Brand New "Intake Manifolds" Peeling Inside

Your running synch is off...popping is one idication ...what it means one butterfly is open slightly more than another cylinder. This can make a color tune useless ...synch with either a 4 gauge or A mamometer first then try to colortune .

 

I synced with a calibrated set of vacuum gauges and a yics tool. I removed the tool and checked again and it's perfect both ways. With the colortune set as close as I can get it the bike hums at idle with no variation and revs instantly with no hesitation, most of the time.

Sometimes, like when cold, I have the issues described above.

Other times, like when really hot (freeway riding), the idle goes up 200 rpm and wavers a bit. Though I think that might have had something to do with the aftermarket manifolds peeling or not sealing.

 

Okay I havent went back to read full post ..but have taken carbs to church and replaced ALL the rubber seals and soaked carbs? You may have a vacuum leak at the shaft seals. Or you may have a leak at head to the boots ... yes I know these are new I would suspect the gasket. The thing is why I see it this way it may run good at idle cold but as it warms up things expand and this is where leaks come in . Just throwing out my take on problem .. cheers

 

Everything rubber aside from the diaphragms has been replaced and the carbs have been soaked and each passage cleared and checked for good flow, including the jet in the bowl. I've checked for vacuum leaks after letting the engine heat up for 20 minutes or so with a blower on the engine.

I think my vacuum caps may have been expanding and leaking though. After getting everything hot they pulled off with very little force. I put zip ties around them so they take a bit of force to pull off and put on. They feel much tighter now. The engine never responded to propane, but I've never found that check to be super reliable anyway.

 

The vacuum port rubber caps are suppose to have clamps on them.....Chacal sells them

And as k-moe said.....bunsen-blue on those pilot mixture screws at idle

 

I replaced the caps with generic aftermarket caps. They're smaller and the stock clamps don't fit.

 

So I went back out and set the mixtures leaner with the colortune.

Here's the range I have when going from bottomed out to 4.5 turns out on the mixture screw (numbers are approximate; I wasn't paying too much attention but I know 4.5 is where it goes completely rich);
0-1.5 no ignition
1.6-2.5 occasional blue ignition
2.6-2.9 off-and-on blue ignition
3-3.7 blueish white but still missing every few ignitions
3.8 mostly white and steady for the most part
3.9-4.1 whitish yellow and steady
4.2-4.5 yellow
4.6+bright yellow and missing occasionally

Where in that range is correct? I thought it was supposed to be white then blue then yellow, but If I turn the screw in it just stops firing that cylinder and never turns white.

With all the screws set to the rich side of the blue range (~3 turns) the bike runs fine, but the idle isn't quite as smooth as when there are flecks of yellow just starting to appear. It seems like I have a misfire when using the colortune.

Also, when I slowly rev the bike there is a point around 3-4k rpm where I get a lovely cobalt blue flame. I can't get that same color at idle no matter where I set the mixture screw, even if I make nickle width adjustments through the range and rev the bike after a couple adjustments.

When I rev the bike it drops to a low (~850 rpm), yellow idle before it turns whitish blue and climbs back up (~1100 rpm).

One time I quickly revved the bike wide open twice to about 4k and it backfired through the intake on the second pull. I'm assuming it just went lean because I went wide open.

The exhaust is dripping water and forming two decent puddles under the bike. Is that normal?

There are so many things going on here and I just can't figure out if I'm lean or rich at a given setting. The colortune seems vague at best. The idle seems fairly smooth and it revs nicely so I'm pretty certain my vacuum gauges are correct in saying the sync is perfect.

Sorry these posts are so long. I'm getting frustrated and I want to make sure I'm providing as much information as possible so maybe someone can help. Kinda wishing I had an EGA, though that might just make things more confusing.

 

I would start with 2.5 full turns out from soft bottom......that seems to get you in the general ballpark.......when colortuning, hopefully you will only be making small adjustments one way or another from there.....

But start with 2.5 turns out.....

 

What am I looking for? I mean, I know what to look for, but I can never seem to find it.

 

Bunsen-blue at idle after the bike is properly warmed up & idling real nice....

Read the attached .pdf from Gunson.......perform all 3 tests in order.....

See attached .pdf

 

Thank you. I'll give this a shot tomorrow.

 

That'll be the problem then. Most of the aftemarket caps will not hold up to the heat from the head, and you'll get intermittent vacuum leaks.

 

That could certainly explain why the idle we sometimes climb a bit and become unstable after a long ride. I'll keep a close eye on it and replace them with something proper if they seem to be failing. Thanks

 

Buy OEM caps and clamps from chacal.....buy right the first time......do you remember the boots......

 

They already seem to be failing.

 

That's why I put zip ties around them as temporary clamps. I know, I know, that's NOT a proper way to fix this problem, but it should work for a couple test rides so I can prove the bike is still worth putting money into.

Here are the caps I got. Lots of people reviewing them are using them for automotive vacuum systems. I don't see how my use is any different, other than; I wasn't using clamps; the temperature they reach may be higher in this application than on a water-cooled engine.

 

I've used the same caps. You are correct about the temps they see being higher.

 

Did you have any problems with them?

 

Yes. Which is why I commented about yours. Apologies for not being clear earlier.

 

Those caps are right next to the heads on the back side where temps are a lot higher than out front in the wind......

Make sure they are clamped when you purchase new caps

 

Alright I'll make new caps a part of my next order from Chacal

 

i just use a chunk of vacuum hose with something to plug one end ( brass brazing rod ) lasts a long time, saves a trip to the store too.
even tried connecting 2 to 4 and 1 to 3 with a "T" to the tank, no difference. took it off, looked like poop

 

I just installed a new steering bearing on the stem without the dust seal first, and ruined the bearing taking it off.

I've never cursed so much in my life (in my head anyway). May God have mercy on my soul.

The engine is running pretty nice though. Once I get a new set of bearings I'm sure it'll handle much better as well. The old races had HUGE indentations where the balls sat.

 

That's what she said!

They say he is a forgiving god, if not there is always the FSM.

 

Flagged: inappropriately funny

 

Here's a shot of the worst bearing race for anyone who's interested. I can't believe how bad it was after "only" 26,000 miles. And the grease was still pretty greasy!

 

I got ones like that off a 15k mile bike. My Kawasaki the PO told me it had "center lock steering" for highway stability . I'm thankful for tapered roller bearing kits

 

With the front wheel of the ground the handlebars would snap into place in the center position. I would call it "mechanical self driving."

Though honestly I never noticed any handling problems on this bike. I'm really interested to see if the new rear suspension and steering bearings make a noticeable difference. Of course this is the only motorcycle I've ridden at highway speeds so maybe I think garbage handling is normal.

 

I would call it "uh-oh,-steering-stem-bearings-have-a-detent....time-for-replacement, or-at-best---cleaning-out-the-old-hardened-grease-and-hope-I-don't-lose -any -of-the-balls-in-the-meantime-or-else-I'll-have-to-replace-the-bearings-anyway-so-I-might-as-well-get-a-set-of-tapered -bearings-and-install-them-now-so-I-never-have-to-worry-about-it ever-again"

.....did he tell you the seized brake was for automatic braking, too?

 

That was just the parking brake. Made moving the bike around an absolute pain until I figured out how to turn it off


with a caliper rebuild.

If I knew then what I know now about motorcycle maintenance I could have gotten that bike a lot cheaper.

 

Oh, yeah! The Parking Brake......yeah, that's the ticket! (smarmy Pathological Liar voice)

I think if we knew then what we know now.........uh maybe I better not go there------