My First Commute,

Started pretty good. Rode to work and back for the first half of my day. (cold start, it was like 46 this morn at 6. high of 59 and sunny) The drive back from work was Fantiastic! Beautiful out. I adjusted my Idle Speed Screw cause I was Idling at 1500, spec 1050.
Now my ride back for my 2nd shift didnt go so well. I was stopped at two stoplights and was fine, but at the third one I shifted down to first, held in the clutch and stopped with both brakes. I sat there for a second and watched my Tach drop, more and more and more.. Tried giving it throttle but as soon as I let off she died on me. Happened again at the next stoplight.
Pulled into work and shut her down. After work i turned the idle adjustment screw back to its orginal 1500 after some playing with it to get it right. Rode home pretty good with a steady Idle of 1400-1500. Only stopped by one light.
So questions-
1)Would a Valve Check and shim adjustment solve this? It sounds to me its not getting enough gas at proper Idle.
2) at 3K rpm my right side "pops". Above and below 3K, not so much. Lean Cylinder?
I talked to a couple people at work who ride and they were of little help.
Much thanks!
-SLKid

 

if its the right side than check into the 3 or 4 cyl. pull the plugs and see what they look like. Unless there is some cross over in the collector box. I have a bit of a stumble from the left side at idle and need to do the same thing. If your not getting enough gas at the proper idle than the pilot circuit isn't providing it. Might need to clean the carbs out thoroughly.

 

Definitely sounds like carb cleansing issues.

That's what my SECA did for a while, and I KNEW I had to clean them, but never did get to it because I had so many other problems with the bike (mainly, electrical!)

Get the carbs done right... I am waiting till I get money to buy ALL necessary o-rings, rubber etc to do it completely right. So I don't have to touch it for a long time!

 

In one of my carbs, I cant remember if its three or four, there is a main jet in my fuel bowl that looks different from the others, I think its a jet from a Maxim X. The hole in the center is the same size as the others, but the sides are taller. Could this be an issue? I cleaned the carbs when I got her, they aren't sparkling, but they are pretty clean.
Does anybody have the link to the ZipTie Method for pulling shims? I'm going to check the plugs and shims today if I can. Thanks guys
-SLKid

 

Awh darn.. Started raining and wont stop until thurs night.. That sucks.. Oh well. Guess I'll just get some new plugs, some metal polish, big zip ties and check my valves until Friday. (Sunny, 70, 5mph wind, 30% Humidity+Payday=Awesome day)
-SLKid

 

I couldnt find any huge zipties at any of the hardware stores.. So I check my Idle mixture screws to see if thats it. I checked the plugs, 3 looked perfect. One looked real dark, four and two were a little on the rich side.
Thing is, mixture screw on carb #1 is almost closed completely and its still running really rich.
So I'm thinking Valve check, elec carb sync, colortune is the order I need to shoot for?

 

They don't need to be huge, just average. I actually like using the backend of the tie instead of doubling over the pointed end. Use the big fat piece to wedge between the valve and the head. Worked great for me.

If I were you, your order would be:
Valve check
Carb cleaning (do it right, won't have to for a long time)
Reinstall carbs and check for leaks
Sync
Tune

 

Did you synch the carbs? After a carb cleaning my bike stalled upon giving throttle. A thorough synch cured that.

 

It sounds like its your idle circuits are still dirty. If you raised the enrichment lever(choke) just a tad while ridding, i bet it would be fine. I had to do this on mine to keep it from dying at a light from time to time. I then sucked it up and tore the carbs apart and cleaned the way its wrote up on this site. This fixed the problem and then some. While idling if you turn your mixture screw the engine should change in rpm in 1 full turn. If yours on #1 is all the way in then carbs need more cleaning. Either way i bet it was great to get out and ride your bike. Im still waiting on parts b4 the first ride this year yet.

 

No I havent synced them. I was waiting till my valve check beore I went to do that.
I guess the consensus is that I need to clean my carbs again. I thought I got it all nice and good, but appearently I havent. Thanks guys!
To Do:
Valve check
Clean Carbs
Sync Carbs with butterfly screws
Tune carbs with mixture screws.

Should I get the dip and soak them? Or jsut some carb cleaner and wire brushes?

-SLKid

 

I've been doing a couple tests warming my XJ700 up in the shed. Its been raining the past couple days and I cant compression test her until my battery is fully charged. So, i concluded last night that my mixture screws 1 and 4 were closed too tight and wasnt giving her enough gas at Idle. So I opened them, to 1.5 turns cause they were set really low. I closed 2 and 3 to 2.5 turns cause they were set very high. I turned her on and let her warm up half choke for a three or four min and then hit the throttle a bit. Sounded fine. So I opened some choke to see if she'd rev up on my tach. Tach dropped below 500 and i saved her by putting her back at half choke. Half choke, 1050 rpm. And then no choke 1050 rpm. And when I try to give her choke she almost died again.
I also turned my Idle Adjustment Screw between the carbs after this to see what that'd do. And it took a LOT of adjusting to make a dent in my Tach.
Maybe a leak in my boots?? I'm checking my valves currently but after I finish that I might take my carbs off again. Oh well.. Means I wont ride tomrrow.
-SLKid

 

My 650 is going almost the same thing! I have one float that sticks every now and then. Did you check you float levels??

 

Think they're too low? No gas is coming out of my overflow tubes. Another member had the same prob and seems to me he fixed it with a valve check. At least, he stopped posting.
I've double checked those floats too.. maybe its stuck low? I'll rap on it with a hammer after my valve check and start her up.
-SLKid

 

Tomorrow might be my first commute!!! I'm takin her out tonight for my first real (longer than 3-4 miles)!!! I need to carry a hammer with me!!!!

 

Lol. I remember My first REAL ride. I took her 30 miles around country roads. It was chilly, but beautiful. Hittin three mile straightaways of nothin but trees and fields at 80 MPH just cause I could. Definatly the most liberating feeling in the entire world.
My work is only eight miles up the road into "town" so thats a comfortable ride
-SLKid

 

Ok, hang on. If you have a warm engine and then just flip on the choke, you're dumping extra fuel into the stream. Mine almost dies if I do the same thing. I even read in the original magazine article from 1980-whatever, that if you flip on the choke after it's warmed up that you'll kill it.

Remember- it's not a choke. It's a fuel-enrichment circuit. It doesn't choke off air, it adds fuel to change the fuel to air ratio.

 

Is there an internet stupid slap?? Can i get one?? I thought it was opening airways...

 

On nearly every other vehicle it IS an airway restricting device. Our bikes are the first vehicles I've encountered that does it this way. Not that I'm an expert or anything. Just in my experience.

So don't feel dumb. It's a learning experience.

 

Actually it's a Japanese 80's approach, I have an old Honda scoot that has an auto-enrich circuit..... adds gas when cold and slowly closes as it warms up..... if that port gets dirty/clogged.... starting and idling are problematic....