Getting ready to dump in trash

[myown550]

[myown550]

I soaked them and cleaned them so much in the last few months all the new stuff i bought is getting discolored, even the seats are starting to look worn from me taking them out with long nose pliers

[chuck hahn]

If I was local Im would come over..I am at a loss now. Would like to see everything with my own 2 eyes for sure.

[myown550]

If I was local Im would come over..I am at a loss now. Would like to see everything with my own 2 eyes for sure.

Yea that'll be nice man. Im going out of town tomorrow and won't be back till next week so i will update as i go along. Worst case if i cant fix it i know someone that has the same engine from a parts bike i'll just swap it, now it won't have 1,500 original miles on it but i'll take anything at this point and its a shame. OR i can get Steve to come pick it up and YES Steve clean clear title

[Steve]

... OR i can get Steve to come pick it up and YES Steve clean clear title

Be careful with that offer, I have been known to drive that far for a free bike.

Yep, drove to the other corner of oHIo to pick up an 850 when the owner was getting overly frustrated over some minor issues.

We can try to get your bike going, but if you are serious about giving it up, we can talk about that.

.

[chuck hahn]

Steve for 2013 Bard Award!!!! HA HA.

Or is that a spot on Americas Most Wanted!!!!

[Steve]

Steve for 2013 Bard Award!!!! HA HA.

"HA HA" is right.

I'll make the same promise that I have in previous years.

.

[chuck hahn]

TOO FUNNY...I thought you would get a kick out of that post.

[mike_of_bbg]

You could just have Steve call you and talk about your carbs - they might just "magically" start behaving. Don't laugh - it happened to me Just the threat of his intervention might be enough!

OK, so you got new seats too. The dealer may SAY they're the correct ones, and maybe Mikuni did re-design them so the longer ones are correct when you changed the seat, too. Still, the next time the carbs are off, I would definitely re-check the float heights, since that's the part that really matters. If the floats are too high (inverted) then your bowl fuel level will be low and you'll be too lean. Definitely not what you want!

Did you bench-sync your carbs after the last cleaning?

And, while I feel very confident that fuel delivery is your primary issue here, I would suggest that you give your ignition system a re-check as well. Plugs either cleaned (soak overnight in white vinegar to release carbon) or new. Check your cap-cap resistance on each coil, make sure your plug caps are good. Shouldn't be much more than 10kOhms per cap for stock. Also check your coil voltage vs. your battery voltage - the max acceptable drop between them is about 1V. Make sure your battery is putting out proper voltage and charge if necessary. All those attempts to start may be draining it. A sub-optimal fuel/air mixture may keep a stable idle with a well-performing ignition system and give you working time, but try to light it with a weak spark and maybe not so much.

[chuck hahn]

Mike..your post brings up another problem that I always cure verytime I get a new ( to me ) bike.

If you look inside the plug boots, youll see that the piece that grips the top of the plug is slotted. Thats because there are RESISTORS inside the caps. These resistors often get weak or fail totally for whatever reason. So here is the fix for that problem.

Remove the screwed in slotted part and dump out the contents. That ceramic grey thing is the resistor. Measure its length and get some 1/8 brass rod and cut 4 pieces and grind them to length on a bench grinder and replace the resistors with the new brass rods. Never again will you have a weak or loss of spark due to a bad resistor.



NOTE:: The number 1 and number 4 caps DO NOT have a spring behind the resistor but 2 and 3 do. When reassembling numbers 2 and 3, you insert the spring first, then the brass rod, and then screw the slotted cap back in.

Rustybronco ( Dale ) taught me this trick.

[myown550]

Hi guys, i see everyone is having a blast
ok so im out of town till Sunday but i managed to get my hands on another igntion module thought id give that a try too just in case, but before i left today i noticed oil drippage from behind the front sprocket?? My stepdad looked at it real quick and he thinks theres a seal behind it and its possible that its started leaking from too much cranking. So now im facing another problem Guys i forgot to add something that it might be of interest but could a 20w50 oil be preventing a bike from starting when its cold out? Thats what i had in mine when i did the tune up.

[myown550]

Mike..your post brings up another problem that I always cure verytime I get a new ( to me ) bike.

If you look inside the plug boots, youll see that the piece that grips the top of the plug is slotted. Thats because there are RESISTORS inside the caps. These resistors often get weak or fail totally for whatever reason. So here is the fix for that problem.

Remove the screwed in slotted part and dump out the contents. That ceramic grey thing is the resistor. Measure its length and get some 1/8 brass rod and cut 4 pieces and grind them to length on a bench grinder and replace the resistors with the new brass rods. Never again will you have a weak or loss of spark due to a bad resistor.



NOTE:: The number 1 and number 4 caps DO NOT have a spring behind the resistor but 2 and 3 do. When reassembling numbers 2 and 3, you insert the spring first, then the brass rod, and then screw the slotted cap back in.

Rustybronco ( Dale ) taught me this trick.

Hi Chuck, should i get new caps? I mean mine are like new

[myown550]

You could just have Steve call you and talk about your carbs - they might just "magically" start behaving. Don't laugh - it happened to me Just the threat of his intervention might be enough!

OK, so you got new seats too. The dealer may SAY they're the correct ones, and maybe Mikuni did re-design them so the longer ones are correct when you changed the seat, too. Still, the next time the carbs are off, I would definitely re-check the float heights, since that's the part that really matters. If the floats are too high (inverted) then your bowl fuel level will be low and you'll be too lean. Definitely not what you want!

Did you bench-sync your carbs after the last cleaning?

And, while I feel very confident that fuel delivery is your primary issue here, I would suggest that you give your ignition system a re-check as well. Plugs either cleaned (soak overnight in white vinegar to release carbon) or new. Check your cap-cap resistance on each coil, make sure your plug caps are good. Shouldn't be much more than 10kOhms per cap for stock. Also check your coil voltage vs. your battery voltage - the max acceptable drop between them is about 1V. Make sure your battery is putting out proper voltage and charge if necessary. All those attempts to start may be draining it. A sub-optimal fuel/air mixture may keep a stable idle with a well-performing ignition system and give you working time, but try to light it with a weak spark and maybe not so much.

Thanks for your input man,
ok just heads up im very talented when it comes to mechanics but as soon as i hit an electrical issue i stall
I set the heights per the manual i believe a tad lowers than that. Now i have someone that knows how to do all that coil and resistance measurements etc and he will be in my house next Monday. But i'll say it again my spark is nice and blue.

[mike_of_bbg]

It may very well be that your caps are just fine. I'd test them before replacing them. (I know I'm not Chuck and I don't remember ever playing him on TV either, but...) Your ignition might be just fine, and I don't think I'd worry about getting another igniter at this point. However, my bike did have some carb issues, but also had low coil voltage. It was a devil of a thing to troubleshoot both at the same time.

I wouldn't expect 20W50 to be a big problem; it is thicker than what is called for. The seal behind the sprocket shouldn't be bothered at all by cranking (you've got the thing in neutral, right?). Is your oil level high? Does your oil smell like gas? I wonder if your bad petcock was sending gas into the crankcase down cylinder #2. When your oil gets thinned with gas it's also going to have an easier time getting out through any gap it can find.

[myown550]

I honestly doubt my problem is in the ignition but when you're desperate what else is there you know. Yes when i popped the cap before i drained the oil it did smell like gas and yea its in neutral the entire time of course. Do you think the gas going in from the vac line on cilynder #2 could be flooding my engine?