30% of the way there...

Just read all the posts up to date. Wow, have you put the work into this bike! You can't let it go until you get her running as you like. I would guess you would really be mad at yourself if you did. When you first tried to start the bike, you said it ran on full throttle. So for now, don't worry about the compression, same across the board. The bike did run when you were feeding fuel through the air box. Have you tried an AUX fuel tank and bypass the gas tank? I would guess at this point you have checked the float bowls for fuel and each one has fuel running out of them when you crack the bowl screws?

Just a guess but still something with the fuel. Is the fuel or proper amount of fuel getting to the carbs? That is why I would set up an AUX fuel tank and see what happens. Having a clear fuel line so you can see it going to the carbs and filling them is a nice touch too. I don't know if you have done a fuel run test on the tank to see if it is passing fuel out of the petcock and running a good amount of fuel?

Bottom line, you do great work. Attention to detail is outstanding, guessing it is something very simple. If is runs with fuel being hand fed from the air box to the carbs, I would guess the carbs when hooked up to the bike fuel tank are not getting the correct amount of fuel to them.

Don't throw it in the trash, let the end loader have her or the contractor buy it. Take some time away from her and then come back to her. As you mentioned before, having a fresh set of eyes and hands might also help.

 

I went and read the reviews on this gage on the HF website. A unusually HUGE amount of the reviews mention incorrect, low readings saying things like "Caused me to misdiagnose a motor as bad".

 

Maybe, but for comparison sake, I just did the top end of an RJ engine - cyl hone and valve lap. That tested near the top of spec for compression right away.

 

Same here, with my Snap-On compression gauge. That, and the S-O timing light were two of the best things I ever bought from the damned van.

 

When I was getting suspected bogus readings from my cheap HB gauge, I 'borrowed' one from Advance Auto, and confirmed mine was bad.

My X had great compression directly after I honed the cylinders.

 

Why would glazed (or just deglazed for that matter) bores give you low compressions anyway? extra oil usage yes, but rings will seal (statically anyway) against any surface that's round...

 

Might be wrong but I thought the rings were pushed onto the bores with the compression, I am not an expert by any means.

 

But you did not change the piston rings?

 

No, I didn't. Why would that be needed with just a hone? The rings do not form to the cylinders, they can rotate around when the engine runs, so the mating surfaces aren't always the same.

 

Yes that is right only two strokes have pegs to stop piston ring rotation. Makes sense just wondered though.

 

Thanks for that reminder. I had forgotten what it was like honing the jugs on my old Kawasaki 500 H1 Mach III's.

 

Potentially, but for cranking pressures it's marginal at best, for cylinder leakage tests even less. Piston ports or grooves radially above the top ring are race mods usually.
Doesn't change my comment about rings sealing on shiny vs honed bores.

 

Yes, I checked flow from the tank, it's flowing very well.

As many others have suggested, it could be the HF compression guage. I'll test it, and if found to be faulty, I'll borrow another from a shop.

 

If found faulty I hope you'll put us all out our misery and get your carbs on the bench and take some pics...

 

I see that you must have painted your carb bodies? I see in the pics that all the mounting screws seem to be painted. Not too sure if you tested the sliding plunger on each of the carbs with compressed air?

You know the engine if fine, timing is one and no banging or hard knocking coming from the engine. Just a guess, but I would say you put her all together just fine. Timing is on and seeming like when it fired up, was running just fine. That only leaves fuel delivers to the engine.

There were no pics of you taking apart the carbs and going through them. I know this has been a long process, I think you mentioned 8 months from the time the engine came out until it went back in the bike. Did you take pics of the carb teardown and cleaning? Would be interesting to see how green or gummed up they were. If not, no big deal. I went through my first set of carbs six times before I got them clean. A ultrasonic cleaner didn't get the hard-to-reach areas and only with hand tools, Q tips, compressed air and lots of B-12 chem tool was I able to get them clean.

There are a few folks on here that do carbs for a good price. If you are frustrated with that part of this project, just send them off. The attention to detail you have done on the rest of the bike is commendable. You really do enjoy your hobby.

 

From a month ago...

As with everything else, the carbs were gone through, meticulously, five times in a week.

(pic from June 6)

 

I think the only orifice we are concerned with is at the bottom of the float bowl.

 

I’d love to see a photo of the enrichment jets in the carb bowl with a light shining through them.

 

I'd like to see what jets are where, and where all the butterflies sit with the idle screw two turns in.

 

I have tested the HF compression guage. It's good.