82 xj750 maxim running rich?

So I had A big scare with my bike just last week. It was running fine and then I went to take it for a ride and it wouldn't turn over. The battery seemed fine as it lit the lights up real nice. I tried draining the float bowls on the carbs, checked the fuel lines, and was stumped and sad for a week of sunny days. It turns out it was the spark plugs!
I changed them out as one xjbike dude had told another similar discussion.

Anyhow, I just would like to know how to prevent this from happening again. The plugs were only 8 months old and maybe 300kms. They had carbon fouling Drive a black city deposits leaving to misfire and weak spark. Caused by an over Rich fuel/air mixture, faulty choke operation or a blocked air filter dry black city deposits leaving to misfire and weak spark. Caused by an over rich fuel/air mixture, faulty choke operation or a blocked air filter. And my air filter is clean as a whistle and I think I'm using the choke correctly most of the time.

 

Were the deposits dry, or wet and oily?

Dry, then you are likely running rich. Can be caused by pilot screws not set correctly, or float levels set too high, or overly large fuel jets fitted.

Wet and oily, then you have oil getting into the combustion chamber. Can be caused by worn rings, or cracked valve stem seals, or a leaking head gasket/ head o-rings.

 

They were dry for the most part. The threads were a little oily.

 

Assuming you have clean carbs and valves are in spec then I suggest using a colortune plug to adjust the pilot screws. I had the same issue after a carb rebuild and this is how I corrected it. Using a colortune plug I closed the pilot screw (one cylinder at a time of course) until I got a white (lean) flame and then opened the screw until I got a blue flame. I then installed new plugs and rode the bike about 20 miles and pulled the plugs to read them. As needed I opened the pilot screws about the width of a dime and went for another ride and again read the plugs. I continued to do this until I got a nice tan color on the plugs. I have an XJ700N and my pilot screws are now set between 1 1/2 and 2 turns open. The bike starts immediately, runs great and the mpg went up as well. The reason for installing new plugs is to be able to clearly see the change as the pilot screws are adjusted.

 

My father suggested that I do a carb clean. I'll do that first. Any good advice on some reading before I start? I'm no machanic but I got the bike to learn these things.

All of the advice I've gotten on this site is very appreciated.

 

Check out Chacal's church of clean. Great info there.

 

Here's the link to the page

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

 

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