Idling problem? Really frustrating!

I have a 94 XJ600s. Bought it about 2 weeks ago and it was perfectly fine. Put about 200 miles on it since buying with no issue. However the other day I went out to warm it up before going to work and it wouldn't fire. I choked it and it started up and ran just fine.

After it warmed up I took off the choke and it immediately began to sputter around 600rpms or so, I left it a little while longer and alas it was back at 1,250rpms! I put it into gear and when I took off it died. Weird, so I started it up and it did it again. I gave up, and drove the car to work.

Now it won't even start. It cranks and cranks with nothing. Sometimes it will fire at full choke but as soon as I turn off the choke it dies. Any idea as to wtf is wrong with it? I'm not great with motorcycles as this is my first. I could really use some help :cry:

 

What was the history of the bike prior to you getting it?

Did it sit for a long period?

What have you done to it since you got it?

It sounds as though you've run some crud into the carbs. A good first step would be to open the drain screws, and put the petcock on PRI, and flush them out (have lots of shop towels ready for the flood of gas.)

You're probably looking at having to pull the carbs and clean them.

An inline fuel filter is a must for these bikes, to prevent this in the future.

 

Welcome.

Just my 2 cents. it may make things a little easier when you have
questions or ask for help.

LEARN ALL YOU CAN FIRST.

If you intend on keeping this bike, and realize that a used
bike can and will cost a couple of bucks (lol) to get running
great here's where you need to start.

1, shop manual

2, read all you can (from this site) about carbs, how they work,
how to clean them properly, all other maint issues.

My bike ran like crap when I bought it and spent a month lurking
on this site-just reading and doing what was advised by the guru's.
Before long she was running like new and without asking a single
question, because all the info is already here, 10x's over.

But unless you already know the terminology of whats ahead your just going to get confused.

Learn first-it should only take a day or so to understand what everyone
is talking about and the supplies you'll need.

Then have at it! you'll have a screaming machine in no time at all.

 

Very true.

Read this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=24010.html carefully.

Then read this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14581.html

An old bike is NOT a "turnkey" proposition, by any stretch.

 

I had the same problem with my bike.

Bought it, ran fine, but after a while it wouldn't start. Cleaned carbs/sync/adjust fuel levels, installed an in-line filter, and de-rusted the tank using electrolysis, and now she runs beautifully. My guess is the po cleaned the carbs before selling it to me, knowing that it had rust in the tank. Oh well, live and learn.