update on my project

[GLoweVA]

The ride on zilla was AWESOME! Thanks again TC. Looks like I've got to pull the head and lap those valves.
I ended up putting 2 120 main jets in #2&3 and those plugs look a little rich, so I'm going to pick up some 115s and see how they do.

[GLoweVA]

update

YEAH!, I got a compression tester for christmas!
Yesterday, I went out and used it on both bikes.
The SG had 30,35,60,65 ! it was Cold (39F) Looks like my running poorly issues are because of the crappy compression. I did a shim job a while back, so I know those are okay. A few weeks ago, over at TC's, we put a little oil in #1&2 and the numbers didnt' get any better. Lately it's been acting up and after about a half an hour, it bogs down like it's running on only 2. I let her cool off a little and give her a little choke to richen her up and she gets me the rest of the way to work.

The G (with no carbs on) was 85-90 across the board.
My plan is to pull the Head off the G and swap it onto the SG. Cams and all.
Then (one day) I can take the SG head over to TC and we can lap the valves.
Today it only took me 1.5 hrs to get the G's head off, but it'll probably take twice that to get the SGs off.

Question: could having the valve clearances too big cause the compression number to be too low?

[bikerphil]

Question: could having the valve clearances too big cause the compression number to be too low?

Absolutely not. It sounds to me like your new gauge is inaccurate or you are reading the wrong set of numbers (metric?) on it. Before tearing down your motor, try another gauge first.

[GLoweVA]

Absolutely not. It sounds to me like your new gauge is inaccurate or you are reading the wrong set of numbers (metric?) on it. Before tearing down your motor, try another gauge first.

Phil, I thought those numbers might have been low too, but comparing them to what I saw on the G, they seemed good. Plus a few weeks ago over at TC's, #1&2 were reading about 60 while 3&4 were about 110.(with his gauge) (the engine wasn't dead cold then like today's readings) We concluded that it was the valves and not the rings.
I don't have to time to take the head off, do the valve lapping and get it back together so I can ride her to work on Wed. That's why I'm swapping the G head in. I know it's good, I've ran it on the G for years and just a few months ago did the shims on it.

[bikerphil]

Ok, I always thought a motor wouldn't even run with anything less than 80 PSI. Why don't you just ride the G (unless it is down) until the head is fixed?

[GLoweVA]

Ok, I always thought a motor wouldn't even run with anything less than 80 PSI. Why don't you just ride the G (unless it is down) until the head is fixed?

Lately she has a REAL hard time getting to start. It takes about 1-2mins of cranking and full choke and them she might start sputtering. (probably on #3&4 first) then as the rpms start getting up there then #1&2 start firing and then it runs okayish once it's warmed up a little.

Since I've gotten the SG up, I've taken the G down for some much needed overhauling. Plus I've robbed some parts of the G for the SG. (#2,3 coil pack and some carb jets. and the WJ5 also)

[bikerphil]

George, looks like you'll be an expert on these bikes in no time. Good luck with your head swap!

[GLoweVA]

Well, I'm done with the head swap and I don't know if it's any better or not.
My first error, I dropped a cam cap nut down into the chain galley.
I saw it down in there sitting on the cam chain drive gear, so I had a little magnet on the end of a really long screwdriver and tried to get it and the damn magnet got stuck on the chain.
I used a long piece of wire to fish hook the nut out and then rotated the chain up to get the magnet out.
Then, I had a major faux paux, after I got the cams caps torqued in and I tried to get the TDC dots to line up, I noticed that I had swapped the intake and exhuast cams.
No wonder the engine didn't want to rotate by hand. I hoped I didn't damage any valves.
I swapped the cams around and got every thing back together and checked my shim clearances, they're ok. I checked the compression and all 4 were okayish.
I ended up putting some oil in the cylinders to see if the numbers would go up and they did some. Unfortunately the oil kinda fouled up the cylinders some and when I went to start it up, it took a long while to get the fuel to flush the oil out.
One thing I did notice is my head gasket may have a little leak. I saw a little puffing out the side of #1 and #4, but the compression numbers are still up above 90.

So my issue now is, it is really hard to start. It takes full choke and wide open throttle before it'll catch, then I'll take the choke off and she'll idle okay.
I didn't get a chance to sync it yet. It got dark and I had to go take her for a short test ride. She ran pretty okay. the stumble I used to have was hardly noticable and she seemed to pull a little harder than before.
Hopefully she'll get me to work Wed just fine.