Ok I have a jetting question about 120 jets on my 79 Special

[JeremyL]

Oh yeah I noticed after pulling my carbs off that the vacuum advance hose was going the number one carbs engine side vacuum port so I moved it to 2 today. I dunno how this bike even RAN. Problem after problem. The only good part is that makes me think it's gonna run REALLY good when I get it all done.

[motoman]

As it should Jeremy!....specially down at almost sea-level, should almost feel like it's gonna lengthen your arms when dialed in properly.

[JeremyL]

As it should Jeremy!....specially down at almost sea-level, should almost feel like it's gonna lengthen your arms when dialed in properly.

Sorry the forum software filled in Hilton Head,SC as my location for some reason so I changed it to the much less fun Oneida, TN

[CaptonZap]

Oh yeah I noticed after pulling my carbs off that the vacuum advance hose was going the number one carbs engine side vacuum port so I moved it to 2 today. I dunno how this bike even RAN. Problem after problem. The only good part is that makes me think it's gonna run REALLY good when I get it all done.

Yer gettin close! Actually, the timing vacuum hose goes to the spigot coming out of the top left of number two carb.

CZ

[JeremyL]

Yer gettin close! Actually, the timing vacuum hose goes to the spigot coming out of the top left of number two carb.

CZ

Oh wow I'm glad you said that. I connected it to the engine-side boot's vacuum plug. So the vacuum advance goes to the actual carb body's port? Does the carb boot vacuum port on #2 just stay plugged like the rest then?

[ccogswel]

If you have vacuum operated petcocks then you should have a hose running from number 2 vacuum port to your left petcock. And your number 3 vacuum port running to your right petcock. But if you have a set of non vacuum petcocks then you'll plug all your ports up.

[JeremyL]

If you have vacuum operated petcocks then you should have a hose running from number 2 vacuum port to your left petcock. And your number 3 vacuum port running to your right petcock. But if you have a set of non vacuum petcocks then you'll plug all your ports up.

I have a tank with 2 petcock and that octo thing I've read some about that has all the hoses going to it so would that mean I have vacuum operated petcocks? I think it has ON-OFF-PRIME maybe.

[natemoen]

The octy needs to be hooked to the carb intake boot, whichever one you want. As long as that vac advance hose us in the #2 carb body nipple.

[DiverRay]

Specials only use ONE vacuum port for the octy, STANDARDS use two, one for each petcock. You should have NEW plugs over the vacuum ports for carbs # 1, 3, 4. Carb #2 BOOT feeds the octy, and the port on the CARB BODY is for the advance.
The pick-up wires DO feel gummy, as they are silicone. To test them, look as you pull about 1" of wire, and see if the center looks like an hour glass, If it does, the wire is probably bad. If it looks the same along the length, it's probably good. Another test is with a VOM. Disconnect the small plug at the TCI box, and find two wires that give you about 700 to 900 Ohm resistance. Keep the meter on the two wires and tug at the pick-up coils to see if there is an internal break.

[ccogswel]

Well if you have a "off" option on your petcocks you can remove that octy completely and plug all 4 vacuum tips and plug up your prime nipple on both your petcock's as you should have 2 nipples coming out of each one and use the other nipple as a on/off/res. Done this my brothers bike and it works just fine. You just have to remember to turn off your petcocks when your done riding.

[JeremyL]

Thanks again for the info guys.

I've read two different guides here about replacing the pickup coil wires and when I cut out the open spot is it ok just to joint the broken pieces and solder those or should i get a short length of wire to solder in there so there is some slack? I was afraid to solder some in because I thought it'd be TOO long and get in the way of the moving parts.

[JeremyL]

Well I finally got my bike back together... painted the exhaust, put the carbs back together, and fixed the ignition wires. The bike runs 10x better now than it did before but I ran into one problem: My floats didn't match in the carbs. 3 of them matched but there was a 4th one that was oddball. I should've known better but instead of ordering a replacement and just waiting I went ahead and set the level of the oddball one with the rest. Well after I put the carbs on the bike I was thinking that the oddball one was a different size (the floaty part) so it would displace more fuel and probably need a different setting.

The bike ran great compared to before but it's still not near perfect. From 25% throttle upwards it runs pretty hard and pretty smooth. If its coming off idle or low revs (like if I"m pulling out from a stop) then it'll bog a little then take off like a rocket up to redline. I also noticed the #3 exhaust pipe wasn't near as hot as the rest when I "spit check" it and I'm pretty sure that was the one with the odd float. I'm starting to think it's probably set so badly that it's starving that carb for fuel and may not even be getting much fuel at all.

I was thinking that I could just hook up the carb bowls to some plastic tubing and check the float level with gas in the carbs and adjust from there but I thought that'd just take a ton of trial and error since I wouldn't know where to start. I think I should just buy a matching 4th float and be done with it by my question is will THIS work:
http://www.mikesxs.net/products-35.html#products
***There's a metal float at the top of the page for $13.50.. a LOT cheaper than what I'm seeing on eBay for a single float. But I was wondering if this was for the XS11 or if it matters as long as its for the Mikuni BS34?

Thanks again guys, I couldn't have gotten all this stuff figured out so far without this site!!