hesitates to accelerate

when im at a complete stop and i go to accelerate in first, the bike is hesitant and doesn't accelerate smoothly until about 2500-3000 then its fine. it only does it from a complete stop while in 1st. what could be the problem? i also noticed that the headlight/guage lights dim when i squeeze the brake lever. i don't know if tahts just because the bike is old or if its not holding a charge. it has new plugs, the carbs were just cleaned, but the air filter is pretty dirty and the chain is really gunked up and needs to be replaced.

 

typically, when the bike hesitates, it usually means that you are lean off-idle and the carbs are catching up. this is usually caused by sticking slides and/or needles.
did you do the carb work? if so, you may want to clean the emulsion tubes and the slide bores.
they have to pass the clunk test to know they are perfect to go back in the bike.

 

It could certainly be carb related. I had a similar problem, however, and it turned out to be a bad spark plug cap on number one cylinder. It was a $6 solution, so check it out before going too far with other work. The way I ultimately found it was to check the header pipes when I first started the bike and number one was considerably colder than the rest. That was a trick I learned here...after I found out there was a problem with spark, the voltmeter got me the rest of the way in figuring out the problem.

Hope you get the problem identified soon,

 

Take a look at the Bikes Alternator Brushes.
That's where you lose Electrical Power.

Failure the get out-of-the-hole is usually Carb related.
Examine the Plugs and see what they are telling you.

Chances are you "Lean -- waiting for Main Fuel Kick-in"
Supplemental Richness will take the delay out.

On that Bike ... If you were too Rich ... it would likely stall.

 

My XJ700 Maxim was kinda sluggish while take off on 1st n 2nd this spring, after i treatd with seafoam on gasoline i found a tremendous change..it just takes off like the way its supposed to..may be you could try that first as its a cheap fix..Again its a good idea to give it a nice new airfilter, that may be causing a bad mixture.

 

it definately needs a new air filter the one in there is filthy. ive been meaning to take a picture of the caps on my #1 and #4 plugs it looks like they're damaged since part of the plastic is broken off but its exactly the same on both sides almost like its supposed to be that way. i just changed the plugs and only rode the bike about 2 miles since then. how long should i wait to get a good reading from them

 

i've been having the same trouble with mine. don't know about you, but i'm blaming it, at least partly, on the 4-into-1 exhaust. i was running incredibly lean until i shimmed my needles up with 2 small washers in each carb and replaced my main fuel jets with 124's. right now i'm trying to decide if going larger main air jets would help or if i'd be better off increasing the pilot jet. (or just living with it . . . )

i seem to have hit a wall in my learning curve as to how carburetors actually work - saving it for a winter project now.

Rick - i assume you mean by supplemental richness that if i run with the choke partly on (yes, i'm aware that it's technically not a choke) and the problem goes away, then the problem being a lean condition has been confirmed?

 

typically, 15 or 20 minutes of good riding since it takes about that long to get the bike fully warmed up

 

No.
Supplemental Richness.

Supplemental Richness on the CV Carb is "Extra'' Pilot Mixture going to the Chamber beyond that which is needed to sustain idle.

You can make the Bike Idle ... Lean
Then, when the Bike comes off-idle there NO Fuel for combustion until the Mains kick in.

Supplementing the Mixture with additional Richness:
Eliminates hesitation
Gets you out of the Hole
and keeps the Total Mixture percentage lean or rich as dial-in.

 

gotcha - i will look into that.