xj650 seca, reading plugs?

Hi everyone, at the beginning of the season this year I picked up a barely running xj650 seca, after replacing some worn parts (throttle seals, some valve shims, fuel o-rings, spark plugs) and cleaning the carb its running again, but roughly (high idle after a highway ride, smells rich, low idle when starting cold, but the 'choke' fixes it). Compression is 120, with cylinder 4 lagging a bit around 105.

I rode around and checked the (new) spark plugs. I tried to compare them to some reference images online but I'm not super clear on what this indicates, if someone more experienced can chime in that would be great:



I'm pretty sure this bike is well past its prime, but it was a fun way to learn about mechanics/maintenance (with this forum as a great reference) and it would be great if I could get it running a bit more reliably.

 

They should be a light tan colour. They are dry and not black so l don't think it'd running rich. The rings may be stuck and running it should free them up and increase the compression a bit. And they are old bikes but well engineered so l don't see why you shouldn't get a good reliable machine once it's tuned up. Are you running pods or the Yamaha air filter, and if the latter is it clean. Most problems if not ignition related are caused by the carburettors not cleaned properly then floats set, bench synchronised then balanced with vacuum gauges..

 

I'm running the stock air filter/box, no pods here. I thought rich because of the fuel smell and the first ride on the highway was gulping fuel down. Maybe fuel is going elsewhere (but the oil didn't smell like fuel). Also when I had the carb apart I adjusted one of the float tangs to be in spec (3mm from gasket), but maybe it's off. Thanks for the spark plug reading, gonna keep at it.

 

Agreed, if the carb floats have not been wet set and the motor balanced with vacuum gauges then that is your next step.

 

Ok, so I'll be rechecking the floats + balancing. I did do both before, first time at this so probably something is off there. I'm using a MotionPro SyncPro, it was pretty fiddly using it, quite possible I messed something up!