Budget bobber carb problems?

I have about 200 miles on my 80' xj 650 bobber build now. As it has been getting warmer I have been getting the carbs just right. Today I went for about a 40 mile ride. I got about 5 miles down the road and the bike started to spit and sputter.... then clear up. Then it would spit and sputter, and died at the next stop sign. I was starting to get mad because I have been pulling the plugs and tweaking the pilot screws a few degrees here and there. I have each plug almost perfect paper bag brown. I started to worry that maybe my coils or something were starting to go. Got it started again. Everything seemed fine until I went up the next hill.....started spiting and sputtering again.....basically losing power like I wasn't getting any fuel.....perhaps no spark? I was on my way to a friends house to show off the bike and help do some sheet rocking. All my buddies were going to be there and I was so excited to get to show off my bike and let everybody take a spin, and now it was barely even running. Just as my dobber was really getting down I realized...............the bike was out of gas .......... Stopped and filled up, and amazingly the problem went away! Had a lot of fun the rest of the day bragging about my great mechanical diagnostic skills.



On a side note I have to replace my fork seals. My mechanic said there are special tools required. I read through the thread in the faq section about replacing fork seals it seemed pretty strait forward. If I can save a couple hundred buck doing it myself that would be great but if its a pain I'd rather pay for it. What do you guys think?

 

I did that a week ago. Had to ride on the back of harley passer byer gotta love that....not. I am just glad bikers of all tank emblems can help each other. Around here anyway, for the most part.

 

Fork seals, 1st time a pain, after that not so much, worth it for the learning experience in my opinion.

 

I think we have all done something like that before, some won't admit it. I am guilty of over thinking a problem only to find out it is something simple. Once I spent several hours diagnosing a starter problem once only to find out I had the engine switch OFF.

 

I almost always for some reason jump to the most difficult explanation. It's my buddy who says "Try turning the key on dummy!"

 

I ran out of gas in a race....ONCE. After that I put a subtle reminder on the back of my front number plate:

 

Yeah I did the same thing. First thing to try is reserve. I also did a compression test on my bike this weekend. Later that day, I wanted to show it to my father-in-law and just start it up. Last time he was here, it wouldn't start up. But since then I had fixed a lot and had been riding the bike around no problem.

I go to start it, and it turns over, but there's no hint of ignition. I'm playing with switches, making sure the spark plugs were are put back, the fuel is on, etc, and can't figure it out. Then I realize that the TCI is still unplugged from the compression test. Started right up after that.