motorcycle newb requesting input on strange issues (long

Bear with me here as I am new to motorcycles and even newer to motorcycle mechanics

The first 2-3 weeks of riding my first bike(1981 maxim 650)were trouble free.

But a few days ago the bike started to act strange. About 2 miles into my trip to work I came to a light and as I slowed and came to a stop the revs went down and down and the bike finally died, despite attempts with throttle input to keep her running. At first I thought I had no fuel left or the valve was in the wrong position, but I had a half tank of fuel and the petcock was on "ON". Getting her running again required near full choke for a few minutes after which she idled fine without choke. I continued on and she ran normal until I slowed down then again the same thing happened. Thinking perhaps I got some bad gas I hobbled to the nearest gas station where I filled her up. BAM! no more problems after the tank was full.... and she has continues to run fine as long as the tank is more than half full.

Now today I get another surprise. A new noise. After 10 miles of riding it started making a strange almost whiring/metallic noise (i cant describe it and will try to get a video of it) upon deceleration only. It appears to be related solely to rolling speed and not RPM. At this point the bike is also idling at 2k insead of 1050 (Is it supposed to idle higher when hot?) I took the bike for a spin on my lunch break and again the noise happened after a few minutes. Perhaps my search skills arent great, I couldn't find any posts related to these issues. I'm not sure where to start

 

"I am Corn Holio ! I need Tee Pee. . . " [ couldn't resist ]

Here's the deal - - whatever tuning your Previous Owner did to sell the bike is now invalid, as the fresh gasoline rinsed out some crud in the fuel system.
Now, you either have idle jets that are blocked, or you have tiny air leaks from intake manifolds and throttle shaft seals, or the vacuum tube to your fuel petcock has some cracks, or a variety of other small things that have permanently changed the way your carbs now work.

The bottom line is- - your bike has changed, and you need to deal with it.
This will take some work. And Welcome !!

 

That's petty good. I like it. And your right, I do have problems with my fuel petcock. I need new diaphram, and seals. Having trouble finding correct rebiud kit for my 82 xj550 seca. It was recently given to me and I am dying to ride. I like the the style, amd it's in cherry condition.

A.K.A BIKERS SUK!!!!! And I don't want to be one. I'm a RIDER! "Bikers" need bike to make themselves look cool. So they think.

 

SkidmarkOU812 says so!! That's the bottom line A.K.A

 

There are some things you will need to know about and investigate.
Some other maintenance-related issues you'll need to perform.

Acquire a Workshop Manual for your Bike.
Perform a Timing Chain Manual Reset.
Examine the Alternator Brushes for correct length. (10mm)
Have the OEM Fuse Panel replaced with an ATC Fuse Panel.

http://www.centechwire.com/Merchant2/me ... _Code=FB-6

Examine the Petcock Screen Tower for Buildup.
Install an Inline Fuel Filter to protect the Carbs from being contaminated.
During the off-season or as soon as practical, ... remove the Carbs for a complete break-down and thorough cleaning and the Refinishing of the Diaphragm Piston Bores.

Perform ALL the Suggested Maintenance outlined in the Scheduled Maintenance Section; including:
Inspection of Rear Brake Linings.
Flushing and replenishing the Braking System with fresh fluid.

Make Replacing the Fuse Panel a High Priority.
Just getting old takes it toll on the Fuse Panel.

 

Is the noise coming from the speedo? Mine was just doing it and I had to lube it up. Good luck and welcome!!!

 

You see Rick, there's a whole list of things a brand new XJ - er needs to know right away.
And they can get all this info right in some kind of sign-up link.
We, as a community need to work on this.
Even from just the safety aspect of this project.

And Skidmark- - - - - - - - welcome to the site !!

 

Rick;

I agree with TIME; we've got a lot of real good articles now, and some of them (like rear brake delamination) are real safety issues that a new XJ owner may not even think of.

How about the actual FAQ starts getting populated? I've always posted my "how-to" articles (valve adjustment, speedo teardown, tach gear oil seal, etc) in "FAQ Suggestions" how about some of those, and your carb articles, and Don's fork rebuild, get moved to FAQ itself?

We might not have to answer the same queries over and over; it's hard for a "newbie" to search if they don't know what they're searching FOR.

 

I absolutely agree with TIME and Fitz, it's time for this to happen, just hope the people who can..... have the time.

 

Well, ... I certainly agree we need to do something.

In the Chevy Forum I visit, the Topics are quite specific, so if you need to search for something, ... you have narrowed it down to what you are looking for just by looking in the Sub-category dedicated to specific areas.

There's too much "Title Babble" going on.
Topics like:
Hi, Noob, Problem, What if?, Strange noise, High rpm's.

I think we should initiate a "Keywood" List to narrow-down
AIR FILTER
CAMSHAFT-CHAIN
CARBURETOR
CLUTCH
CRANKCASE
CRANKCASE COVER
CRANKSHAFT-PISTON
CYLINDER
CYLINDER HEAD
DRIVE SHAFT
ELECTRICAL 1
ELECTRICAL 2
EXHAUST
FENDER
FRAME
FRONT BRAKE-CALIPER
FRONT FORK
FRONT MASTER CYLINDER
FRONT WHEEL
FUEL TANK
GENERATOR
GOVERNOR
HANDLE SWITCH-LEVER
HANDLEBAR-CABLE
HEADLIGHT
METERS
MIDDLE DRIVE GEAR
MODS
OIL FILTER
OIL PUMP
PODS
REAR WHEEL
REAR BRAKE
SEAT
SHIFT CAM-FORK
SHIFT SHAFT
SIDE COVER
STAND-FOOTREST
STARTER CLUTCH
STARTING MOTOR
STEERING
SWING ARM-REAR SHOCKS
TAILLIGHT
TOP END GASKET KIT
TRANSMISSION
TURN SIGNAL
VALVES

Might help.
It would be a step in a positive direction!

 

FirmusArma, welcome to the site.
Where in Az are you?
As you can see from the responce to your questions a
diagnosis will be very broad untill some details are known.

Like, gen condition and milage of the bike.

Any recent work done ( carbs cleaned, valves adj. etc).
Or did the PO completely forget about the word "maintanence"
like mine did?

Any modifications like pod air filters of other non factory
equipment installed that may affect performance?

PM me if you want to keep your location annonymus, if we
live close i'll help you out if I can.

ron

 

Welcome!

Your first issue, with the stalling, was probably low fuel level. When the tank looks half full there is only a gallon or so left and you need to switch to RES and head for the gas station.

The idle speeding up when hot is a symptom of a lean idle condition. That can be caused by air leaks, unclean primary mixture circuit or mis-adjusted mixture screws.

 

Welcome to the site Beavis. Sounds like it's time to dig into those carbs. There is a link on how to do it on rickomatics signature. Even a mechanical nimrod like myself used it and had great results a couple years back.

Also, as far as informing other newbies. Perhaps when the site sends them a welcome email it can have a link to a laundry list of routine maintenance posts and getting started posts? Also, a link to chacals catalog. Just a thought.

 

Thanks all for the quick replies. Looks like I've got some fun ahead of me. I'll be purchasing that fuse block today

About the workshop manual you refer to RickCoMatic, would a Haynes manual suffice or are you referring to a factory service manual?

Parts, I'm in Phoenix

The bike is in fair condition, totally stock
24000 on the odo
As far as maintenance goes I have no idea what the PO has done to the bike.
When I got it I changed the oil and replaced the rear tire. Planned to do more but ran out of cash gotta love the holidays!

Micarl, I verified it had a half tank when i filled up. It took 2.5 gallons to top off, meaning it had 3 gallons in there when it was stalling. That is, if I'm correct that the tank is 5.4 gallon capacity?

I'm not sure if the noise is coming from the speedo, it sounds like its underneath me. The rubber boots going from the carbs to the motor are full of cracks and when the bike is hot you can see the cracks pulsate like they are sucking in air? :? I read here that you can slather some black RTV on them to seal up those cracks, replacements seem to be very expensive.

 

Fuel tank capacity: 3.4 U.S. Gallons. Reserve ~ 0.8 U.S. Gallons.

3.4 - 0.8 = 2.6 :lol:

 

Wow that's not much fuel lol, thanks for the clarification. My only question then is, why would that cause it to stall only when I slowed down?

 

Haynes will do the trick.
But, Haynes covers all the Inline-4's.
So, there's stuff in there you don't need and can confuse you.
Haynes also has a couple of glaring errors that have really screwed-up some guys following their test.

Now, then!
The Factory Manual is SPECIFIC to your Bike.
Pays for itself the very first time you open the cover and follow the directions to fixing something yourself.

Plus, if you leave it on the top of the tank with other magazines in the bathroom, ... while you are answering the call of nature you can be "Multi-tasking" ... and, instead of farting around ... you can be learning all about your Bike!!! : - )) Dbl. chins

 

It won't only cause it to stall when you slow down. The "ON" setting picks up fuel through a periscope in the tank. When you're moving fuel sloshes around and some will find it's way in there (until the level drops some more). Also, hiccups are most noticeable at idle or under heavy load.

Mostly though, it's just coincidence.

 

Yah , full of cracks and pulsating... there's the answer for
the idle prob.

You have a lot of options when it comes to" repair before
replace" since even used manifolds can be exspensive and
no guaranty not to leak. If you don't mind the look you can
seal them with many fuel resistant compounds and I even read
about someone using bicycle innertubes to pull over the boots
to provide a seal.
A Yamaha service manual would be great but a lot of $$$$$$$,
and any manual is better then none....but you can order th "XJCD"
from this site, it's awsome and cheap.

My 700n had a little under 24k (miles) and in good condition body-wise
but only ran so-so.
Thanks to this site it now screams, and I didn't spend a lot to do it.

Good luck.
Ron