Cylinder not firing?

ok, so i pulled the carb and cleaned it and installed it, repeated that process like 4 times today with no luck. So I went searching through some of the links Pete sent me to see if i missed something....

And I ran across a sidenote on the bottom that said skip all the above (except for the dis-assembling part)

So I read it.....thought it was insane...tried cleaning it the old-fashioned way again, failed....thought about what the post said....then I figured at that point I have nothing to loose, I'm considering buy a new carb to replace the fourth one anyway, what the hell.

I made a fire on the grill, put a big metal pot on it, and threw the fourth carb in there (minus all rubber and plastic parts) and let it boil for about 35 mins or so..

Once done, I sprayed it inside and out with lots and lots of wd-40, then compressed air through everything, then let it dry in the sun for 30 mins.

Put it back on and whoooooooooolly crap that bike has some BALLS!!!! I synched the carbs and used the colortune to make sure the mixture was right....and wow....I thought I loved this bike before...It has an insane amount of torque now! PRAISE THE XJ GODS!!! XD

 

yep, sounds like you got to ride ride an XJ.

 

Yeah....total friggin sleeper man! I mean, it looks like a pretty cool bike (except for mine, right now it looks like a piece of crap) but wow man, that engine is something else!

I can't wait to get my school check so I can replace my throttle shaft things and my shim.....this baby is begging me to take her on the highway now lol

Once again, I wanna thank all you guys for all your help (and Pete for showing up in person and sending me the link that said to boil it!) couldn't of done it without you!

Once my check hits, give me about 2 months and you won't even recognize that bike. Don't forget I make armor as a hobby, so I can fabricate my own body pieces =)

 

Great to hear that you finally nailed it !!

But remember - you still have to ride the bike like a Granny because of the tight valve and bad brakes.

Does the idle still hunt around, or did that fix itself?? If so, you may not have to do the throttle shaft seals.

 

I love seeing another one come back to life

 

That has a tendency to happen when the forum members all work together.

 

to TimetoRide (Pete)
I'm not sure if the hunting idle has been fixed. I'm going to have to put my yics tool in and find out. Prolly this weekend. I'm definitely riding her like a granny. After my initial wow-this-thing-is-fast rev in first, I haven't been hitting the throttle hard. I got passed by a crappy old rice-burner today =/

to tskaz
Yup, your right, I've gotten a lot of valuable input from quite a few people and appreciate all of it!

skw
you think you like it now, wait until I'm finished with all my cosmetics. This thing is going to be sweet =)

Speaking of which, I took her for a short spin, just a few miles, to see if I could identify any other problems she might be having, and she rides great! Really responsive, slight hesitation when I hit the throttle from stopped to first, but I'm confident the airbox and replacing the gravity powered gas system to the stock vacuum will fix that. My biggest concern right now is I don't have a gas cap. They had a rubber plug thing that came with it, but it started disintegrating so i threw it away. I have a sock in the hole and the bike covered with a tarp for now, and i'm hoping tomorrow I can use my dremel to cut the mounting base off the gas cap for my vulcan to make it fit....Does anyone know where I can get a stock gas cap, or know of something i can make that will work until I get my school check? I've managed to fix this beast for very very little money so far, would hate to ruin the streak lol

 

OK - no Dremel and cut-off wheel on a gas tank until - -

Until you drain and dry the tank, then "load-it-up" with car exhaust using a shop vac tube, to displace all possible oxygen (3-5 minutes).

These tanks will violently explode - - we're talking stitches. And nurses.

 

i was talking about the cap I took off my old bike, not the tank itself lol

I would never dream of creating that much spark next to a tank full of fumes. I was in the Amy for a short period of time (combat engineer), I'm familiar with the components of a good bang =)

 

why not just pick up a correct gas cap on eBay?

 

Because I'm really broke....but I just sold that bike so no gas cap cutting, and I have a little cash so I can finally get some friggin parts! I have less restricted mufflers, as noted by Pete, and I'm wondering if anyone know what kind of jet setup I need.

Not in the float bowl, but in the other chamber that has two jets, the numbers are 70 and 120....

Not sure what stock should be, would really appreciate it if someone could tell me what the stock jets are, and with less restricted mufflers (They were cut into a slant and I believe the baffler has been removed, or at least punched through) what jets i should replace them with.

I'll be ordering a stock airbox this afternoon.

This weekend I'll be taking my shim out and seeing what the next shim i need is.

Thanks for the help!

 

So the airbox is ordered, still has the chrome on the outside edge and the rubber hose that goes to the engine next to your foot, boots, and an air filter.
Cost 64 bucks.

So now the next thing I need to buy is my shim.

I also need to replace my fork seals and was wondering if anyone knew what kind of fork oil this bike needs off hand. I can prolly find it in the manual, but I'm in for a long busy weekend =(

 

You do realize there are EIGHT valve shims, right?

Use real motorcycle fork oil; with your bike 15W would probably be about right. One bottle will have enough for both forks. Check your manual for exact amounts.

And read the manual and familiarize yourself with the procedure for changing fork seals before you rip it too far apart...

 

I will be reading the manual before I do the fork seals.

And of course i realize how many valves are in the bike, I find it somewhat insulting you ask, I've posted the results of a valve clearance test earlier in this topic....

According to the results (thanks for the help with that Pete!) I only have one valve that needs a change immediately, and another that could use some adjustment.