'81 850 problems

[lartross]

I've had a lot of bikes and the only one I've had even half as much trouble getting right was a '71 650 Truimph...and, really, it ran good, most of the time...it just broke every coupla' hundred miles...probally from all the vibrating it did. Since I purchased this bike, I've worked on it so many times...At first, it had a cold start problem that I tried to figure out for several months, unsuccessfully. After a repair shop had it for 8 weeks and with the help of another mechanic, it was finally found to have two jets clogged. When I got it back, it ran OK...just seemed a little rich and got kinda' poor gas mileage...but, it started well! Then, it started running rough and surging at speed. Jacked with the carburaters several times...finally found 3 of the four spark plug wires had burned off the center conductors at the coil. Fixed that and now I'm trying to get the carbs set up as right as I can. I guess the best thing about all this is I can get those carbs off and back on in about 10 minutes. Sure is a pain in the rear, though, although, the bike does show flashes of pure power, at times. Not like my old XS1100, but, not too bad. Still get 40 mpg...still not as smooth as I wish it was. Probally due to my lack of skill...Just had to bitch...I don't want or expect any advice...just venting...Larry

[SqDancerLynn1]

One of the problems I see is that the carbs are cleaned before the fuel system. THE tank and petcock should be cleaned and repaired before even thinking about the carbs. Other wise all of the junk in the tank will go into the freshly cleaned carbs and plug them up again

[AOD]

my 79 had a rough spot at 5500 RPM a few weeks ago...it seemed to help it out by hitting the carbs with some carb cleaner while the engine was idling.

can't hurt anything to try

~Adam

[lartross]

I kinda' gave an abbreviated description of what I've done to the burger...I replaced the coils [because the wires were bad looking]; checked out the tank[no rust]...new in-line filter...new plugs...checked out the centrifugal advance...corrected major problems in the wiring harness, including several wires that had melted the insulation and fused together...new reg/rectifier...set the carb float levels up like the book...set them up like the guy I got it from had it set it up like the mechanic I paid had set them up [stock=56/64"-runs too lean; the guy I got it from had the float tangs flat-surges a little; the mech had them bent to about 17mms-worked OK, but not great]...reset them so many times I'm probally gonna' wear the intake manifolds out taking them off and on! Right now, it works...it just isn't right. It's been driving me nuts! I've read several discussions that were germane to my issue...yet, I don't seem to be able to get the thing right. Maybe I'll get new o-rings and maybe the slide rubbers are too stiff and I'll eventually spring the $ for new ones...who knows? If I paid myself $40/hr for my work on this thing, I'd have enough to buy a new bike by now. I'm just don't really like working on these things...but, I hate it when I pay someone else and they do a worse job than I can do plus charge me big bucks. I really like riding...and I'm limited in my resources, so, here I am...bitching and struggling. An affirmation of a limited life...I may stumble on the solution, one day...then, I'll live happily ever after...never again laying tools on the carbs and coils and stuff... :?