can't solve rough idle

[Guest]

down for the count

down for the count

Well took her out for a ride with the girlfriend for a couple of hours. Died several times. Would loose all power, RPMS would go up but she would just bog. Blew a hole through the right muffler that got bigger and bigger.. and one rear shock blew out, nice (nothing to do with her weight!) so...now I'm looking at do I repair (or probably a full rebuild with all the problems I've been having or scrap her and try and find a better one to start with....arrrrrrrrrr

 

[Macguyver]

Hang in there.

Hang in there.

I am in pretty much the same boat right now. Same symptoms.
I have done most of the same procedures(multiple times), and I am getting a little weary of it as well.

Yet I am still going to proceed with trying to get the old girl running right.

I had a crazy thought the other daywhile doing a road test. It seems my engine gets very hot, hotter than I would like, even on short trips up a concession road and back. I am going to put a couple of the temperature dot indicators on it and go for a run to see how hot she really gets.

I was wondering (feel free to say I'm nuts), but is it possible one of the oil passageways is not getting flow? Gunked up? The resulting loss of cooling and lubrication from the oil could cause the metal to expand and contract in an unpredictable manner, maybe causing drag in the engine?
How clean was your oil last time you changed it?

Has anyone heard of something like this happening? I know the engine is designed to handle oil as a low pressure operation, maybe it doesn't have enough pressure to keep the passageways clear? Have you tried seafoaming the engine yet?

I think I am going to pick up another can of seam foam from work and let it sit for a day before running it out. In the oil and just to make sure, in the carbs as well.
This is just a longshot, but you never know. If I find it improves my engine, I'll let you know, maybe it will do something for your bike.

 

[gearhead13]

Put 1/2 the can in the oil, 1/2 in the gas tank, run it long enough to circulate it, and let it sit.
I think that if there was enough friction to make your engine overheat, it would start knocking louder and louder then die or sieze. How do your plugs look? are you running lean?

 

[Spyderman]

..arrrrr...so...decided to pull it all apart again (why not) and fix the leaking and what apeared seized cam tensioner.

umm just a thought but
if your camchain tensioner was seized (has it been fixed free moving and tensioning the cam chain properly )

have you checked the cam timing cause if the tensioner was seized and the chain was loose then it is possible that the chain jumped a tooth or 2 and well it won't run very well if the cam timing is off by even 1 tooth
so at this point i would look at the cam timing and see what it has to tell you

 

[Guest]

Over heating is a good thought, I've always thought the engine was too hot but don't have anything to compare to, and like Gearhead, I just thought I would 'hear' it overheating. I've done the seafoam but only in the gas, in the oil's a good idea. I've done my oil changes and they've been sorta dirty but nothing in the oil to worry about. I fixed my oil leak at the cam tensioner and thought the same thing about skipping (was a bit excited thinking that could be it) but I pulled the cam cover (again) and checked and all is good, teeth are fine, markings line up as described in my shop manual. At this point I've ordered a new set of Hanell exhausts, I'm putting together a new rack of carbs with new mains and we'll see what those do and the new exhaust is bound to help. But I am not holding my breath about either. I've thought about ordering a new pair of coils but I know that's not the problem since the rough idle is there cold as well. I'm actually thinking there is damage to the valves that I'm not aware of.

 

[Guest]

update

update

The new mufflers are on. Look great, a little louder than stock that's for sure but there's nothing wrong with being hear and it's not too anoying. So the new exhaust is on and another rack of rebuilt carbs. Synched the carbs and set the fuel and air mixture to 5/8 and 1 1/4. She fired right up (love the reliability) She's popping out the exhausts on both sides on decel but no backfiring into the airbox. I took her on the road and wow! she's never rode so hard. My problems of crapping out at 5000 RPM are gone. The only problems to correct are a mild hesitation when the throttle is enganged, a touch of rough idle, and the popping on decel. I know popping is usually a sign of a lean mixture. And the idle problems are the linked to the fuel and air mixtures so I'm hopeful I can fix them all. I'll post some new photos of the exhaust and the new shocks I put on, she looks great.