Fuel enrichment circuit???

So... I have an '83 Maxim 1100 thats being a real pita to start... from reading articles around the forum here Im guessing this fuel enrichment system is most likely where the problem lies.

I got this bike last year from a dude who had left it parked in a heated garage for four years, he had intentions of doing some work to it but started working on a family and the bike got left in the sideline, included in the deal was a box of several small parts, seals, and new carb manifolds. I put in the manifolds, new fuel pump and several other none fuel related parts, the bike runs well and starts instantly when its warm, but if it sits for an hour or more it needs a spray of fuel through the airbox... otherwise I'll kill the new battery before it will fire and stay running.

The 'Choke' lever does appear to be doing something because when pulled on the engine will sputter, without the choke lever it just cranks with no sign of life. Once the engine is running the choke lever will increase the rpm... so just a guess on my part... but Im thinking that at least some of these fuel enrichment circuits are plugged. The last time I had the carbs off I looked inside the float chambers... they appeared to be clean so I just blew the area out with an airhose and put everything back together... hoping for the best. Today Im going to pull the carbs again and see if I can find any crud that I may have missed the first time around

If anyone has other ideas that may be causing the problem let me know... or if anyone in the Calgary Ab area wants a project bike make me an offer.

 

Clean your carbs which includes the enrichment circuit.

My 82 XJ650 acted just like your 1100. Difficult to start cold. It would die if you gave it throttle too quickly.
After cleaning the carbs and a vacuum synch, it was a rocket.

The carbs in my 650 had tiny rust particles lodged in various places preventing fuel flow. Installing fuel filters is a good thing to do right after the petcock outlet. I also installed clear fuel lines to help know when to turn from prime to run.

 

Go through the carbs again, there very well could be some crud still in there.

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/the-secret-life-of-carburetors.14751/

You will want to make sure that you remove the idle air screws in order to clean out the idle passages thoroughly, and then reset the screws to 2 1/2 turns out from a soft-seat.
You will at some point also want to do a runing synch of the carbs, but not until you have cheked (and adjusted as needed) the valve clearances.

 

FYI choke is the fuel enrichment circuit and in my owners manual choke is called the starter lever also

 

Well Im optimistic, I found two of the wells for the fuel enrichment tubes were in fact blocked completely, I cleaned all 4 with a torch tip cleaner a got it up and running again, will have to wait an hour to see if it starts better but it does seem that the choke lever(yes, I know thats not the proper name) has more affect than before, it used to only bring up the rpm to about 1500 but now it will bring them up to over 4000 so theres obviously something differant going on inside there. It did seem to smooth out quicker than before also, I think I will run to town and get some Seafoam to run through it now that I know theres fuel getting through all the little arteries. So thanks to all those putting up the differant articles I read last, it just may have done the trick

 

Put an inline fuel filter on as well. That crud you found came from somewhere, and prevention is easier than the cure.

 

sounds like it is now working as it should, starts bike and the idle slowly climbs to 4K as bike warms up. the time it takes depends on how cold bike was when starting.
when it hits 4 K rpm can you turn choke off and bike continues to run?

 

Seems fine now, left outside for about four hours, temps down to about +3, it started without using the throttle, rpm slowly came up to about 3500 until I turned off the start lever, the idle then came down to 1000-1100. Happy Happy

 

keep coming back here with all your questions,

 

I originally bought the bike with intention to fix it up and ride it but shortly after bringing it home I also bought a '98 Shadow 1100 that needed nothing but a battery so thats my ride now and Im trying to sell this Maxim as a project for someone else to finish up, kinda tough to sell something that doesnt start tho so I have done some of the work it needed, I changed the manifolds, fuel pump, solenoid, plugs, battery, had the seat recovered, and now cleaned the carbs. I tried to talk the wife into riding it but that isnt gonna happen so its just been collecting dust. But... Im into it now for over $1000 and I wont give it away... so I might be owning it for awhile longer.

 

Nice looking bike , you should have no problem getting your money out of it.
Or keep it and lend to riding partners Lol..... I would ride it!!
Alan

 

Thx Alan, I think it would clean up real nice considering its age. I see your in S'toon, have you ever rode up to Drumheller? Theres a really nice little stretch of road called the David Thompson Highway that runs along the river just east of the city with several cool spots to check out including the Hoodoos sand formations, a suspension bridge, and a coal mine museum. Theres a nice riding gear apparel shop called TopRockers where you can grab a beer and a sandwhich or a neat little hotel called Last Chance Saloon where you can grill your own steak and hangout with plenty of bikers, the Canadian Pickers tv show did an episode from there because the place is full of antiques. If you havent been there its well worth the trip.

 

I was out that way years ago with my old xs750, spent a night in Carbon at the campground and bar .
That highway and route you talked of sounds interesting, I think I will have to look into that. Thanks for the idea !!

 

Carbon is very close to the west end of the same route, west of Drumheller its known as Dinosaur Trail(575), east of Drum is the David Thompson(10 hwy), from end to end its likely less than 100km but theres plenty interesting stops to check out, We avoid the area during july and aug because theres too many tourists with campers and motorhomes but any other times you'll find alot of bikers. We live only an hour SW of Drum so its become our favorite day trip, riders from Calgary go right past our yard so Ive been known to jump on the bike and tag along. Let me know if you plan to ride out and I'll meet you for refreshments, I have this thread set to email me of replies

 

If I'm out that way I will contact you, sounds like a nice day ride !
I did live in Calgary as a kid , and I spent about 4-5 years later working in Alberta oilfields, so I thought I knew most of the back roads but not all of them.
Alan

 

As a point of reference, I paid $1200 for my XJ1100 (my avatar) in 2012. I test drove it that day I bought it. The speedo and tach were dead but everything else was operational. I have looked at many XJ1100 bikes on craigslist since I bought mine. They seem to hold their value above $1000 but there seems to be no trend for the bikes to appreciate in value.

I would recommend that you have a look to see if the OEM glass fuses are still installed under the right side cover. I just upgraded my fuse panel to ATC fuses. When I removed one of the glass fuses, the fuse holder crumbled. At least two fuse holders had zero spring tension remaining. After 35 years of aging, the OEM fuse panel is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

+1. If the box isn't rebuilt or replaced a disaster WILL happen. It'll start with a migrane headache caused by a lot of components failing to correctly operate.

Gary H.

 

I sold the bike yesterday for $1200cdn, young couple, the bike is for the young lady who is interested in learning mechanics,. I pointed out every little thing I could think of that still needs to be addressed, including the brittle plastic wiring connectors and fuse box, a leaky petcock, and other minor issues. It started nice, the boyfriend took it for a test ride and actually brought a plate along and rode it home about 45 minutes from here. They seemed pretty happy with the deal, I had about $1100 into it but I never bought it for profit so Im happy. Being somewhat local from Three Hills which is in the Carbon area, they already know about that area by Drumheller I was talking about so there's a good chance we will see each other again.

Again Thx for the help, the articles on this fuel enrichment circuit were a big help.... but Im still calling it a 'Choke Lever'