Reading plugs

So how does this look? I had been riding the bike a few miles, stopped at an intersection and suddenly wanted to die, felt like the plugs were loading up, at least it felt the same way that my two-stroke dirt bike feels when its plug is loading up. Managed to get it home, pulled the plugs and to my eye they actually look pretty good. Wanna see if the experts here agree. This is two shots of the same plug, but the all look pretty much like this. Some soot on the threads, but the ceramic part looks tan to me. I hope these pics work.

 

no pics what are you using as a host.

 

Flickr. I tested the links and they worked for me, outside of the forum. Maybe I'm not allowed to post pics yet until someone makes sure I'm not posting porn or something.

Hope I'm not breaking any rules with this, but the links are:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95977583@N08/8758718189/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95977583@N08/8759840806/

 

look good to me, how old are those plugs?

 

age-wise, maybe a year, but only about 50 miles on them. Bike is a project (aren't they all), but I've been trying to ride it more and more, further and further each time, hoping to gain some confidence that it won't strand me somewhere. Wanting to die at the intersection was a step backward in that regard. :-(

 

their a little sooty/rich on the base ring, but if you've just been on multiple short rides and using the choke that would explain that soot. the insulator looks good and little rich is better than lean.
what is the idle set at? i need choke at a stop sign 1 mile away then no choke at a red light 3 miles away with a 850/900 rpm idle then after 10 miles it settles in at 1200

 

The idle settles in around 1300 once it's warm, which only takes a mile or so. I've been trying to get off the choke as quickly as possible, and use as little choke as possible while on it, just enough to keep it running smooth.

 

The idle settles in around 1300 once it's warm, which only takes a mile or so. I've been trying to get off the choke as quickly as possible, and use as little choke as possible while on it, just enough to keep it running smooth.

 

XJ550? Looks a tad rich to me.

Float levels wet-set to within spec?

How's the idle? Smooth as a sewing machine, or "lump-lump-lump?"

It should idle around 1200rpm.

 

Yes, XJ550. I did wet-set the float levels, but I will check them again. Question on that.. of course I want the level to be right in spec, but if one of them happens to be out of spec, I'm thinking that a bit low it better than a bit high. Correct thinking?

And I've never been very satisfied with the idle, it's not nearly as smooth as I'd like. What does that indicate? It's not quite as bad as a Harley, but it is sort of a lump lump.

 

The idle on my MAxim-X has been like lump-lump until I sync'ed the carbs properly.

 

The "loping" idle indicates an out of sync or uneven float level condition, or both. And you don't have to be very far out of sync.

Getting the sync spot-on involves vacuum sync'ing (with YICS blocked) then idle mixture tuning (ColorTune and reading plugs) and more vacuum sync; once the float levels are dead-nuts on.

Get a 550 right and not only will it idle like a sewing machine, it will also significantly quiet down the inherent primary/clutch/trans "rattle" at idle.

 

I took a shot at syncing last night, but can't tell that it made all that much difference. I warmed it up enough so that it would idle with no enrichment, blocked the YICS with the tool I got from Len, and hooked up the Carbtune Pro. Even with the restrictors in the hoses as per the instructions, the rods still fluctuated more that I thought they would. I could get 1 & 2 pretty close, but trying to balance the 1-2 and 3-4 pairs seemed to affect the 3-4 balance, and vice versa. Never did get all 4 quite balanced. Admittedly I was hurrying a bit because I was running on the fuel left in the bowls. I have an aux tank but I don't like to use it, because even with a clamp it leaks where the carb line slides onto the its little barbed petcock thingy. Actually, that's quite annoying: I can slide that line onto the actual tank petcock and it doesn't leak a drop, no clamp, but it leaks on the aux tank even with a clamp.

I have a colortune plug but haven't tried it yet. I'd like to get the carbs better synced first.

I guess I should start over and re-verify the float levels first. So obviously, I want the float levels as perfect as possible, but given that the adjustment process is rather crude, help me out by prioritizing what's most important. Do they just need to all be in spec? Is lower better than higher? Is it ok if one is at the top end of the spec and another at the bottom end of spec, or is it important that they all be identical?

 

Spec for the floats is plus or minus ONE MILLIMETER. ONE. Millimeter. That's downright friggin' TINY.

There is no "at the high end" or "at the low end" of spec; unless you can actually adjust to FRACTIONS of a millimeter? I can't.

What's important is that they are all truly within only ONE blasted millimeter of where they are supposed to be. Believe me, get them there and they will be virtually all the same and then you're done for a good long time.

The adjustment process cannot be crude; think "tweak" or "nudge" rather than bend. If you bend a tang far enough to know you bent it, you went too far.

Trust me, this can be and usually is a frustrating process. TIP*** drain/fill/drain/fill each float bowl a few times to "cycle" the float needle before checking levels, so they have a chance to settle in. Measure on the first "fill" and they will often be off, and not match subsequent "fills."

 

Please help me make sure I understand this correctly. I thought the spec for the XJ550 was 2mm below top of bowl, plus or minus 1 mm. Doesn't that mean one carb could be 1mm from the top, another could be 3 mm from the top, and both would be within spec? That's a 2mm spread, and that's what I meant by high end and low end. What am I missing?

To put it another way, suppose that two of the levels were 1mm below and two were 3mm below. Should I try to tighten them up further than that, or consider them all to be within spec and call it a day?

Oh, and I appreciate the advice about the first fill possibly being off, so drain/fill/drain/fill multiple times. That never occurred to me. Considering the hassle it is to get the rack back onto the bike, I definitely want to get this right the first time.

 

The CarbTune Restrictors aren't restricting enough.

Knock the Vacuum down big-time.
Using Carb Cleaner Red Tubes & Hose Unions; fabricate Restrictors of your own.

5-Minute Epoxy
2 Red Tubes
4 Unions
2 Ounces Jack Daniels

Home Made Manifold Vacuum Restrictors

 

2 Ounces Jack Daniels

Ahhhhh...THIS is what I've been doing wrong! :wink:

 

Buffalo Trace is also a compatible part for this activity. :wink:

 

My point about there being no "spread" in specs is that even 2mm is so small as to be barely measurable. Yes, one could be at 1mm below and one could be at 3mm below and they'd both be in spec but you'll barely be able to see the difference. If you "match" them all at 2mm, in reality each one is probably going to be slightly off, say a half a millimeter or so in either direction. Getting them as close as possible is the goal.

 

Hey RickCoMatic, I have a stupid question. Assuming the epoxy is to anchor the red tubes inside the unions, how do you keep the epoxy from getting inside the red tubes? The only option I see is to epoxy them in long and trim to length after the epoxy has set. Should I be concerned that cutting them will deform the ends, making them restrict the vacuum by different amounts?

Come to think of it, I guess if that were a concern, it would be a concern no matter when the tubes were cut. I guess I could always slightly ream the tips of the red tubes after they are cut, just to ensure that they are still round and not deformed by the cutting. Just being paranoid.

And I will likely substitute 2 oz. of tequila for the JD. I am in Texas, after all.

 

Hey RickCoMatic, I have a stupid question. Assuming the epoxy is to anchor the red tubes inside the unions, how do you keep the epoxy from getting inside the red tubes? The only option I see is to epoxy them in long and trim to length after the epoxy has set. Should I be concerned that cutting them will deform the ends, making them restrict the vacuum by different amounts?

Come to think of it, I guess if that were a concern, it would be a concern no matter when the tubes were cut. I guess I could always slightly ream the tips of the red tubes after they are cut, just to ensure that they are still round and not deformed by the cutting. Just being paranoid.

And I will likely substitute 2 oz. of tequila for the JD. I am in Texas, after all.