Anyone willing to help out a Dallas area XJ owner?

As the subject says, I live in the Dallas, TX area (The Colony, actually) and I'm having some issues with my 82 XJ650. I bought it about a month ago and have only been able to ride it a couple of times (tags were out, I was sick, work, etc). Over the last week I have tried riding it a couple more times but I can't seem to get the dang thing started. Before it started just fine. Now it just sits there and cranks forever. Sometimes it'll act like it's going to start, but I'm beginning to believe that's just to give me false hope.

So, anyone in this area interesting in mentoring a newbie?

 

Since it was running pretty recently, I'll bet there's nothing seriously wrong.

I've found that you need to have the battery charged up good, for a quick start. Remember just starting your bike normaly will knock your battery down to 75% or lower.

Screw in a new set of plugs (you've fouled the crap out them trying to start it), and charge the battery. Then learn your bike, and it's starting routine.

Mine is:
Set to prime as I walk up to bike
Put on gloves and zip jacket
Set to on, move to full choke
Twist throttle 3 times
Turn on key
Hit starter

Yours will have it's own routine, try and find it.

 

Well, I found out the issue. SecaGirl, you were correct. The old plugs were fouled pretty badly. However, I do not believe that was the problem. The fact that I could just BARELY get my gap guage in the gap on the plugs probably had more to do with it. But, just in case I was wrong, I put in the new plugs I had just bought on the way home. Screwed them in, turned the key and hit the button and my Xj roared back to life. I like old bikes again.

 

And here I was just day dreaming about heading down to The Big-D for a nice, warm, "3-Day tune and tweak everything" festival.

Of course, I'd like to do those 3 days sometime late January - February!

Yep ... I could see myself ...

Casually sitting in a comfortable lawn chair, got the sunglasses on, a dab of sun block on the nose, cleaning-up a float valve or two, all afternoon, with the sun's rays covertly burning me to a crisp ... getting your bike all tuned-up on the hairy edge of high-performance, wincing when the Noxema
is applied to my blistering skin, before going-out to a nice, quiet, air conditioned, little watering hole and buying a temporary membership before ordering three finger's of Old Number-7 with a Diet Coke back ... coming home with my face as red as a ripe strawberry and wearing a Hawaiian shirt to Church on Sunday with Racoon eyes to subtlety show-off my mid-winter adventure in the sun.

Is it warm enough to hit the pool in February?

 

Keep in mind that there is an annual carb clinic in Dallas known as the North Texas Carb Clinic, NTCC. It was in Richardson the first year and in DeSoto this year. Don't know exactly where next year but I still plan to have it. So baby that bike this year and next June bring it to us and we'll tune her up nice for ya!

 

BlueMaxim, yeah, I've seen the link for the NTCC, of course, I saw that about 2 months after it was already done since I didn't get my bike until around August. Hopefully i'll be able to keep her running until then. Of course, if we have much of a winter, I won't have to worry too much about it running this winter because I'll be pulling things off and getting knee deep in stuff I don't know anything about. ;-)

Rick, I was right there with you until you threw in the Diet Coke back for the Ol' #7. Went and wussified that mans drink.

 

count me in for the NTCC im in okc so i can definitely make the trip..As far as swimmin in feb you really never know what the weather will be like around here