The Wild and Woolly Adventures of a Bike Repair Noob

Ejpt I just got mine measured and in the process of placing my order, like you said before it seems like we are doing similar jobs on our bikes.

You can see the numbers I got on my thread, a lot of mine were out of spec so I will be doing quite a bit of shim replacing. In the meantime I am hovering the bay looking for the missing parts on this bike.

Next step is the carbs..."suspense music" tahn tahn tahhnnnnn!!!

Happy Holidays to you too

 

Heya ecologito! I'll be doing the same thing. After I get those shims installed, the next step is to find out what my carb issues are. I imagine that it's the fault of those pesky pods...That's why I've been pouring over as much data as I can get my hands on about carb intakes.

I believe I've decided on making velocity stacks that will inset into a manifold so that all three carbs can share the same "atmospheric pressure". The pods will be inset into some kind of a 3-sided shroud to keep it out of the weather in general. I'm thinking of paring it down to two pods and mounting them on the manifold instead of directly on the stacks themselves...We'll see. Still more research to be done.

Best wishes on your bike bro!

 

You will need:

"Shape"
A Column of Air entering the Intake Horn swiftly.
Not the Vortex allowed by naked Pods.

Increased Main Air Supplied
Let Intake Air flow AT the Atmosphere Vent. Not across it.

Increased Main Air Holes in the Main Nozzles (Emulsion Tubes)
Larger Holes
Increase the Flow of Air dragging-up Main Jet Fuel

Faster Rising of the Diaphragm Pistons
Increase the Diameter of the Vent Hole drilled at the bottom of the Diaphragm Piston.

Polish the Diaphragm Piston Bores.
Insure that the Diaphragm Pistons rise quickly when the Throttles are opened.

Insure that Atmosphere is and remains present to supply Main Air ti the E-Tubes and allow the Diaphragm Rubber to collapse upon the decrease of pressure inside the Piston and Rubber.

 

Hmm. I coulda swore you have an XJ.

Take a close look at the INSIDE CONTOURS of an original airbox-to-carb rubber boot. Your answer is right there.

 

Thanks to both Rick and Fitz for your wisdom. Yes, 3 carbs...Well, I figured that since I was a relatively new rider, I would remove one of the carbs so that I would have only 75% of the powerband and thus, keep myself out of trouble. Same reason why I'm installing a new set of training wheels and an orange bicycle safety flag.

Speaking of installing, Len's shims came in (and very quick at a fair price I might add). Sorry that I have no pics of the installation; but I'm on vacation at the moment and had just enough time to throw them in. Next step is going to be constructing my air intake system. Then, I'll fiddle with re-jetting.
.
Sadly, I found no pics online to show me the intake boots

I'll post pics when when I pull the carbs...all 4 of them!

 

Here are pics I took of the intakes. The first is one with a rubber plumbing joint fitted over the rear of the carb to act as a carb to airbox boot. I was trying to find a cheap way out of buying new, supple air box boots:



Had tuning issues, so then I gave up and ordered the proper part.

 

That's exactly what I was referring to. Upon close inspection, you'll see that the original airbox-to-carb boots are really velocity stacks on the inside, not just straight tubes. They don't end at the airbox flange, they continue past into the airbox with the "bell" ends of the stacks. (Velocity stacks don't have to be metal.)

They only look like simple rubber tubes.

 

Also note, in the pic, how the OEM boots actually mate with the carb opening. The metal rim of the carb opening is completely covered. If PODS or make-shift boots simply fit over the carb opening, and don't have a groove cut in to make the smooth transition like the OEM boot, you'll get turbulence right at the edge carb opening. Note how all of the air jets and air to the diaphragm/hat are at the edge of the carb opening, where they will be affected by the extra turbulence.

 

Did you look into repairing the old boots? Or did your bike come with pods?

Repairing the old boots with a bicycle innertube and some rtv

 

Wow ManBot!!! Extremely informative! I as well had been eyeing those rubber joints at Lowes. I was wondering myself how the turbulence at the carb lip would affect performance. You answered my question! Thank you so much!

I didn't realize that the original boots were in essence, velocity stacks bigfitz. I'm going to check with Len and see if he has those boots for sale.

As far as the original boots mtnbikecrazy, they are gone with the wind...My bike only came with pods


In other news though, I have some exciting, uh, news!

I won a free set of Wave Rotors from GalferUSA.com that I'll install as soon as I rebuild my front brakes and order some braided hoses. I'll post pics as soon as I get them in!

Speaking of brake lines, I know some of you have switched to SS tubing. What do you think of them compared to SS braided lines? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Again, thank you everyone for helping me out with your words of wisdom! You have no idea how much I appreciate the input!

 

Now that I started looking deeper at Galfer's wave rotors, it seems that they may not make them for the XJ700!?

Could I be wrong?

Are there any other bikes out there which have the same bolt pattern at the XJ700N?

I hate it when you get something for free just to lose it for free...

 

When we talk about "stainless lines" we mean brake lines with braided stainless sheathing; not solid tubing.

You can get them with a colored outer sheath over the SS; besides clear and black they come in a variety of colors. They're a major upgrade over the stock rubber lines.

Here's an example of the black lines, on my '81; if you look closely you can see the braiding:




In regard to rotors, there is more to it than just the bolt pattern. There are different offsets between the hub and the braking surface, plus overall diameter to be concerned with.

I'll try to do some cross-referencing for you; maybe find a newer bike that uses similarly-dimensioned rotors that Galfer might list.

 

Ahh, ok. Thanks for clarifying the "SS" confusion for me and for posting that lovely pic fitz! I LOVE the look of the braided lines and I've heard that the "feel" and response is far superior over non-sheathed ones.

I really appreciate you looking into those rotors for me fitz. I didn't expect anyone to go to such lengths to help me out and I'm very grateful for the help.

I came across this video here in which a guy put on a slotted rotor from a Yamaha Radian onto his XJ700. I can't tell if Galfer makes them for the Radian either though

 

Here's Galfer's catalog too if it will help:

http://www.galferusa.com/catalog/

 

That was easier than I thought, thanks to EBC's application chart.

Other, newer Yamahas that use the same dimension rotors:

Virago 700, '84~'87
Virago 750, '88~'94 NOT later than '94.
YX600 Radian, '86~'90
FZX700 Fazer, '86~'87
FJ/FZ600, '84~'88 only; no later.
XV1100, '86~'97 (NOT XVS, V-Star or V-Star Custom)

See if Galfer lists any of these.

 

HOLY CRAP FITZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You truly are a wizard!!!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

I'm going to check your list against their catalog!!!

 

Looks like this is the only one they had from the list:

It's for an FZ600 (1986-1988)



Think it will fit?

HUGE thanks again to ya' fitz!!!

 

OK, so I'm about to lay down some cash for a new set of air cleaner joints. As per the wonderful responses, it sounds like I'll need actual OEM joints vs constructing them myself.

If I make my own, then it would be very difficult to cover the carb lip (which seems to cause turbulence). I was originally going to install THESE as velocity stacks. I think they would have worked great; but again, would have left the carb "lip" exposed.

Is the covering of that lip really all that important? I just wanted to be explicitly clear on the subject before I shell out the $40 vs the $4 that it would cost to make my own.

Once again, thank you all!

 

Covering the carb lip is very important. Unmatched junctions introduce turbulence that will effect proper fueling, particularly with a CV carb. THink about how much effort went into designing the carb boots in the first place. Would Yamaha have spent the time and money on making the carb boots fit flush if covering the lip didn't matter?

 

Good point k-moe and thanks for the reply. I suppose that Yamaha spent the money, time and resources figuring out the best approach for this bike so that I wouldn't have to.

OK. Going to fork out my hard-won dough and spring for a shiny new set of air cleaner joints!

I'm thinking of taking a length of fat PVC pipe (capped at both ends) and making an airbox out of it. I'll have to do some research on the best approach.

Also, I'm trying to figure out a way that I can adjust the airflow into the box so that I can fine-tune things even more. Perhaps some kind of gate or valve...Not sure yet.

I was contemplating creating a ram air funnel at the front under the tank. From there, I would route some flexible exhaust tubing to a PVC pipe housing that would contain a pod filter connected to the airbox. The vision that I have for the look of it would be sick; but I'm not sure if it's a wise idea. I'm not sure if the CV carbs would appreciate the slight and varying pressure boost that a ram air would provide.

Any thoughts on this?