Bogging down

[beechfront]

SURE ENOUGH

i loosened the lower right side screw holding the wires - started it up. if i pull on the wires the bike instantly dies.

CRAP..


not looking forward to splicing wires in there.

[Ken Talbot]

But look at the bright side - now you _know_ what the problem is...

[beechfront]

you're definitely right there....

i just hope my little patch job will hold up for 2-3 weeks straight riding.

maybe i should invest in one of those butane soldering kits...

[beechfront]

my fix

everything is running good, and i am 95% sure my fix is going to hold. the only thing i am worried about is a short since i had to cut away the insulation in order to splice the wires.

the four new wires are squeezed into that first meatl clamp without any protection around them. also, the wires before that clamp are going to be resting right up against the inside of the aluminum cover - i am concerned that engine heat is going to melt through.


tomorrow i plan on working on keeping those wires off of the metal - but in the unfortunate event that a short does occur - could that do damage to any other electrical components?

[randy]

Insulate them with heat shrink tubing. A short there might damage the TCI box.

Randy

[beechfront]

that's what i have on there now around the splice. will probalby be good enough, i'm just paranoid.

i am going to also try coating them with some hi-temp silicone stuff.


thanks for all of your help.

[randy]

Don't forget to leave them enough slack to extend to the full rotation of the timing plate.

Randy

[beechfront]

yeah it took quite a bit of messing around to get everything just right... on full rotation the 'front' set of wires would want to rub against the timing wheel when they compressed. took some doing to get that stopped.

i'll see about posting some pictures. then you can tell me how sloppy it is

[Ken Talbot]

You might even consider putting a short bit of heat shrink tubing over the clamp itself. This would eliminate the possibility of a sharp edge rubbing through the insulation.

[beechfront]

until tonight i was somewhat worried about my splicing, but now i think that my fix is as good or better than original (but only time will tell)

since my new wires are a bit larger than original, the clamp that was there was simply not big enough for any insulation - even some heat shrink would be too much. so what i did is swap it with one of those clamps that holds a section of the wiring harness in place against the engine. this clamp already had rubber around it and fit perfectly. there is plenty of room in there - i don't know why they packed everything in so tightly. if they had not installed those wires at such sharp angles they probalby would have lasted the life of the bike.

as to keep the wires off the metal - i just lined the inside/bottom of that cover with blue silicone. so they will rub against that instead of metal & won't be a mess if i ever have to take it apart again.

[Nastydude]

I am having the exact same problem with my 78 XS 1100E it idles like a dream goes like hell at full throttle but in the above idle to 4000 rpm range it sputters and pops in the exaust. I went through the carbs three times tried different float settings, adjusted idle mixture and syncronized the carbs so many times i put an hour meter on the vacuume gages just to see how long they'll go. I'm fairly stumped here too. now i'm gonna grab a torch and check for a vacuume leak at the intake as i have pretty much run out of ideas.

[sidecarKev]

Hey Nastydude,

Are you absolutely positive you cleaned out your pilot and air jets? On the 78 your pilet jets are under the screw next to your main jet. The air jets are in the airbox side of the carb throat.

Diagram Here

Take these jets out of the carb and make sure they are clear.

I had this same problem. This fixed it.

[Nastydude]

absolutly positive i spent 6 hours yesterday on these carbs evy thing was dissassembled i went through all the jets according to the carb faq on this site i blew a full can of carb cleaner followed by compressed air to ensure all the jets and ports wer clean than i blew off and through the carbs at every step of reassembly to ensure every thing was spotless it idles fine if you accelerate slowly no prob rapidly accelerate to under 4000 rpm it sputters and pops in the exaust. floor it and it sputters a bit than cleans out and goes like hell

[randy]

Nastydude,

Are you sure you have the original pilot jets in the carbs? If you did a rebuild and used aftermarket jets, they can cause that problem. Been there done that.

Also, when you went through all of the passages, did you make sure that the metering holes in all of the jets were clear? I run through the holes with a small diameter copper wire, like one strand from an 18 guage stranded wire.

In addition to the innie and the outie holes, the pilot jets have six or eight holes in the sides that must be clear for them to work properly. The rest of the jets just have an innie and an outie hole.

HTH

Randy

[Nastydude]

yes i ran through all of these with a small wire and then sprayed carb cleaner through to nsure a stream through all the holes than blew them out with air. the bike runs good at idle or slow excelleration when you crankit to 1/3 - 1/2 throttle quickly it sputters and pops when you crank it to full throttle it sputters and pops then it cleans it self out and goes well other than a slight surging (think my floats are to low now).