Newbie with lots of questions....

Hello All,
I have been browsing the site for a week or so now and have some questions..Here gos.
Just got a '83 XJ 900 SECA that I need some help with.
The front brakes are sticking I've bleed them and they'er still hung up so I've ordered pads and caliper rebuild kits for them. What should I watch out for when rebuilding them .. any tricks?

Also with a charged battery the engin will fire and run rough. If I rev the throttle it dies, if I close the choke it dies I figure I need to clean/adj the carbs. How do I remove the carb assembly. I have a shop manuel but not a haynes. Do I undo the four clamps on each side and "gently force" the intake boots into the air box then just use brut strength to get it off the front sleeves?

How many hoses should be on the carb assembly this one has the main fuel line and vac line going to the petcock , then it seems there are several more lines (look like vac lines) comming off of the bottom of the carb not going anywhere (not hooked up to the vac connectors on the front sleeves --those are capped) and what looks like more fuel line off the top.

The exhaust is a 4-1 that the baffles had come out of --it looks like a mac exhaust so I'll order a replacement baffle so it is just running on teh headers right now. Does the lack of exhaust backpressure have any thing to do with the poor ideling or just the carb issues?

This is my first bike and I'm thinking I may have bit off more than I should have. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Matt

 

I had a problem with front brakes sticking on my maxim. Turns out that a PO had left out the washer between the caliper and fork bracket. The pads were binding between the bracket and the retaining pin.

 

The lack of a baffle is the first thing I would take care of concerning the engine. This will affect performance and may be the reason for the rough running. Replace the baffle and then go after the carbs.
The carbs have some extra lines which are just drain lines. These don't attach to anything. Someone with a 900 will chime in and let you know the routing and how many lines you should have.
MiCarl had an excellent suggestion on the brakes. But it doen't hurt to rebuild them. It is an easy job and ensures safety. I'm not familiar with the 900 calipers but if similar to the 750's then they are easy to rebuild. A mityvac or speedbleeders are great for refilling the brake lines and removing air. If using air pressure to push the cailper pistons out be careful to use shop rags around the piston to protect it and keep all FINGERS away from the piston exit path! don't believe me? Check out the photo gallery!

 

I concure with the previous posts and will go on to question about brute strength.

Now this will really sound unprofessional, but here goes.

I use the handles of my hedge trimmers to force the carbs off and onto the intake boots. Told ya.... it isn't very orthodox but the wooden handles are just the right thickness and they wont tear up a bunch of stuff like a crowbar or healbar.
I open them just slightly and use one handle between the cylinder and the lower carbs from the sides.
Then I use them between the air filter box and the carb in 2 places to wiggle the carbs back into the intakes from the top.

Hey you use what works!!! RIGHT?

as for the brakes, you said they were hanging up?!
There is supposed to be a relief port in the master cylinder reservoir that can get plugged and not let the brakes release (at least there is on my 700)
So you might check to be sure that your brakes are releasing when you get done. you can do that by quickly touching the rotors (like youd touch a hot iron) after a ride. I'd try the brakes out on a seperate ride first to be sure they work, then after the brakes cool down I'd take another ride to check to see if they are heating up,
Be sure not to use the front brakes on that particular ride as normal use will heat the rotors up too.
If you find the rotors are pretty darn hot, you might have pads that aren't releasing... check the relief port.