Almost there...leanish...

[Fare]

I know theres alot of posts on this, and i've read many of them. cylinder 1 is tan (a little dark, but still tan) and the rest are white white white. all the air/idle screws ar 1.5 out. I've ridden my first 50 or so miles on a motorcylce, so thats good, but I don't want to ruin the bike if it''s too lean. Airbox and exaust are stock, green dyna coils, new petcock. when i got my K&N paper/cotton filter, i thought i might have over oiled it, so i soaked it overnight in water/detergent, another day or so in water, then reinstalled it. it might not have much oil left in it, dunno if that could be the issue.

I read a post saying that white plugs weren't "that" bad...How much damage am i doing riding with white plugs?

as always, thank you,

Fare

[KEITH KRAUSE]

White plugs are a warning that you're lean and could damage things.
Many things could cause it.
If you have uneven reads, I suspect the carbs aren't synched and/or obviously they are not adjusted the same or there are other tuning issues.
Your air filter needs to be oiled correctly. Do that first and re-test.
If you have any intake leaks, that will cause your problem. How are the manifolds? Any manifold o-rings involved? Does it idle much higher as the engine warms up fully? If all the above is good...
If stock with air box lid still on, etc, then you may need to verify the stock jets are in there. Could the floats have been adjusted wrong? Are the carbs clean inside?
Another thing that can contribute is poor valve clearances.

[Fare]

I always mean to include everything, but seldom do =/


Carbs are sycned. its not perfect, but it should be acceptable. going to buy the tool so I can tighten them better next time.
Carbs were cleaned 1-2 months ago.
new manifold o rings, manifold boots and carb boots.
engine idle is REALLY REALLY stable now (i accidentally put the spring in an incorrect place, and idle sucked at best. once that was fixed, idles like a champ)

the valve clearances were really really off before I did and fixed them. is it possible that since they were so off (.20m in some cases...) that they should be looked at again?
I checked and did the floats before, but had a real hard time measuring them (I had a inch veneer caliper). is there a tool or a process that can do this better? i literally measured a piece of paper with the micrometer and compared the float level to that.
When i cleaned the carbs, one of the jets (think it was the third) was stuck and i might've warped the screw. Should i not worry about it until that cylinder is the only cylinder that is lean, or could it contribute to the leanness of all the cylinders?

BTW, you all have contributed to the happiness of my family/girlfriend. now that I can ride the bike, i tend to complain less about it ^^.

White plugs are a warning that you're lean and could damage things.
Many things could cause it.
If you have uneven reads, I suspect the carbs aren't synched and/or obviously they are not adjusted the same or there are other tuning issues.
Your air filter needs to be oiled correctly. Do that first and re-test.
If you have any intake leaks, that will cause your problem. How are the manifolds? Any manifold o-rings involved? Does it idle much higher as the engine warms up fully? If all the above is good...
If stock with air box lid still on, etc, then you may need to verify the stock jets are in there. Could the floats have been adjusted wrong? Are the carbs clean inside?
Another thing that can contribute is poor valve clearances.

[DimitriT]

When measuring the valve clearance be careful to follow the factory recommended procedure. Make sure the engine is cold (24 hours) and use the table the factory manual to set the lobes in the right positions when measuring. I've found that this is the only way to get a correct measure.

[Fare]

When measuring the valve clearance be careful to follow the factory recommended procedure. Make sure the engine is cold (24 hours) and use the table the factory manual to set the lobes in the right positions when measuring. I've found that this is the only way to get a correct measure.

ah, yes, i remember reading keith's post about that and measured them acording to that method. My clearences were so bad that i had to put 2.4 or 2.3 shims in, measure the distance and calculate the shim needed. i guess that brings up the possibility of damaged valve (somethings), and i guess i ought to do a "real" compression test (i tested it cold, when the bike wasn't running).

[DimitriT]

ah, yes, i remember reading keith's post about that and measured them acording to that method. My clearences were so bad that i had to put 2.4 or 2.3 shims in, measure the distance and calculate the shim needed. i guess that brings up the possibility of damaged valve (somethings), and i guess i ought to do a "real" compression test (i tested it cold, when the bike wasn't running).

Yea, if the clearance were that far off you may have one or more burnt exhaust valves.

[Fare]

Yea, if the clearance were that far off you may have one or more burnt exhaust valves.

two questions then...

1) would the bike run with a burnt valve?

2) a quick (and proper) compression test determines if this is present?

Thank you,

Fare