Hello, my name is John.
I just found this site the other day and have been doing alot of reading. The members here have a wealth info.
I bought an xj550rj seca last fall, my first motorbike. It looks real nice (red with matching red fairing and black wind screen) but I have been having trouble starting it this spring. At the end of last season I cleaned the carbs, put in stabalizer and took out the battery. Last month I put the battery back in and it started right up. Over the last few weeks it is getting more and more difficult to start, in the cold mornings it just won't. A friend told me that I need to adjust the pilot screws because I cleaned the carbs last fall. Is that the problem? As I said I am new to bikes and I am getting frustrated.
Thanks for your help and thanks for such a great resource.
John,
Calgary, Ab. Canada

Maybe a new set of plugs are in order..check 'em?

The plugs were put in new last fall. I took one out on Sunday and checked it, they looked fine to me.
Thanks, John
Calgary

Have you refilled the tank yet? It may pay you to run some sort of carb /fuel system cleaner through as it may be that your carbs are starting to gum up.

Could be air screw adjustment, clogged pilot jet, misadjusted float. Not to say you carb cleaning was at fault, but did you really blow 'em out? Some of the passages are very tiny.

I was thinking about ordering a colortune plug to adjust the air screw. From what I have read on this site the colortune is a easy way to do an accurate job.
The bike does start if I put it out in the sun for a while first. I have to hold the throttle to warm it up, if I put the choke on right away it will stall.
Thanks again,
John

Welcome John. I'm from Calgary too. Glad to have you aboard.

If you're totally stuck, and still can't get your bike to go, we usually have a Calgary carb clinic in the spring sometimes. Keep your eye's out for a posting here or in the XJOWNERS mailing list.

Put a can of Sea Foam in the gas tank with a gallon or so of fuel. Get the bike running and keep it running for a while. Then let it sit a day or two with the Sea Foam-rich gas in the carbs. Worked wonders on a neglected Maxim 650 I had last year. I use a couple ounces routinely in my XS 11 as a preventative measure. Great stuff. Saved me a carb rebuild on the 650.

Thanks for the advice POPROCK, I don't know if Seafoam is avalible in Canada or not, I'll have to look.
On another note I replaced the spark plug resistor caps and the bike is starting right up now. I ordered the Carbtune tool last week and I am waiting for that to arrive as I think it needs to be synked. I was going to order the Colourtune at the same time but they did not have any for my size spark plug. The 550 engine takes the 12mm size.
John

Hi everyone,
I'm new to this site too. Looks like there's a lot of good info here.
DanO in MN