more pain than its worth, unless theyve been sitting around
in old fuel and gummed up, u shouldnt need to soak them.

just give em a good clean with carb cleaner, spray
inside all the little orifices including the float bowls,
reassemble with the stock jetting and see how they run.

[Fix]

Alright, thanks. I'll go get some carb cleaner. Wish I had a compressor to blow them out with.

[James England]

Before you dunk the carbs in anything, I think you should ask why you want to soak the carbs. The point of it is presumably that you want the carbs to be clean outside so you can work on them but spotlessly clean inside, with all the passages thoroughly clean etc. You can accomplish that without immersing the carbs in anything and you certainly don't need to split them.

Can I outline my own carb refurb to you? I removed the bank of carbs and found the outside of them very dirty. The carb adjusters, springs etc had 30 years of grime, oil, dirt etc on them. I had to get all that off in order to begin stripping them and I certainly didn't want any of that stuff going inside them. I reasoned that carbs are petrol-proof! So I used a clean paintbrush and petrol to wash the outside of the carbs. I had the petrol in a bucket, wore rubber gloves and held the carbs over it and used the brush to scrub them clean whilst relaxing with a cigarette (JOKE). Seriously, I kept all sources of sparks etc out of the way. You could probably use white spirit instead but petrol works really well.

Having cleaned the outside thoroughly, I removed all the tops, springs, slides and diaphragms. Then removed the bowls, floats, float needle valves etc etc. Have 4 plastic boxes (eg ice cream tubs) and put each carbs bits into it. It's easy to turn the bank of carbs round and therefore get everything the wrong way round, so make sure that, as you strip the carbs, you note which mouths of the carbs are facing your pots (ie filter side or engine side) and write it down so you don't forget.

Take everything out of the carbs that is removable, using correctly sized screwdrivers for the jets. There are numerous little tricks for making this easier... use snips to remove the float pins.... wooden cocktail sticks to pull some of the jets out after they've been unscrewed but won't come out of their hole etc.

Having got everytning out and all the bits in my pots, I used big aerosol tins of clutch and brake cleaner which came with little tubes for the nozzle and I blasted every orifice in sight on the carbs. I did not immerse the carbs in anything at any point because of the butterfly seals. The clutch and brake cleaner (or carb cleaner) evaporates quickly anyway. Once you've done one car, you'll see where the cleaner is supposed to emerge from once you get squirting. Watch you eyes, as the fluid can squirt out from drillings in the carbs. Basically, I blasted them repeatedly until everything looked clean inside. I used the full three tins, just to be sure.

Since I intended keeping my bike forever this time, instead of having to sell it, I decided it would be better to do the job properly and replace everything. Having gone as far as removing the carbs and doing the above, I didn't want to put the original jets etc back in. I used full rebuild kits from Georgefix and I also replaced the ageing diaphragms with new ones available from the US. I also polished the slides, and the bit of the carbs where they slide up and down. George's kits have a new float valve assembly but not the hemispherical mesh filter that sits on top of them, so you need to clean yours and re-use or buy new ones.(I just cleaned mine).

I also replaced my inlet manifolds which were cracked and old.

Before remounting the bank of carbs, I ran a pipe from the fuel tank and put the carbs nearby, sitting straight up as they would be on the bike. I let all the carbs fill, just to check that the float valves were working. There was no flooding so I then remounted the carbs.

I then took a deep breath and hit the starter button, wondering if I'd done anything wrong. The bike fired up first time and has run perfectly ever since. Doing the above made such a difference.

Personally, I think a thorough rebuild is vital in order to eliminate the 'pick and mix' approach of fault finding. I realise that it involves expense but the kits don't cost a lot and you don't ride a 30 year old bike without having to spend a bit. The good thing is, once you've done the carbs, that should be it for another 30 years........and it rules them out of the fault finding process.

I would put a standard set of jets in and use the standard airbox. I've had 4 four of these bikes, all with 4 into 1 exhausts and I've never had to re-jet ever. I just got rid of my 4 into 1 and put a standard 4 into 2 back on..... no rejetting.

When a bike malfunctions, there's a tendency to start pulling bits off all over the place, buying unnecessary parts, guessing what's wrong and so on. It's not a good way to go. You've mentioned a weak spark.... well the XS1100 is known for that and they run like that. Valves clearance? That won't stop a bike running overnight. If you have a spark at all four plugs and the valves open and close, it'll be OK (assuming you haven't done anything with teh camchain?)

As you said, you bike was running before, so that's a very encouraging sign!

[Fix]

Thanks James! I really appreciate the advice. I did exactly what you said, and when I got it buttoned up today she started with the enricher all the way out and quickly ran up to 3k on the tach, I put the enricher in halfway and it sat at about 1.5k but wouldn't get higher. If I pushed the enricher in or touched the throttle it died. Pipes 2 and 4 were warm, but 1 and 3 are hot.

I have a feeling I had an electrical problem that I tried to solve with the carbs and introduced MORE problems.

I'll check the plugs and make sure I'm getting spark on all 4. Next up is going through the wires in the timing cover. I may go ahead and get coils from mikesxs, as I don't see a reason not to unless you guys recommend I don't.

It's amazing how happy I am just to get back to not running

PS. I have 4-2 pipes off a midnight special that I switched to from stock 4-2 standard pipes. I never had 4-1 pipes, I just figured with the pods and these shorter pipes it was too lean. It very well may be lean still, but I'll get it running 100% before I worry about that.

[DGXSER]

It is unlikely that your issue is electrical with it being 2 and 4. Electrically, 1 and 4 are linked and 2 and 3 are linked. For fuel supply, 1 and 2 are linked and 3 and 4 are linked. So your issue on 2 and 4 would typically only be carb related.

If you have not, I would first check the mixture with a colortune plug if you have one, if not, look at your plugs and see what they might tell you. Then do a synch on the carbs.

[Fix]

plugs 1-4 in order after running at 2000 rpm with full enricher for 15 seconds.

[natemoen]

Well I would certainly say #4 has something plugged up.

[Fix]

And now I'm back to square 1. I did absolutely nothing but pull the plugs and look at them. Now it is doing the exact same thing it did in the first video. Doesn't matter what choke position, it just won't catch.

I just don't know what to do. I guess I'll do the same thing I've done 4 times. Take the carbs off, buy another $15 bottle of carb spray and clean the carbs again.

[petejw]

as nate said, u definately have a problem with number 4,
looks like its not getting any fuel, did u clean the little hole
in the float bowl?
without going back thru the thread again, what have u got ur carbs set up, as in jet sizes, needle position, float levels, mixture screw settings?

[petejw]

not sure if ur aware of it or not, but do a search for
soda blaster, itll clean up the fouled plugs well and save u a
heap on buying new plugs, most times ull need to replace/clean the plugs up
after making an adj on the carbs.

[Fix]

as nate said, u definately have a problem with number 4,
looks like its not getting any fuel, did u clean the little hole
in the float bowl?
without going back thru the thread again, what have u got ur carbs set up, as in jet sizes, needle position, float levels, mixture screw settings?

All passages blew carb cleaner without any apparent blockage. I'm back to stock jetting all around. I set the mixture screws to 1.25 turns out from very lightly seated.

[natemoen]

Check again and make sure you have spark all across again. Maybe #4 wasn't getting any spark rather than no fuel.

There is something fishy going on and I would almost bet there is a loose connection somewhere.

[natemoen]

Also go to wal mart and get their carb cleaner. It is like 2 or 3 bucks a can, I have never found anything cheaper per ounce than their stuff.

[Fix]

Also go to wal mart and get their carb cleaner. It is like 2 or 3 bucks a can, I have never found anything cheaper per ounce than their stuff.

Work well? I've been getting the gunk brand from autozone since it has all those essential environment killing chemicals in it.