Idle Mixture Screwed

[motoman]

Oh but the early carbs do not have the screw on pieces in the slides, it is held in by a snap ring. I ground down a snap ring pliers so that it fit.

Thanks Nate......knew there musta' been sumptin' a bit different, so figured I'd get squared away by ya.........

[motoman]

Pretty much what Rasputin stated there Capton. I don't intensionably load the motor lugging it........dat ain't how you normally ride, is it? Just ride it in a normal fashion that you regularly do, just keep it down in the idle circuit under 4K. That'll give you a fairly close idea from the plugs if lean or rich, how much, and if it even matters. The main circuit at the higher R's cruisin' down the slab for a couple hundred miles is where I'd get a little more particular. A bit too lean for a bit too long could cost more than two bits. A ventilated piston comes to mind. So, for what I want metered through the mains to get a tad of color and not total white is determined by how I normally ride it long distances, plus add in main circuit should be such that bike pulls hard and quick up to and beyond 8500r's without any flatspots in those first three gears. If plug electrodes showing some grey overcast color, be suspicious of too lean and 'pulling' aluminum, which leads to unwanted ventilation where it isn't susposed to be.

[CaptonZap]

Now take it out to where you can open it up for a short while in any gear of your choice and hold it there for 30 seconds. Stop using the chop method and I almost guarantee the plugs will be lighter in colour.
I have checked plugs on a high speed chop that were a totally different colour than the same bike after idleing for a minute once I arrived home. I am a firm believer in whoever Brant is and his method.

Yep, the method works, but the implementation is sometimes not easy.
When I learned how to do it, it was stipulated that NEW plugs were installed, in a warmed up engine, and immediately run at full or half throttle to check the mixture, and if the engine was allowed to idle, the plugs were to be cleaned or replaced with new plugs. It doesn't take long to soot up plugs at idle.
My point to Brant was that with an XS11, 30 seconds, at full throttle, without some sort of upgrade to slow you down, would produce a speed that would not only be illegal, but dangerous on most roads. And done in any of the lower gears, would over rev the engine before the full throttle operation could burn off the deposits formed while coming up the gears, with their attendant part throttle operation. Show me someone that can hold the full throttle for over a second on an unloaded engine, and I'll show you a potential grenade.

Of course, if your xs is poorly tuned, or not running as it should, you probably wouldn't know that, having never experienced it. CZ

[motoman]

Well, if the plugs are sooting at all at a warmed up idle, ......idle mix too rich.........see how that works......

[Rasputin]

While I never intentionally lug the engine, I said that for demonstration purposes. It will show you what the plugs look like in a heartbeat.
I always seem to forget that not everyone has a piece of road where they can go and use their bikes like God intended. I always seem to be able to find some road where I can stretch her legs. I have one personal favorite road where I may one day be caught, but it has a slight uphill and loads of vision (for cops or farm vehicles) that I can easily hit over 100mph and do the high speed chop. Once the bike is right there, then I can adjust the lower RPM issues and fly. All of my bikes get over 45MPG (imperial gallons) while riding between 70 and 80 MPH. Maybe I am doing something right.

[trdriver71]

While I never intentionally lug the engine, I said that for demonstration purposes. It will show you what the plugs look like in a heartbeat.
I always seem to forget that not everyone has a piece of road where they can go and use their bikes like God intended. I always seem to be able to find some road where I can stretch her legs. I have one personal favorite road where I may one day be caught, but it has a slight uphill and loads of vision (for cops or farm vehicles) that I can easily hit over 100mph and do the high speed chop. Once the bike is right there, then I can adjust the lower RPM issues and fly. All of my bikes get over 45MPG (imperial gallons) while riding between 70 and 80 MPH. Maybe I am doing something right.

I know the road your talking about and like to ride it myself because it is a nice area to ride.