fuel shutoff, replumbing, & individual filters

[ratbyk]

Carbs

Pickman,I am using;
Mains-137.5
Pilots-45
Air-210
Needles 5GZ6-circlip in the center groove
Float Height-1 3/6"
I am using the stock air box, un-drilled.
I use 2 small plastic in-line filters. One each just off of the petcocks. From there a piece of fuel line across the top of the carbs and then into a piece of 1/4' copper line bent at 90 degrees to direct the fuel down between the carbs with no possibility of a fuel line crimping or folding over and restricting fuel flow. From there more fuel line into the "T" piece into the carbs.
Remember I have a 78E model. The carbs on the 78-79's are different than the 80-81"s.
I have tried the individual cone type air filters. Do not know what brand. I obtained them from XS Mikes Shop in Florida. When they did not work out, (ran away too rich at higher revs) (because of the rubber shoulder in the throat of the filter was smaller than the air horn on the carbs) he refunded my money without any hesitation.
Hope this helps confuse you even more. Tee Hee
Ken/Sooke
78E Ratbyk
82 FT500 "lilRat"

[oldnortonrider]

The best place to get the cone filters > is from "APE" > "American Performance Engineering". I have made miscellaneous orders from them over the last 7 years. These are super people to deal with. Cain't order online, yet; but they do have a website> http://aperaceparts.com/ >
Toll free number > 800-824-1825 > you can email 'em also, and request a catalog.
They have the oval-cone type filters > $59.95 (4) > part no. 005-121 . They are exact replicas ~~ make-alikes of the K&Ns. THEY DO NOT HAVE THE STINKING SHOULDERS ON THE INSIDE THAT BLOCK THE CARBURETOR SYSTEM!!
I, too, a couple years back, thought I'd save some money, and I only wanted 3, instead of 4 > ordered 3 from "Parts 'N More" for $30.00 . I took one look at 'em when I unpackaged them, and could tell they wouldn't work. Didn't even send 'em back; gave 'em to a friend of mine, to put on a machine that was not going to be ridden, just to keep the dirt daubers out of the carbs.
Generally the guy I talk to at A.P.E. when I order, is John Nash.

[Bill]

Pickman -

I've used EMGO brand individual filters. They're an inexpensive clone of the well-known K&N brand. I got them from

Cycle-Re-Cycle II

I think they were about $9.00 each. The K&Ns run several times that.

For jetting, see Denny Zander's Jetting Recommendations in the Modifications section of this web site.

Good luck and let us know how it works out!

XSively,

[Pickman]

So stock main jet on my '81XSLH is 137.5(?)

So +3 main jet sizes for the individual filters, -1 = 2 sizes, so a 142.5 main.

Since it's only 2 sizes, there's no need to increase the size of my pilot jet.

Got that- provided my assumptiuon about the size of my stock main jets are correct. Now to buy some fuel line and filters!


-Pickman

[Dennyz]

So stock main jet on my '81XSLH is 137.5(?)

No! '78 & '79s had 137.5 stock. The '80 & '81 had stagger jetting (inside/outside).

Check the specs, they are different for the two years and for Standard and Special. They are going to be something like 120/115.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey there Pickman and DennyZ,

The book says that they should be staggered, 110 for outer pair, 120 for inner pair on Specials!! However, when I pulled my 81SH, it had 110's straight across!? There should be a number on the end of them that you can read with a magnifying glass to verify.

I thought the guide stated 2 sizes for Indy filters, another 2 sizes for 4-1 or nonstock pipes, but only in combination do you then subract 1 from total, so 4-1 =3 for this particular setup. With Indy filters, just 2 sizes, total of 5.0 larger than what you have, so if they are 110's, then 115's will be what you want.

I went to 117.5's, but didn't change my pilots, and they work great, even got too rich at higher altitude in the idle circuit, I had the pilot screws out too many turns!!!! Good luck!

T.C.

[Pickman]

Ok, one more quick question for those of you familiar with the "shoulder" problem on some of the cone replacement air filters...

I'm looking at two different online suppliers:

PartsNMore.com
http://www.partsnmoreonline.com/PNMS...R%20FILTER.htm

and

Cycle-Re-Cycle
http://www.crc2onlinecatalog.com/pod_filters.htm


Has anyone ran into the shoulder problem with pod filters from either of these locations? I know OldNortonRider ran into a problem with the PartsNMore offering a couple of years ago. Where they EMGO? Bill suggested Cycle-Re-Cycle in another thread and said they worked well. What brand were they?

Sicne neither site lists who made the filters, I'm just hoping they didn't switch vendors. It seems like there's more than just K&N and EMGO making these things...


-Pickman

[Rubba]

OK, Since I read this entire thread... (Thanks for the link TC...d'oh!)

A coupla questions come to mind:

I've seen some metal mesh filters that look similar to K&N's and are very inexpensive; I don't think that they'll perform to the same levvel of filtration as the guaze-type filters. Are we comparing apples to apples with the filter media of the various cones mentioned?

Are gauze filters efficient? K&N recommends a 50K mile interval for cleaning/re-oil; as a filter loads up it becomes less porus (good to a point), more efficient at removing particles (good) and more restrictive (at an alarming rate towards the end of it's usefulness). Is this type of performance desirable for a streetbike? I suspect it's better suited for racing. How can such a free-flowing filter remove very much (smaller micron) contamination form the air? Obviously we're not going to be sucking pebbles or small rodents through the cone filters.

I use pods and love them; I have had nothing but excellent performance/experiences but "buyer beware."

[T748]

Reading plugs

I have a question from page 1 of this post. The plugs are are being read as lean and when I look at them I'm seeing rich. What am I missing? I've always read plugs like they show on this- http://cochise.uia.net/pkelley2/sparkplugreading.html
Thanks -Tom.

[pggg]

Those readings are with brand new plugs. Porcelain stays white for ages then gets a dull colour. Carboned up porcelain means rich as hell. For me some carbon on the bottom 1/3 of the porcelain means pretty bang on. Unless you're lean as buggery the ring always gets carboned after a while, usually after idling and low rev stuff.

[tab1324]

confused about jetting

Mike,

This one's for you... I read this entire thread and maybe it got lost somewhere for me but I just don't see a final jetting recommendation. Is it that you're still using the 140 mains and increased pilots. I read some talk about first going to 142.5 then back down for mileage... This was in 2002.

So, forgive me if I missed it, but where does your bike stand now? This is of great interest to me as I have recently put on the EMGO filters and have not rejetted my XJ1100. Thing runs pretty sweet - pulls real hard from about 3500-7000, then lags a bit - maybe not enough gas.. Plugs are on the light side as far as color but according to one post here, they seem about right... but don't know if I should make the change yet cause it's running so nice.

Appreciate your suggestions.

Tom B.