Frankenstein

Here is my 81' XJ550, we just started cutting and stripping and heres what we came up with.... We call it Frankenstein. Not one penny spent. not most recent picture.

 

Nice work. Where'd you get those mirrors? Did you put different controls on it?

 

spend a few pennies and change those ENORMOUS blinkers...looks cool though...

 

maybe someday ill get new blinkers haha right now as long as they work they'll have to stay untill I get the carb replaced. I have an air leak in the carburator. Ive rebuilt it and then taken it to a pretty good motorcycle mechanic who said my carb is pretty much shot.

 

as far as the mirror and controls those are the ones that came on it when i bought it. from a guy for 600 bones.

 

Is that a flashlight for a brake-light???

There ain't much of a seat left, either, ... huh?

 

haha ya its a military flashlight that we rigged up to form a brake-light, gonna make the blinkers branch off of it kind of in a T . nope not much seat left either.... just started hacking at it and that how it ended up. my bike is an ever changing progression, who knows where its headed.

 

The Carbs are Cast Aluminum and Brass.
What ~~> SPECIFICALLY did the "Mechanic" say was shot?

Outside of the Diaphragms being pin-holed (repairable) and the Throttle Shaft Seals being swollen from contact with a contaminant ... there's ain't too much that can go bad ... unless they were played with a great deal and the Mixture Screws Heads are "Chopped-up" (drill-able) or they have been Mickey Moused by a blithering Idiot that had NO idea what he was doing!

 

I like the looks of it. In a sea of bikes, it is one that would make me look twice and from the sounds of it, you had fun hacking it in to "your" creation.

Those mirrors look just like the replacement mirrors my yamaha dealer sells for the xj. I have a left side mirror that looks just like this if anybody needs it. The actual mirror quality is a little on the low side.

 

If you are riding it ... the Carbs can't be that bad. If you get into a jam with those Carbs ... pull 'em of and send them to me.

I'll give you the straight story about if they are "Shot" or not!

 

you could always keep the rubber stalks of the blinkers as Frankenstein's neck bolts.

 

He said there was an airleak somewhere that couldnt be fixed. they arent shot the bike just idles high and will die if it goes below 3000 I dont know much about carbs. but it runs, and gets me to work and back.

 

It's EASY to find an air leak. All you need is your Propane Torch.

Turn on the Propane Gas ~> Don't light it.
While the Bike is idling ... use the end of the Torch to Probe for the Air Leak.

When you find a spot that the Propane makes the Idle increase ... That is where your Air Leak is coming from.

Generally, the leaks are at the Manifolds. The Manifolds get old and crack.

The Airbox -to- Carb Boots will have a bad fit or are not clamped right. You get a spike there; too.

If the Manifolds are leaking next to the Head ... you may have leaking Manifold Gaskets.

Most everyone who has any experience working XJ-Bikes knows the risk involved in Leaking Manifold Gaskets.

The Carbs need to be removed. NO Problem.
The MANIFOLDS need to be removed. BIG Problem. Because:

The Cap Screw Fasteners holding the Manifolds to the Head are SOFT (Cheap) Steel. They rarely come loose when they are STUCK. They "Feel" like they are turning ... But, what is happening is the fastener is TWISTING.

Then, it breaks-off.

These Cap Screw Fasteners are always difficult to remove because:

Their relative positions make it difficult to heat without burning the Manifold.
Tough to apply Impact upon ... because the space is confined.

The solution is to "Work around" the possibility of breaking the Cap Screw.

Fill the leak with:
Manifolds ~> Epoxy Resin
Gaskets ~> Silicone Caulk rated for High-temp

You can squeeze the Caulk out of the tube and lay a bead around where the Manifold meets the Head.
Then, use a Popsicle Stick and work the Bead into the gap sealing the leak.
After the small Bead dries.
Lay a medium sized Bead that you mold ... with your finger ... to cover the Head and Manifold.
If the Caulk begins to "Pull" ... moisten your finger with Saliva (spit) and continue covering the Head and Manifold.

 

I'm with Rick. I almost posted, but then bit my tongue.

Only way I know a carb can be pretty much shot is if you drop it and break it. Otherwise, it needs to be serviced.

 

Cool so maybe they were just lazy, and full of BALONEY!!

 

Highly likely Grease.

 

They probably lied to get you out of their hair. Pulling XJ carbs is time consuming and Cleaning them takes a good while, too. It's easier to tell you "We can't do it because the 'Planets aren't in alignment' or some other silly excuse to get you out of there ... than, take the job and "Lose time" doing your bike when there are some newer bikes with easy to service and make money jobs to do.

 

you can figure it out with a propane torch huh? holy crap thats smart. kind of like soapy water to find a nitrogen leak. good times. never woulda came up with that one.

 

I tried to do that trick there with the torch but it didnt spike at all. I cant start it with out quick start it idles high like 3.5 or it dies if you make it idle any lower than that. my buddy had it idling right once. it was a great day, but then we changed the handle bars and it was jacked up again idk whats wrong with it.

 

The cable?

If you changed the bars ... effectively; the cable is longer or shorter. You need to make the right adjustment for cable slack with the adjustment feature on the "Jay-turn arrangement" up on the Throttle Grip.

That, and adjusting the Idle Rod; too!

 

ya I do that often because sometimes its nope not gonna idle right so i have to adjust it while im idling. maybe i just need to take the carb off and seal everywhere I can see. and then work with the idle.

 

I dont know much about the idle rod what is it initially supposed to be set at?

 

When everything is properly tuned and working right ... the Idle Rod is used to set the Idle between 900 and 1050 RPM's.

Ther Pilot Mixtures have to be very well adjusted to get the bike to Idle at 900

 

how do you adjust pilot mixtures? i just want it to work! would it be a good Idea to yank the carb and seal everything I can?

 

Grease:

I sent you PM.

That should help you get dialed-in!