not running right

[mrmilkme]

Hi guys/gals, my 1980 xs is running like crap, i put in new plugs the old ones looked good, i put seafoam in it for the fact that i pulled off the drain plugs on the bowels i got gas on three of them and not the forth one, i thought the flote was sticking, it will run with the choke on only, you give it gas and it dies, SORRY so long any help would be great

[motoman]

welcome to XS madness! May as well start with pulling carb bank, remove float bowels and spray carb clean through every hole and orfice.....eye protection reccomended....IMO, that would be a good start. Key word....START......

[natemoen]

Yup, if you get nothing through one of the bowl drains then all the seafoam in the world is not going to help you. Pull the carbs and clean the crap out is them!

[mrmilkme]

thanks took off the carb banks i did find some jelly about the size eraser head in one of the bowls, I blew thw jets out, i did not have any cleaner , but put it back togather and still the same results, i will get some cleaner sunday and clean it all again, whats wierd is it seems it floods out when i try to give some gas,???? it ran fine last year. the carbs have to be real dirty,

[DGXSER]

With these bikes, opening the throttle is rally increasing air more so than gas. So it may actually be actually out. If there was crap like that in the bowl, make sure to check the enrichment jet in the number four carb bowl.

Definitely recommend pulling all the jets out and giving all the passages a good spray out with carb cleaner.

[cywelchjr]

Yep, if any gas jelled anywhere it will have done so in the passages in the carb. You gonna have to pull the jets and clean them and the related passages at a minimum.

[WMarshy]

You need to read the maintenance threads for carbs so you have a good idea on cleaning them. Just pulling the bowls and spraying cleaner around isn't usually enough... some times it is if your lucky but, take a little time and do it right now and you wont have to do it again this year. Draining the carbs for storage will keep you from having to do it next riding season!

[mrmilkme]

it running

hi all well i got all the carbs cleaned up, the bike poped off, i have too reajust the pilot screws, but first i have to get the carbs in sync, would anybody in mn have one i could rent?? or should i make one, thanks for the info,

[cywelchjr]

hi all well i got all the carbs cleaned up, the bike poped off, i have too reajust the pilot screws, but first i have to get the carbs in sync, would anybody in mn have one i could rent?? or should i make one, thanks for the info,

Did you do a bench sync? You can get it close enough to run and pretty much ride until you can get the sync tool with a good bench sync. There are two schools of thought on the bench sync method, the bread tie method (a small wire or feeler gauge to set the butterflies to the same gap before installing them) or the idle port method, setting the butterflies to half cover the first idle port hole in the throttle mouth (getting them as close as possible to exactly the same) also before installing the carbs. This will get them close enough to run pretty smoothly, and should require minimal adjusting with the vacuum gauges once they are on the bike. The only part left that has to be done on the bike is adjusting the idle mixture, and that is done by adjusting idle mixture screws for the highest idle speed one carb at a time and then in just a tiny bit. Idle mixture in my experience is most of the cause of high idle hang and popping and spitting provided that you have at least a good bench sync done on the carbs. If the carbs are further out of sync then a good bench sync would give you, then popping and high idle hang can be caused by that as well, but the bench sync by itself won't do it if you don't get the mixture set reasonably close.

[Incubus]

One other relatively easy task might help. If this were my bike I would also remove the spark plug caps and trim back the wires maybe 1/8 to 1/4 inch, just until I found fresh copper, and then screw the caps back on. Idle electrical wires can corrode.

Patrick

[mrmilkme]

ok i have sync [bench sync wire] the carbs it runs but only on full choke, you take it off choke and it dies? i dont have the air box on, if that matters when ajusting the carbs? i did adjust the pilot screws 1.5 -2 turns, i think i am missing something,,,,

[DGXSER]

A couple things maybe.

First is to set the idel speed. In adjusting the bench sync you might have adjusted the idle setting to low. Set it up.

The bench sync is only an INITIAL sync and not THE SYNC that the carbs need. The syncing process must be done on a running engine, while it is idling.