Couple of issues

[Bassman]

Okay gents, I have a couple of questions:

1) I think I am having trouble keeping my right hand controls grounded. About every other time I go to start the bike, it won't catch. So, I have to loosen one of the screws, wiggle the control around a little until the starter button works.

and

2) On idle, the RPMs seem very high, from 2,000 to even 4,000 when I come to a stop. I am thinking this is probably a carb issue, but I am still inexperienced with this stuff and wanted to ask some more knowledgeable people.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

[CaptonZap]

Okay gents, I have a couple of questions:

1) I think I am having trouble keeping my right hand controls grounded. About every other time I go to start the bike, it won't catch. So, I have to loosen one of the screws, wiggle the control around a little until the starter button works.

and

2) On idle, the RPMs seem very high, from 2,000 to even 4,000 when I come to a stop. I am thinking this is probably a carb issue, but I am still inexperienced with this stuff and wanted to ask some more knowledgeable people.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

Yeh, go here http://http://farm5.static.flickr.co...1ae5cbd4_o.gif and study it.
If you notice, the contact schematic for the start button on the bottom of the page shows the contact going to ground. But the switch wiring does not have a ground (black) wire in it. Which means that the ground must be made through the switch housing to the handle bar. So, take some Scotch brite and clean the handle bar, then clean the inside of the switch housing, where it rides against the bar, then put a little dielectric grease or never-sieze where they contact, and tighten the screws up good.

On the idle, adjust the idle screw to lower the idle speed. If that doesn't work, check for leaks in the intake runs of each cylinder.
If you don't know where the idle screw is, get a manual, or visit Cbugs site.
http://http://www.ringler.us/xs1100/

CZ

[Yard Dogg]

Does it idle that high when you first start it, or after it warms up? Almost sounds like it may be running lean. I had that same problem on my Midnight. It would start and idle just fine, then after I rode it and exhausted the fuel in the bowls, it would idle high for a bit then slowly come down. I may have had some sticky floats too. I cleaned the carbs again, set the fuel level a little higher, problem solved.

[Bassman]

@CZ Thanks for the tips. I knew that the starter button grounded to the handlebars, but will clean up the contact areas a bit.

@ Yard Dogg I am not positive (will have to check in the morning) but I think it might be the same issue. I think it does fine at the beginning, then starts to idle high after it warms up. I will check again and find out

[DGXSER]

If this is on the 80 model, IIRC they added a ground wire to the starter button in 1980, I know my 81 has it. And the wiring schematic for the 80 and 81 are combined. So it may be a wiring issue more than the housing to handle bar issue. Typically it ends up being the switch itself.

On the idle issue, have you synched your carbs? If not then this would be my starting point.

[CatatonicBug]

When you press the starter button and it doesn't start, do you hear a clicking thud by the fuse panel? If you hear a noise down there, it's the starter solenoid, and that can be rebuilt. If you don't hear anything, it's just a bad ground to the switch. That can be anywhere from the switch itself to any of the other ground connections. I'm not sure where that switch grounds to (as mentioned, it may not be the handlebars on the later models), but you should be able to trace it once you take the housing apart.

As for the fast idle, it sounds like a vacuum leak to me.