Xj1100 problems. Need help.

[xjeleven87]

Hi all. I just purchased a 82 xj1100 with 9,500 miles. Bike was sitting for awhile when I got it. Was riding it the other day, going about 90mph and something happened. It lost power and began shuddering. It's was still running but it was struggling to get up to speed. I could feel the bike shuddering as I throttled. I took it home and decided to clean the carbs out. when i opened them up i noticed that there was some rust build up in the bottom of the carbs and in the tank. I did a quick cleaning using spray carb cleaner and put them back in. Now the bike is reving straight to 6k Rpms when I start it up.. Please give me some guidance, I'm an amateur when it comes to motorcycles. Thanks!
-Will

[Rasputin]

Is your throttle cable properly set in the holder it sits in on the carbs? First thought.

[ccogswel]

Yes, like Rasputin said check your cable end. If it's not sitting in place just right and it's hanging open then that's it.

Also if you have trash in your tank like rust or just trash you'll need to clean it out as good as you can or put some inline filters in. Other wise your gonna be back into them cleaning over and over. Pulling a inline filter is easier then those carbs! JAT. Good Luck.

[Prothec]

What else can you tell us about what you did:

1. Did you remove the carbs from the bike or just the bowls?
2. If removed, did you bench sync before reinstall?
3. Did you attempt to adjust the idle screw (thumb screw accessed from underside between carbs 2 & 3)?

I find it difficult to remove/reinstall the carbs without inadvertently adjusting the idle. (but usually not by that much )

[Prothec]

Another possibility is the enrichment ("choke") was left open with a warm engine..

[xjeleven87]

Thanks guys! It turned out to be the air box cover. I took the filter out to clean it but forgot to tighten the screws. Excess air was getting in and making it rev like crazy. Before I realized this I did take the carbs out again and bench sync them. My friend is telling me I shouldn't have messed with them and that I now will have to get the pistons synced as well or something. Is this true? He doesn't know too much about bikes but he knows more than me. One thing I'm noticing now that I didn't notice before this fiasco is that when I'm in fifth gear and I'm accelerating at high speeds my engine will rev really loudly for a second and the RPMs will suddenly shoot up and it sounds as if I have held down the clutch momentarily. Feels like im slipping out of gear or something. This worries me. Any ideas?

[WMarshy]

Thanks guys! It turned out to be the air box cover. I took the filter out to clean it but forgot to tighten the screws. Excess air was getting in and making it rev like crazy. Before I realized this I did take the carbs out again and bench sync them. My friend is telling me I shouldn't have messed with them and that I now will have to get the pistons synced as well or something. Is this true? He doesn't know too much about bikes but he knows more than me. One thing I'm noticing now that I didn't notice before this fiasco is that when I'm in fifth gear and I'm accelerating at high speeds my engine will rev really loudly for a second and the RPMs will suddenly shoot up and it sounds as if I have held down the clutch momentarily. Feels like im slipping out of gear or something. This worries me. Any ideas?

Dont listen to your friend, bench syncing the carbs is a good thing and will let make it run smoother (assuming the adjustment is correctly done). There is no such thing as a piston sync. IDK what he was talking about.

The idea behind it is to set the butterfly valves in each of the 4 carbs to be all open the same amount at any given throttle position. If they are all the same (in theory) each cylinder is getting the same amount of fuel+air charge. If you have more wear in one cylinder over the other then the amount of fuel that cylinder can draw in vice the other will be different. That is why a dynamic sync with vacuum gauges is the proper way to tune them, bench sync just gets you close...

As far as the RPM issue, your clutch is slipping. Read about clutch adjustments in the maintenance section.

[Prothec]

The XJ1100 has something called YICS, which makes synching the carbs practically impossible without a special tool. There is a tool called the YICS Eliminator (here that can temporarily or permanently disable the YICS ports.

Regarding the clutch slipping, this could just be a matter of using the wrong engine oil, clutch components needing adjustment, or clutch components needing replaced.

[XJkid]

Welcome

Two new XJ owners in one week! Nice buy on a low mile XJ. If'n I were you, I'd get the carbs rebuilt.That is a big job for a newbie. I tried and failed when I first got mine, had them built and only bench sync'd and it runs great!! That way you will get in some quality bonding time with your bike and have a relationship that will get you through the tough bikin' times. I just got my YICS Eliminator from Yahman and can't wait to properly sync the carbs. I can't imagine it running better than it is now. That would just be scary. As for the clutch, I had a similar problem and replaced the clutch springs with new Barnetts. That fixed the problem good. The old springs lose their.......spring and don't hold the package together well. That is a job a Newbie could do. I just don't want you to dive in over your head right off the bat and lose the drive to ride. I also recommend buying or downloading (off this site) a repair manual to help with the work to come. I believe it is Yahman that offers this? This site will have a lot of knowledge that is not in the manual and can be accessed from the many Gurus' who reside here, of which I am not one.

[Yahman]

It's actually a member by the name Catatonic Bug, he has the manuals for download on his site here http://www.ringler.us/family/mybike.html

Ride safe,
Larry