Quick question in real time for you diagnosticians

[Joab]

Nothin if you aint shot and need a bandaid. I have seen ones with tubes mounted on plywood that looked reasonable, but Im for buying gauges also.

I tried building the plywood version...screw that noise. After my attempts with that, I can understand the appeal of the vacuum gauge version. Plus no chance of sucking oil, or water or whiskey into the engine...

[BA80]

You can move a mountain with a gardening spade too, it just takes a tiny bit longer. And a lot more work.

[motoman]

Sounds like #3cyl. was the thirstiest..............and very likely cracked the porclien down in bottom of sparkplug.

[DAVINCI]

CZ,

No, I haven't checked the compression, but I've been meaning to. I figured that wasn't the problem because the bike was running pretty well before started to mess with it.

And Nate,

The plugs look great--tan, dry, relatively new. Even number 3 is ok, it's just wet at the moment. I guess I know you're right that I need to clean the carbs. But I wish I knew what could be causing this change.

And geographically, no, no one is very close. I'm in a NYC suburb. There are lots of bikes around here, but very few NY'er/NJ'ers are here at channel 11.

I'm gonna keep messing with it.

Jon, if you can ride her as far as merrick, ny I can get yer carbs right.

Randy

[JerseyJon]

Randy,

I'm sending you a PM. I'm about 8 miles west of the GWB.

As for the rest of you guys, I bought the gauges, and the cheap carb kits. I don't mind the money so much as the time, which I don't have much of. It's mostly the idea that I'll have the thing in pieces in my garage and the spring will pass me by.

On the other hand, it's starting to add up. I bought her for $1900 three months ago, and she was in great condition with less than 7000 miles. New tires. Cleaned and rebuilt carbs, etc. But then I started to buy things for her. Luggage rack from ebay that I had rechromed. Spiegler ss lines that I haven't put on yet. Brake pads and MC rebuild kits. I got a fairing from a member here that arrived three days ago and I haven't had a chance to take it out of the box. It looks beautifully packed, however. Thanks Ernie.

Don't get me wrong. I love this bike. I didn't know what I had until I got it home and did some research. I can't wait to get my hands dirty and learn how to do all this stuff. AND, I'm not bad at it. I have a 77 GS550 that I've done a lot of work on. Not the carbs, however. The Suzi is not running at the moment, and I figured I'd learn on her carbs over the summer and ride the xs11. Oh well.

[BA80]

Randy should be able to get you on the right track. He pretty much built that bike of his from the ground up.

Learn well about those carbs because the Suzi carbs are basically the same. At least now you'll have a set of guages you can use on both bikes.

[Rickrod3]

So I'm in my garage now with my fishtank homemade sync tool, ready to sync up my carbs, when I notice that cylinder number 3 is not firing. I determined this because its exhaust tube is barely touchable, but the others will sizzle my spit. I laid the plug on the engine and it seems to be getting spark. What could be going on? The plug seems wet, I think. I'm reluctant to continue with my synching because you sync to cylinder #3, and if it's wrong, then I'm afraid to mess up the other cylinders so badly that I can't even run the thing.

Any help?

Since you have spark and the plug is wet indicating gas I would check if you have compression in the cylinder.
Just my 2cents good luck.

[JerseyJon]

Since you have spark and the plug is wet indicating gas I would check if you have compression in the cylinder.
Just my 2cents good luck.

Rick,

Thanks for the input. Are we the only xsives here in the Garden State? I actually live in Paramus.

You're the second guy to suggest a compression problem in #3. That's a frightening thought -- pulling the head? I suppose it could just be a valve problem. But even that scares the bejeesus out of me. I started to pull the valve cover, and became daunted when I realized there were like 20 bolts holding the thing down. Now I've got an oil leak.

I have new plugs and caps. I'll try putting them on and see what happens. In the process, I'll check the compression, having just bought a new compression gauge. If the compression is bad, then I suppose it's some valve work for me. Hopefully it's not more serious than that.

The bottom line is that I probably just need to get deep into the thing.

J

[crazy steve]

In the process, I'll check the compression, having just bought a new compression gauge. If the compression is bad, then I suppose it's some valve work for me. Hopefully it's not more serious than that.

It may just be a valve adjustment; if they haven't been checked, you need to do so. Tight valve clearances can reduce compression...

[JerseyJon]

It may just be a valve adjustment; if they haven't been checked, you need to do so. Tight valve clearances can reduce compression...

Thanks Steve. Any suggestions on the best place to get a valve cover gasket? I'd want one of those before pulling the valve cover. Also, I have hunch I may need to replace some of those valve cover allen bolts. Where's the best place for those?

[crazy steve]

We don't need no steenking gaskets....

Go to your local Yamaha dealer and pick up a tube of Yamabond sealer. Clean the mating surfaces really good (clean and dry), and apply a thin coating of Yamabond. You won't have any leaks...

The replacement bolts can probably be gotten there too, although you may do better price-wise at a bolt supplier. There's also a eBay seller (I forget his name) that sells stainless steel bolt sets for these for about $40, you can get rid of most of the rusty hardware. If you switch to stainless, use anti-seize on all the threads.

Read up on adjusting the valves. I've seen compression numbers double or more with a valve adjustment...

[dpotter58]

Greg, what's a kanuter?

[JerseyJon]

We don't need no steenking gaskets....

So if you guys tell me to go buy something . . .

I went to the local dealer for yamabond, like Steve said. I described the issue to him, and he said that maybe there's a problem in the octy, and maybe it's flooding number 3 through the vacuum hose. He didn't know off the top of his head if that hose from the octy goes to number 3, and I don't either. He knew bikes, however. Mid 50's, been working on bikes for years, based on the pictures in the shop. And he knew about the xs11. Just not to the level of detail that you guys know em.

He doubted that it was a valve issue. Possible, he conceded.

JJ

[DAVINCI]

The internet is a wonderful thing, but it has limits. Bring the beast to me, let's see what you've got up close. Machines fear me. I've actually heard their idle notes change as I approach them.

Seriously, I've got all the tools, so bring it.

1435 Sycamore Avenue

Merrick, NY 11566

April 15th or 28th. Give me a few days notice or I won't wait around, I'll go ridin.

[Joab]

The internet is a wonderful thing, but it has limits. Bring the beast to me, let's see what you've got up close. Machines fear me. I've actually heard their idle notes change as I approach them.

If that had been posted on facebook, I would have had not choice but to hit Like.