Pilot Jet Question

[Bellerophon]

I had my float bowl covers off yesterday and one of the things I checked was to make sure I had the correct pilot jets. They were the correct BS30/96 jets, but there is also a screw that goes in to hole that the pilot jet screws in to and caps it. Is this correct? I've seen pictures of other carbs that do not have the pilot jets capped. BTW these are 1979 special carbs.

[bikerphil]

I had my float bowl covers off yesterday and one of the things I checked was to make sure I had the correct pilot jets. They were the correct BS30/96 jets, but there is also a screw that goes in to hole that the pilot jet screws in to and caps it. Is this correct? I've seen pictures of other carbs that do not have the pilot jets capped. BTW these are 1979 special carbs.

Yes, the pilot jet should be capped with that screw on the 78-79 carbs. Just a note: Anytime there is a cross drilled hole between the main and pilot jet towers there should be some sort of cap over the pilot jet.

[Bellerophon]

Thank you Phil!

[Bellerophon]

I have a post script to this story. My pilot jets were not correct for my carbs. I could not get the bike to idle, or run correctly at low speed. I ended up taking it to Snake River Yamaha, here in Meridian, Idaho to have them diagnose and correct the issue. What they told me was that even though the pilot jets were the BS/30/96 jets with the metering end at the other end of the screwdriver slot. These 1979 carbs require non-bleed pilot jets. That is to say a version without the holes in the side of the jet. They installed the right pilot jets, adjusted and synced the carbs, and the bike runs great now. I want to publicly thank Dennis at Snake River Yamaha for getting this right.

While restoring my bike, I had sent the carbs to Rick West at oldskoolcarbs to clean and re-build them. While the carbs looked great, he had the floats set way to rich, and installed the aforementioned wrong pilot jets. If I had this to do over again, I would have done it differently, but live and learn.

I hope this information is useful to others.

[Bellerophon]

Another quick post script. I took the bike out for a ride today, and OMG it runs awesome. I did a 60 mile loop of mixed freeway and back road riding. It idles perfectly, accelerates with no hesitation, no hint of steady throttle surge. It's not as quick as my FJR, but it is still a rocket ship. Man I love these XS1100s! This bike is a permanent member of my motorcycle stable.

[trdriver71]

I have a post script to this story. My pilot jets were not correct for my carbs. I could not get the bike to idle, or run correctly at low speed. I ended up taking it to Snake River Yamaha, here in Meridian, Idaho to have them diagnose and correct the issue. What they told me was that even though the pilot jets were the BS/30/96 jets with the metering end at the other end of the screwdriver slot. These 1979 carbs require non-bleed pilot jets. That is to say a version without the holes in the side of the jet. They installed the right pilot jets, adjusted and synced the carbs, and the bike runs great now. I want to publicly thank Dennis at Snake River Yamaha for getting this right.

While restoring my bike, I had sent the carbs to Rick West at oldskoolcarbs to clean and re-build them. While the carbs looked great, he had the floats set way to rich, and installed the aforementioned wrong pilot jets. If I had this to do over again, I would have done it differently, but live and learn.

I hope this information is useful to others.

I have a '79 sf and i have the stock bleed pilot jets in mine that have 6 holes in the side. the ones without holes on the side are incorrect.

[Bellerophon]

I have a '79 sf and i have the stock bleed pilot jets in mine that have 6 holes in the side. the ones without holes on the side are incorrect.

All I can say is, it ran like crap before Snake River Yamaha installed the non-bleed type, and now it runs great. You never know it could be a mid-year change with the 1979 carbs, we know Yamaha is prone to such mid-year changes. Thank you for the feedback.

[natemoen]

All years and models from '78 to the end of the XJ11's had the 6 hole BS 30/96 pilot jets.