Bad gas mileage.

what are the causes for very poor has mileage? Floats?

 

could be many things are all your cylinders firing? spark plug cap resistance in spec?
have you looked at your spark plugs, what color are they? are they sooty or paperbag brown?
you ask about floats have you checked your fuel levels on your bike?
whats your driving style?
theres a lot more info needed to help you.
would you add your model of xj to your profile or to your post.

I will ask the other questions now
compresstion test? valves in spec,church of clean for your carbs?

did you adjust your fuel mixture screws? what method did you use?
carbs could be out of sync. When did you sync them last and how
is your enrichment circuit (choke)compleatly shutting off?

 

Not to mention don't even know what bike you are talking about....

 

that should be a required field on sign up.

 

and map location & marker....

 

Sorry it's an 1980 xj650. It my first bike, haven't really had time to get into it.

 

For you a new world is about to open-up. The guru's on this site will guide you through valves and carbs and diagnostics. Start with a manual. Good luck, it will be fun and frustrating .... I know, I was there.

 

These guys are awesome!!

 

Very very frusterating.

 

Take a deep breath ..... You may not get to ride as much as you want this year but next year you will amaze yourself. Carbs first (church of clean). Valve checks! Chacal and his parts knowledge is amazing, don't hesitate purchasing the parts you need from him.

 

What kind of mileage are you getting? More info on your bike is needed. How many miles on the bike. Have you checked the valves to make sure the clearances are in spec? What modifications have been done? What maintenance items have been taken care of since you purchased it? Don't believe anything the previous owner told you when it comes to maintenance that was done.

 

Not.

Gary H.

 

I live in Portland Maine, I bought it from a man that has Alzheimer's his daughter sold it to me. I spoke to the shop owner that worked on it. He said he hadn't seen it in 4 years witch matched the time from it was in storage when I bought it, he told me he did all the many inane on the bike twice a year. Bike has 26,000 miles on it. I did an oil change on it, that's all I have done bike run great, idles great start great. I drove it about 220miles and went through about 6 tanks of gas.

 

The #4 carb seems to be my issue with dumping fuel.

 

That's a sticking and or worn float valve. It's been sitting for 4 years...time to "church of clean" the carbs. Actually the entire preventive maintenance schedule needs to be done. Your bike will thank you.

Gary H.

 

Second time for a good carb cleaning. Find out from the shop that worked on it if they ever did throttle shaft seals.
More than likely not because they would have charged boo koo money. I replace them on every carb overhaul I do and it does make a difference to not have air sucking from where its not supposed to. Idle quality and off idle throttle response is better.

 

Required reading:
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/the-information-overload-hour.27544/
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/#post-120723
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics.14827/#post-122016
You will get a good idea of what it takes to get these machines in proper order.

 

Sons bike did a similar thing . Oring on float valve failed letting in tons of gas. Only ran well after fuel tap turned off for a minute and float level was not compromised.

 

I don't know about easy and fun.... at least not the first time. Third of Fourth time around you start getting into it

 

Yes the difference between my bike runs and holy sh&t I smoked the rear tire come down to carbs and valves. I don't hesitate to run my 650 Seca to the moon because I've put in the time to make it run as Yamaha had intended. Nothing better than blasting through the Fraser Canyon in BC at Mach 2 with you hair on fire!!! Or hwy 3 through Manning Park mid week 3rd week of September no traffic and still warm enough for tires to stick.
For all the Washington state gang Chuckanut drive or North Cascades hwy.