Idle Problem Help

Ok, I finally took my 1982 XJ650 Maxim down to a shop named All Season's Motorsports here in Bellevue, Nebraska and they got it running for me, fixed my brakes, cleaned, rejetted and synced my carbs, installed a new fuse box, installed the sissybar/luggage rack that I found to be almost impossible to install myself. This place was the only place that didnt treat me like Clark Griswald from that movie vacation...lol. Great people working down there. I highly recommend them to anybody living in the Omaha/Bellevue, Nebraska area and needing work done. Very reasonable and honest too. The only problem I'm having right now and the mechanic down there showed me is that to keep my bike idling, I have to have the choke almost all the way on. If I turn the choke off it wont idle it just dies. Now when I took my bike in to them, let me just say I told them to just get it running and attach the luggage rack. The guy told me to pour some Lucas oil in the tank and see if that helped the idling problem and if not bring it back in, but was just wondering if there is a fix I can do to resolve this problem....So, I naturally thought, take it straight to XJBikes and see if somebody out there has had this problem or can offer a solution. I appreciate all the help I have received from all you people on here.......

 

What exactly do they claim they did? The idle circuits are probably plugged up so it doesn't get fuel at idle (without the enrichment from the "choke").

Great people would have returned a bike that ran properly, or at least recommended the service to make it run correctly.

 

Thanks MiCarl.......You have a very good point! You're right. I think I was just relieved that I found a place that didnt tell me "I'd just buy a new bike!" or "That thing is like 30 years old, you know how hard it's gonna be to get parts for that thing?" and then another place before I found All Season's, the mechanics just looked at each other and smiled and said "Well, we could give it a shot, how much you willing to spend?" Then laughed to each other. Ok, I will just post in this thread exactly what is on the receipt. Mind you this is the very first time with the bikes that I have owned in the past that I have had to take a bike into get it running. All the bikes I have owned in the past, all that I ever did was change the oil and plugs.

Item Name Qty Price Ext Price
Install Fuse Box 1 $70.00 $70.00 T
Rebuild Master 2.5 $70.00 $175.00 T
Oil Change 0.5 $70.00 $35.00 T
Install Backrest 0.5 $70.00 $35.00 T
Check Rear Brake 0.5 $70.00 $35.00 T
Clean Carbs 1 $300.00 $300.00 T
32-1084 1 $29.95 $29.95 T
32-1605 1 $29.99 $29.99 T
3601-0148 1 $27.95 $27.95 T
HF144 1 $5.95 $5.95 T
BPR7ES 4 $2.95 $2.95 T
Install Grips 0.5 $70.00 $35.00 T
Subtotal $790.64
Taxes 7% Tax + $55.34
Receipt Total $895.98

I'm assuming that Qty is also hours for labor. When I picked the bike up, the mechanic did point out the idle problem right away and told me to try putting some Lucas Oil in the gas tank to see if that resolved the problem and if not bring it down and they will see what they can do. I was just thinking it might be a minor adjustment, but you are right....it should have been running like a fine tuned watch when I picked it up.......

 

Wow, listing the receipt items didnt turn out how I spaced them and typed them....sorry about that. It bunched it all together....

 

Installation of a set of new spark plugs solved the whole problem. Engine runs like a top now! Problem solved!

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s40/ ... mybike.jpg

 

That's special, since the SHOP CHARGED YOU FOR PLUGS.

That's what the BPR7ES 4 $2.95 line item is.

I see that they "cleaned" the carbs; I DON'T SEE anything about checking/adjusting the valve clearances which is VITALLY IMPORTANT to the health of your motor and also a necessary prerequisite to proper carb sync.

They took too much of your money and your bike IS NOT fully tuned. Not even close.

 

You're right bigfitz52, I did go down and pay them a visit. I asked them if they had synced the carbs and the guy said he had. I didnt ask them (of course not knowing what to ask because of my lack of knowledge about carbs) about the valve clearance thing. They did put in new plugs. The guy did ask me when I first brought the bike in if I had throughly cleaned out the gas tank or if I had poured in that gas tank lining material. I told him I did put in some rust remover and shook it up and emptied it and repeated this about 4 times then looked inside and saw no rust, went and got a clean gas can and filled it to keep out the flash rust. After I picked the bike up from being repaired he did at that time say that the bike wasnt idling to his liking. He said to drop a can of Lucas oil in the tank and if it didnt resolve the problem, bring it back into them. I did the lucas oil, let it idle with choke on full for an hour with a huge shop fan blowing on to the engine. I slowly pulled the choke back a little at a time and it started to idle a little better with out the choke on full but if I turned the choke off it would die. So after posting in here like I said I did go down and question what all they did. I asked him about the idle circuits possibly being clogged. He said "That could actually be the problem, but that carb was clean as a whistle after we got done with it!" He said "It is possible if you didnt get that gas tank completely clear of rust that some of that residue might have plugged the circuits up again, if it keeps running bad bring it right back and we will take care of the problem for sure!" Well, before I went down there I did stop by Advanced Auto and bought some new plugs. So, I pulled out the old new ones and they were black, greasy and wet with gas. I put the newer ones in. Put my tools away and cranked it up and the engine sounded like it did when I first bought it. I took it out for a ride and it ran perfect. Not studdering or popping, came to a stop light and it idled just like it is suppose to. Drove around for about 2 hours and came home and parked it. Came back out later that night and cranked it up and it started perfect and idles right at about 800-900 rpm. Was the price I paid to have the things listed way to high bigfitz52? Like I said, first time I have taken any bike in to have carbs, brakes and all done.