Central PA (Lancaster) XJ bikers

I purchased my first bike (1981 xj650LH) about a month ago. I want to do nothing more than ride every single day. I grabbed it for $800 from a guy in York. First thing that was done was replacing the tires and front/rear brakes. The fuel tank has also been overhauled (inside cleaned, sealed, exterior painted/debadged). I had a problem when I first got it with the bike having trouble running at low rpm, I took it took Paparo Cycle Shop in Rohrestown PA and they fixed it up by the next day. It seems that I'm having the same problem as I did before, bike idles extremely rough, including stalling out at low rpms when cold. I'm posting here in search of some knowledgable guys (or gals) in the central PA area (Lancaster, York, Harrisburg, Lebanon) that would be willing to give a fellow newbie XJer a hand with troubleshooting and fixing my bike up. I would imagine the problem is purely fuel related, but I have never worked on motors or carbs in my life. I'm searching for some knowledge (which I have received plenty here), but more along the lines of guidance, someone to show me what I'm looking at and how to solve the problem (much more of a visual and hands on learner as opposed to reading forum posts and interperetting the info). I'm willing to compensate anyone for their time/help, I just wanna ride lol. Thanks in advance, Kyle.

 

I have a buddy in Lebanon that knows his way around the carbs. I'll drop him an email and see if he is interested.

I also heard rumors that "silverseca" (Bob I think) was considering putting on a carb clinic but haven't been paying much attention. I believe he lives pretty close to you IIRC

 

I'm down in baltimore.

I heard the same rumor as Mike but IIRC his name is Joe (silverseca)

Either way I can help should you need it. Yours would make 4 XJ's I've helped get back on the road and running properly this year. My schedule is a bit busy except this coming weekend which is the holiday.

I also have an 81 650 but not a midnight.

Have you done the valve clearances? And a compression test?

 

Kyle,

Did Paparo's tell you what they did previously to fix your problem? I'm assuming they cleaned out the fuel metering jet located in the bottom of each float bowl, but it's just an assumption. You probably need your carbs removed and thoroughly cleaned (LOTS of info on this forum for doing that properly). Since you also say you cleaned out the gas tank you might have some residual crud getting into the carbs if the intake screens on the petcock and the little screen caps on top of the float valves have been compromised. Good insurance is to install a 1/4" clear fuel filter between the tank and the carb rack after cleaning. Maybe you should host a carb clinic and get a group of knowledgeable folks around?

 

I'm in york PA with my '82 xj650rj seca. I also have 2 buddies in the area, both with maxims. We've cleaned the carbs and tuned our bikes together.

Sounds like your carbs need a good cleaning after complete tear down in addition to checking valves clearances etc (everything in the shop manual).