Slap clank kinda noise

[Guest]

Haven't had a chance to look as I'm at work but this is what happened. Was riding along, pull the clutch in as I approach a light I notice a sorta slap clank noise that sounds real not good. Light turned green so I kept moving. Getting up to highway speed and it feels like a cylinder cut out. 4th gear around 5k rpm somewhere between 1/2 & 3/4 throttle. Came back suddenly. Got to the light before the parking lot I'm going to and the engine dies. Took a while but it eventually starts. Sitting in the parking lot idling it seems fine, no noise no sign of stalling or dying. On the ride home I listened for the noise it was most noticable with the clutch in coasting. Might of heard it on decel but hard to tell over the noise. I checked the valve clearances recently and the timing, 20 teeth no slack that I could see, tensioner worked fine. I'm thinking cam chain? 81 550t with a little under 18k. I've been chasing a low end stumble that I assumed was an air leak before this happened so my mixture is pretty rich,not sure if thats relevant. Any help would be great

[tom203]

Since this clanking starts when you pull in clutch (thereby changing loading on rear drive chain), I'd start by inspecting this area. The loss of power/hard starting stuff is probably unrelated.
Low end stumble??? stock airbox with filter?and how do you know your mixture is "pretty rich"

[ezmack]

I looked around for anything else that would make a noise, chain gaurd was way loose and missing a bolt. That was the noise. The cylinder cut out on me again on the way home, think its a loose wire or something electrical. I tried going up a gear down a gear alternating WOT and very little throttle, gave it some choke... Then I hit a bump and it came back.As for the low end yeah everything is stock. I think its an air leak because the idle will hang at 2k then go back if I'm at a stop sign. I meant I have the pilot screws adjusted way rich not that its running rich. I'm not as worried about that its not something new its what I've been working on. Was on my way to get some tubing to make a carb sync when this all started.

[hikermikem]

Was on my way to get some tubing to make a carb sync when this all started.

Where are you in NE CT? The pilots aren't adjustable - I think you mean the idle mixture screws... how many turns out are they?

The cylinder cut-out might be as simple as changing out the plug caps.

[ezmack]

Yeah the mixture screws not the pilot jets. I'm in willimantic. Honestly I stopped counting the turns after 5 because I know its way past what it should be. Ball park I'd say six which is almost double what the stock setting is. I've been doing a lot of ride, adjust, repeat. Must've knocked a wire loose doing that, it was fine up until today. I did the coil relay mod and checked the coils/plug caps last spring they should work if they are connected.

[hikermikem]

Yeah the mixture screws not the pilot jets. I'm in willimantic. Honestly I stopped counting the turns after 5 because I know its way past what it should be. Ball park I'd say six which is almost double what the stock setting is. I've been doing a lot of ride, adjust, repeat. Must've knocked a wire loose doing that, it was fine up until today. I did the coil relay mod and checked the coils/plug caps last spring they should work if they are connected.

Sounds like a carb teardown & clean is in your future?

[ezmack]

Yeah... I mean its clean I dipped it, but in my excitement to get it on the road I did some shanky things and I'm not all that surprised its off. I use foam for lawn mower filters at work, not sure if thats the same as stock I just cut a piece to fit the basket. Made my own seat, which probably changed the way air moves over the box and vent tubes. Needed a heat gun to get the boots to sit decent. The big gasket from the plastic manifold itself was kind of suspect. Petcock was shot I just have an inline shut off... You get the idea. Theres tons of info on this site telling me the right way to do things, it was a concious decision to be cheap. Up until a few weeks ago I had no title or anything, just trying to enjoy it as much as I can until it gets cold.

[hikermikem]

Get a stock air filter, the foam thing won't work - these bikes are very tempermental about the proper amount of intake air...

Seal all the air leaks and start with the mixture screws 3 turns out.

No sense in trying to sync the carbs until it's running better

[ezmack]

I thought the basket with an oiled foam element was stock. This could explain some things. I was hoping the sync could shed some light on the air leak, spraying carb cleaner on the boots didn't. I got to 6 turns starting at 3 1/2