Central New York Carburetor Clinic #13 - June 13, 2020

PortaJohn arrived earlier today

 

Is it blue, green or gray. Inquiring minds need to know.

 

Yamaha blue

 

Almost here

I’m trying to set things up so we can play the whole ‘social distancing’ game; the ‘keep things sanitized’ game; the ‘keep distance and individual servings for food’ game; the ‘hand-sanitizer and wash station’ game; etc........

For those who have come before, it’ll be slightly different than usual, but not drastically. I’m trying to keep it as close to ‘usual’ as possible.

Please make sure to bring a mask with you,....you won’t need to have it on all the time, we’ll be able to keep far enough apart, and we are outside, anyway, and with several acres available, there won’t be any issues with camping tents for anyone staying overnight.

for those who have. Never been to a carb clinic before......yo won’t notice anything different——-lol.

so far it looks like most everyone has gotten their bikes in pretty good shape over the years, so it’ll be just minor tuneups if they wish,,,.we do have one bike that will have shims swapped.

There are some door prizes again this year—

Len Chacal has sent a special surprise for one bike, and so someone is going to go home with a special door prize from XJ4Ever.

Gates-Cole Insurance company has provided a few small door prizes.

NAPA has donated 2 cans of Seafoam as door prizes.

Excell Motorsports has supplied us with a case of oil, and some Oil filters, and some fuel filters to have on hand if needed to purchase.

looking forward to it!

‘Dfox

 

Just about to hit the sack now... all prepped and plan to head north when I wake up at daylight.

Staying close by overnight so that the ride there on carb clinic morning can be relaxed and dare I say enjoyable... Weather looks good...

Will have my Maxim 700n and the 750 Seca in tow.

The Maxim to have an oil change and ride, the 750 to tinker with. Carbs on the 750 have been rebuilt, (there’s a thread out there) but just haven’t been able to get the tune/mixture right. My hope is to “Hogfiddle” my way into getting it dialed it.

More updates to come.

 

Food is in, sodas are in the cooler, hand sanitizer and paper towels all over the place

 

I should have sent my carbs to the clinic. They need some work. More like a lot of work.

 

Had a great drive up today. The weather was awesome. Beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds. After dropping my truck, trailer and Seca by Dave’s, I took off again to explore the area a bit on the Maxim. I’m about 45 miles back out for the overnight, but tomorrow’s plans include a meet up with @saftie for the morning ride back to the clinic. Here’s a roadside pic somewhere between Utica and Cooperstown... Looking forward to tomorrow.

 

Yup,Nuch was the first to arrive. As he was heading out and I was heading to top off my gas tank, I saw a 700 heading south......knowing pretty much who has them around the area, and who doesn’t, I knew it was probably Huntchuks about to arrive. So, I turned around and beat it on home. He got his tent set up, and then we talked bikes, parts, and all kinds of other stuff......threw a few ‘dogs on the grill, and talked some more. Now, time to catch some ZZZZZ’s, and put the coffee on in the morning. A few details to attend to in the morning, and we’re off and running!

 

6:30am- time to get the coffee on

brrr 45 degrees, clouds to burn off as the days shapes up.

handwashing/sanitizing station set up

Carbman/tubeman is up

 

CrazyGnat, Saftie, Nuch, xhondahack, hogfiddles, huntchuks are here..... fuller56 is enroute

maintaining distances while working


lunch time


Jim Burch is going to have a set of foglights installed on his bike. I will give a more detailed report on these later tonight after I get the pictures labeled.

Before


After


Nuch on an oil change


So after everything was buttoned and are ready to ride, a few guys took turns driving the 1943 Allis Chalmers WC around a bit.

All lined up and ready to roll (Fuller56 and JBurch left a little earlier....) Nuch took a few group pics, so I’ll post one of those when I receive them. (TheCrazyGnat standing guard)


Back from our ride....Elliot and Huntchuks chatting


Time for some supper, then close things up.

Nuch and XHondaHack are loaded up and ready to roll.

Considering what’s been happening, it’s amazing that we were able to make this work. We rolled with it, and had a great time, anyway.

The sky finally cleared the rest of the way, and the boss came out to inspect the grounds as it got dark.

 

Got home just a little bit ago; had a good time. Dave/Len thanks for the Fog lights. Looking forward to CNYCCXIV
Jim Burch

 

So, it seems like this year was the year of the 700’s.

jburch - xj650rj
hogfiddles -xj700n
Elliott - xj700n
huntchuks - xj700s
Nuch - xj700n
XHondaHack - xj750x
Saftie - suzuki intruder 800

TheCrazyGnat and his wife supplied a very cool door prize for everyone—- the had special cloth printed and made masks for everyone .... they had CNYCCXIII, related logos printed on them!


Well, there’s always a couple who just don’t know when to stop —- lol. The carb clinics are great for getting things done, catching up with friends, and meeting new people and the camaraderie. Geoff and Dan sharing ideas, and since they brought tents to camp out on the lawn, there’s no reason to pack things in for the night yet

 

Another great adventure I’ve missed. Looks like everyone enjoyed themselves

 

So, Len now has Fog Lights kits and Driving Lights kits. He graciously supplied a fog light kit to install, as a door prize— and a driving light kit to show.

follow along for the installation.
these kits are currently designed for installation on the

xj559,xj650, and 1983 xj750 maxim models.

Jim’s xj650rj


The kits - fog lights kit (top, driving lights kit (


The fog light kit we are installing
bottom)


Chase the threads first to make it easier


Feed the light through the existing area..... for the 650rj, we slipped it between the tach cable and the harness. For models with an electrical tach, there is no tach cable to have to work around.


Hook the light back up on the opposite side.... 2 13mm were all we needed.


like so—-


Tighten the mounting bolts. And decide where to run the wires.we chose to run the harness up over the horn bracket.......


along the spine by the clutch cable....


Everything zip tied in place.....then follow the harness ( notice the red inline fuse, the circle around to the battery.


now simply attach the leads to the battery....almost done!


Return to the lead for the switch—- find the best place for it to fit. The original thought was for it to fit by the right hand controls, but in doing so, the switch could only fit between the right control and the master cylinder.... but the problem there was that it move the brake lever to the left and the finger basically grab the ball of the lever rather than the “blade” of the lever. It could not go on the other end of the master cylinder because of the banjo bolt. It looked stupid halfway down the slope of the bar, and looked just as silly in the center between the bar clamps. The best location was on the left bar, just past the clutch perch. It’s easy to see and reach. Ind looks like it belongs there. We routed the wire harness up between the triple clamp and the cluster, zip tied it in place, and made sure there was enough play in the wire to avoid pulling of stretching. When the lights are on, there is a little tiny red light That illuminates on the switch. The harness is not affected by the key switch or start button since it is wired directly to the battery. Remember that red fuse holder—no need to worry Also, because it is wired to the battery, the kits can be used for a light source simply by flipping the switch!


Lights off


lights on


Done! Installation time Was approximately 1/2 hr, but that was with stopping to take pics— really, it’s probably more like a 20 minute job....

 

How well does it work??

the lights off


the lights on


headlight low beam only


Headlight high beam only


headlight high beam, and fog lights on


These can be adjusted for height and pattern, too!

 

But what about the driving lights kit??

The lights off


the lights on


headlight low beam only


headlight high beam only


headlight high beam and driving lights on


For more information on either kit, contact Len Chacal at XJ4ever.com

DFox

 

Sunday morning! Time to put the coffee on, courtesy of CrazyGnat.....


For those that camped, we had a record low of 42 degrees last night, and low of 36 degrees Friday night.

It’s another day of sun and clouds, 48 degrees..... should be a good day for riding home after breakfast and getting tents packed up.


1:45pm - CrazyGnat just pulled out, and Huntchuks will be off shortly.

We did 3 colortunes, 3 carbtunes, 1 oil change, 1 tentative diagnosis, 1 carb hats change, 1 airbox boots change, and 1 foglights kit installation.

Thanks, everyone! See you next year—June 12,2021 .... CNYCC#14.

Dave Fox

 

An additional note to the fog light installation; the switch position we chose works out to be a convenient thumb reach, or at least for me. Others with different bar set ups/hand size will have different results.

Again, Dave/Len thank you for the lights!!!

Jim Burch

 

A great time was had even though I had to ride a non-XJ bike to Dave's. Lazrene, the '83 XJ750MK has not been able to acquire a legal license plate due to DMV being closed. Thanks to Mrs Fox for the awesome blueberry pastries! Fun to see all and offer my meek assistance, as little as it is. Thanks for the custom mask CrazyGnat and Mrs.
John

 

wow that Right sidecover was screaming don't step on me.

 

It was actually well forward of where we were... pic angle makes it look close. Jim was bit he back wheel and battery, and we had just pulled the cover off to access the battery and the cover was placed way forward by the front tire—- replaced as soon as the wires were attached.

 

Everyone set your calendars for next year—-

CNYCC#14 - Saturday June 12, 2021

dfox

 

Thanks for hosting again, Dave! It was great to catch up which old friends and meet new ones!

 

Had a great time, although a bit chilly. Here J am doing my best Oliver Douglas imitation.

 

Who's playing Mr. Hanie

Who's Mr. Haney??

 

Green acres is the place to be.

mr haney was the guy in checkered suit

 

Absolutely wishing I could have gotten up .

 

Dan,
Dug out the fender I had stashed away and tried to "start a conversation"with you but your mailbox is full. You'll need to leave the conversations that you don't need and let me know. I'll send a picture of the one I have which is in much better shape then the one on your bike now.

Thanks,
Tony

 

Hey Tony, I didn't know about that 'leave' thing. All set now.

 

Me neither. Starting a conversation with you on the fender.

Tony

 

Well, as usual, I’m the last to post comments on the carb clinic. Tough to get computer time for things other than work till late June. Unlike my usual run north starting at 3AM on the carb clinic morning, I decided to leave the day before. Initially, the plan was to meet up with Saftie (on Friday) in Cooperstown and do some exploring on two wheels, but that didn’t exactly work out. At any rate, I still made my way up and headed towards Hogfiddles…



Man, look at that sky!



XJ Creepers…



About an hour outside of my destination along Rte 20, I stopped at Kelly’s Deli. great sandwich and a 32oz Jug of NY Pure Maple Syrup for 20 bucks… Sweet! I recommend you enjoy them separately...Unless there is bacon on your sandwich... then yes, Maple Syrup please.



When I arrived, Hogfiddles wasted no time doing the honors of bringing the girls down off the trailer…

 

After my initial set-up was done in preparation for the next day, I strapped down my “overnight gear” to the back of the 700, left the Seca, truck and trailer behind and headed off towards Cooperstown. Hogfiddles and I set out together as he wanted to fuel up his 700 but it wasn’t long that he had to turn back… because…

Yet another 700 zipped by us in the oncoming lane (HuntChucks!) and Hogfiddles wanted to be on the grounds to meet him.

I continued on alone…



And found this cool covered bridge… That’s an obnoxious number of bungee cords now that I look at it…


I’m always amazed at the beautiful countryside we have here in NY! As the hills and pastures roll past you can’t help but feel like you’re in a painting!

 

As Friday came to an end, the clouds rolled in and I decided to call it a day… Tucked the ol’ girl in and relaxed for the remainder of the evening.

The next morning, Saftie came by and we headed back out towards the Carb Clinic… It was COLD!!! Brrrr!



We stopped by a lakeside marina to take a break from the chill and watch some boats come in… That’s Saftie’s Suzuki back there…
Then, back on the bikes and on to the carb clinic…



Here’s my socially distant workspace… Waiting for wrenching and grilling. The Seca was waiting as well… Paging Dr. Hogfiddles!



Just about ready to Sync and Color Tune… Turns out my sync wasn’t half bad (minor adjustments needed) and the color was good as well.

 

Not sure if there’s a better combination than grilled skirt steak with a side of XJ Carbs.



Here’s a shot of Hogfiddles & JBurch installing that light kit.



The handsome group… We were very “700 heavy” this year!

At the end of the day, we took our group ride and said our goodbyes. Another great carb clinic for the history books (forum threads?). Much thanks to Hogfiddles for once again hosting and to all who came to make the day as great as it was.

The drive back to Cooperstown felt like it took forever… I was wiped out.
The next morning, I hit the road again and headed to Lake George. I had the opportunity to see some friends and of course ride Rte 9N towards Ticonderoga.



I ended the day with a burrito, a local IPA and of course a sunset view of one of my favorite places.

 

I headed home on Monday... Here's the last pic I took before leaving that morning. Great weekend… Again thanks to all who made this year’s carb clinic great and of course to Hogfiddles who makes it all happen.

 

Nuch that is what l call a write up. Great stuff.

 

Thank you @Franz . Was having an idle issue with the Seca... very cyclical “up and down.” Though the problem was not rectified, Hogfiddles gave me some things to think about and try at home... it was determined that it was not a vacuum leak, tune or mixture...

It might be a butterfly that is not seated correctly. We pulled the carbs at the clinic and now the plan is to split the rack again so that each butterfly can be loosened, seated and retightened.

 

Great hopefully that will get it fixed. Some scenery around New York.

 

Nice write-up, Nuch! I always look forward to see in the pics you post. I know it’s usually way after, but that’s ok

I am so glad for those who were able to come, as it was a little challenging due to this COVID-19 virus this time around......but fortunately, things had re-opened enough that we were able to have the carb clinic this year, and some new people were able to participate along with some ‘regulars’. Too.

Dave Fox
Host, CNYCC#14
June 12, 2021

 

so cool, thanks for the postings!
I always say one year I am going to make this trip!
Have had many long talks with Hogfiddles on the phone
great guy

 

Hotcakes! Haven’t seen you around for awhile....good to see you again

 

Finally got out to ride yesterday; I figured I'd use the fog lights as additional daytime running lights for more visibility, figured it can't hurt to have more visibility. I discovered it is very easy to get some where, shut the bike off and NOT turn the lights off, I did it twice. Didn't run the battery down, was not off the bike that long, definitely a learning curve/new behavior needed. The LED on the switch is not that much of an attention grabber, or at least not to me. Need to do some night riding.

Jim Burch

 

This is so awesome. I hope one day to be able to come ride with you all. Great pictures!