Help Needed with tuning

I have an 81 Xj650. Over the winter I cleaned the carbs and did an adjustment to the valves since I had an oil leak on the valvecover gasket. Thanks goodness for this site. I also replaced the o ring on the tach to stop an oil leak there. I need some help in terms of getting it running good. When the bike gets hot it starts to run very poorly. It revs up to 5k and I have to ride the clutch to bring the idle down. When I got home last night I pulled the plugs and they were on the whitish side. Which looks like it is running lean. My pilot screws were 3 turns out which I thought would be on the rich side. Please let me know how to proceed or if someone lives near me (Carlisle, PA) I would welcome any help which I could pay for if needed. Thanks for the help you guys always ROCK....

 

The xj does not always run as theory would suggest.
I'm at 3.40 to 3.50 out depending on the plug and
should be VERY rich (living at 5200 ft abv sl), yet my
plugs look great and she runs the same.
The first indication that your running lean is a popping
at the exhaust during deceleration.
I tuned mine by observing the plug color then fine tuning
by sound and feel.
if you hear popping then tune rich 5 sec (like on a clock)
untill the popping stops. If everything else is right you
should have great performance while still having a smooth feel
in the pegs and bars (vibritions gone for the most part ).

 

parts is right about the turns out, i'm in the 4's w/ the Colortune plug. But your revving thing is something else. get a propane torch, 20 bux in a hardware store, don't light it and let the gas surround the carb and intake boots area while the bike is running, if the idle goes up there's an air leak somewhere. with the bike warm of course just like it happens now. Also, I recently learned that if the bike was jetted for exhaust and more air flow in, if only the mains were changed, the pilots would cause what you're explaining

 

If they're synched and running nice just back the idle screw (between 2 & 3) off when it starts to act up. You'll only need about 1/4 turn. Mine did this as well. I checked with all kinds of fluids and propane for an air leak never found one. Got it good and hot on a 40 mile interstate ride. Pulled over stuck my gloved hand down in there turned it out and the idle dropped and has been fine since.

If you need some help with it I'll be at my shop in Essex, MD all day sunday. It's a bit of a ride but we can get it straight no problems.

 

I guess tonight I will check for a vacuum leak. Gives me a reason to ride. :lol: I have a colortune but It seems like it is alway dark and hard to read. Maybe I am not colortuning correct. I will post later tonight or tomorrow with my findings. Please keep the suggestions coming though. I bought the bike for $500 and got it all cleaned and repainted looks practically brand new.

 

There's another one of us in south jersey, maybe the 3 of us could race!

 

I was looking at the bike tonite and it seems that my floats on carbs three and four were high. I discovered it when I put the bike on prime and gas started to pour out of those two carbs. I reset the height of the floats and reinstalled carbs. I tried to start the bike but i forgot to turn it off so the headlight drained the battery. It is in the charger now. Keeping my fingers crossed.