iv just bought a 550 very nice bike, but on my way home from buying it the revs wouldnt go below 2k somtimes staying at 3k, it was like that all the way home. once it had been stopped for ten mins i started it up and it ticked over at 1500????? before i get the tools out has anybody any ideas where to start :blink:
there was a realy good smell of burning when i first got it home me thinks clutch a bit scorched :huh: or it it a wet clutch? :unsure:

Hey edgremlin,

You need to do a few items to get your bike running again but it simply sounds like you have a wandering idle caused by unbalanced carbs.

If your carb sync is off (which causes your idle to wander and to mess up the mixtures) you need to balance them.

Another issue could be that the intake boots (the boots that connect the carb to the engine - not the airbox) may be cracked. Use a propane torch (or a safer bbq lighter) with the bike running to see if there is an airleak. Start up the bike and put the unlit torch near the boots one by one. If the engine starts to quicky rev, it's a boot (propane gas will be sucked into the open/cracked boot into the engine chambre).

To balance your carbs: vist a site here: Dwayne's Colortune Balancing has a great link on doing this.

You'll need a colortune plug and carb sticks to do this both. Both will cost you $200CAD to buy but the cost of repairing it at a shop is $350. Do it yourself and save a bundle.

If you are still getting problems, check your compression ($30 compression gauge) with the engine cold. Then check your valves. Valve check: Dwayne has a great link here on checking/replacing your valves: http://www.surenet.net/~verhey/Valve_adjustment/page1.html

Oh yeah, a great site for tuning your engine (sync etc) can be found on Dave's tuning guide for XJ bikes

thanks for the advice, ill get to work on setting the carbs up properly, iv had a look around the carbs today and the tell tale heavey handed srewdriver marks are there, so me thinks some one has been playing ;) , could be mister machanic i bought the bike off :angry: . he recond theres nothing he likes better than to repair bikes doh..... if its like the battery that was on it , the one that had no liquid in it :blink: id better be checking everything else :blink:

some thing else to check is the throttle cable. Recently had a simmilar prob with mine, the cable was old and sticky in the sheath (would not return on it's own) take one end from either side and slide it back and forth by hand if it's not right you'll know right away.Either lube or replace. I went for replace it was only like $11 american so i went that way. Just a thought.

good advice, i had checked that one(only cause i came across that before) i did find that the cable was pulling tight on the head stock, but iv changed the bars now and sorted that out. :rolleyes: ,

well ive finaly balanced the carbs, the instructions in the tuning link work great, infact the way they are writen makes it dead easy to do.. :D im a happy maxim owner again, sorted the problem rite out....bootyful :P

Glad your bike is working great Ed!

may be i spoke to soon, my bike has been stood a week and a half, came to start it and it wouldnt,got it going after a bit of time and ran it for an hour.....left it another few days gone to start it an guess what....wouldnt start..doh
after investigation i figured it out, i had to put the fuel tap to prime for a minute, it started...then turned it to normal on... it ran ok, today i had to do it again to get it to start????????????????? ;) , has anybody got the cure for me or the cause :( ,or both :blink: , im gettin piged off :angry:

So ed, to confirm...

a) You've cleaned, balanced, and tuned your carbs
B) Confirmed that your mixture is correct (Colortune - see tech links)?
c) With the bike running (cold) and an unlit blowtorch, blowing propane gas around the carbs does not cause the engine to start revving faster.
d) Your floats are set correctly from the FSM.
e) You have checked your coils and plugs.

oh yeah, one more question...

You used a YICS tool to balance the carbs..?

i balanced the carbs using the slide type guages, set mixture with a colour tune, not touched float levels, i wouldnt know where to start... but thinking about it if the levels where wrong and the bowls arnt holding enough fuel it would need prime on the tap for starting????????iv not checked the inlet rubbers doh, i forgot :unsure:
coils and plugs seem ok

Ed - sliding type to balance cards? You do know about using the YICS tools to isolate each of the 4 carbs correct?

What kind of sliding type carb sticks do you own (just curious)..?

morgan vacuum guages i should have said :rolleyes:

finaly sorted my troubles.. i found out when the tank got low on the wet stuff it would run all day but leave it a couple of days and it wouldnt start with out prime, iv kept the tank pretty ful and it starts all the time :lol: , only came across that once befor on a gsxr750 and that did the same, after checking every thing never figured out why B)