problem with stage 1 kit carb kit

so i upgraded my carbs on my xj650 with a stage 1 kit and also straight piped my exhaust and have pod filters on each carb. now im having problems where i will try to start regularly and i will get no fire, if i use starter fluid i get the bike to fire but it immediately revs to 12K and i have to kill it before something gets damage. so basically it only runs on starter fluid now... any ideas?

 

Who's kit and what jets did they provide?
It sounds like the pilot jets (at least) are too lean for your current intake/exhaust configuration.
Were the carbs fully rebuilt before the jetting changes (including new throttle shaft seals)?

 

My guess is that you screwed something up in the 'upgrade' process that is causing the butterflies to be held open - whip the pods off and take a look. Is your choke/enrichment circuit in good order?

 

One quick thing to check, and one that is common to mess up (we've all done it).
At the carbs: Make sure that the choke cable is connected ot the choke, and that the throttle cable is connected to the throtle.

 

Also, make sure that the throttle cable isn't hanging up on the cylinder head fins..........

 

And that it's fully seated into the holder on the carb.

 

i double checked everything listed above and it all was right... i cleaned the plugs and checked them after running on starter fluid and they turn black. I was informed that is because the engine is flooding, but it seems to me like it's just because of it only burning starter fluid. any thoughts given this info? i will try to spray gasoline into the carbs tomorrow and see if i can get some more info.

 

If it runs at all on starer fluid then it'll run on gas. If it's not running on gas coming out of the carbs, you still have a problem in the carbs.

Back to my original set of questions:

 

so i tried just spraying gas in through the carbs and was able to get the engine to run. It ran very similarly to what it did on starter fluid, but now i am getting back fires as well. I am now suspecting that there is not sufficient back pressure since i straight piped it. i will try to baffle it this weekend and get more info but at this point i am looking at other things besides the carbs.

 

Why?
Would it be possible for you to answer my previous questions? We can't help you without a full set of information.
Who's jet kit? What jets were provided?
A properly jetted 4-stroke engine will start and idle without any exhaust being fitted.

 

sorry, I put in a dyno 4103 stage 1 jet kit originally and had it rev out on me with starter fluid. then based on a recommendation that i received from a guy at dyno i put in the stage 3 jets... same issue, then i tried using gasoline from a spray bottle and had same issue... I happen to have a spare carb set so i just rebuilt that over the weekend and put it in. i attempted to start regularly and no success. then i tried spraying gasoline in and had fire ball puff come out the exhaust but no actual firing going on in the cylinders...so i thought maybe it was a back pressure issue since i removed the baffles...so i re-installed the baffles as best as i could with hose clamps and tape..same issue still, just puffs of fire escaping from the cracks in my tape before the baffles... Im getting very close to just bringing it to a mechanic and seeing what they can do with it...

 

Again, what sizes are the jets. That stages stuff is just marketing talk, and contains no useful information. The jet size will be stamped into the top of the jet next to the screwdriver slot.

If the carbs are jetted correctly the engine will start up without any exhaust hooked up. Back pressure is not the problem.

 

Oh sorry I understand now, the stage 3 ones are 118, the stage 1 ones were 112, both of which gave me same issues.

 

The stage 1 main jets are the same size as what was installed when new. You should be pretty close with the 118 mains installed, but that won't have a thing to do with starting because the mains aren't doing anything at idle.

What size are the pilot jets?

 

Did this bike start/idle perfectly before upgrade? I've had personal experience with carb issues. Listen to K-moe he helped me quite a bit. Starting fluid is hard on engines use gas in spray bottle or carb clean.

 

Is it possible that the main and pilot jet got mixed up? That would cause flooding, black spark plugs, and the idling issue.

 

Put everything back to stock. Stock jets, stock air box, stock settings.

You want more power, get an xj750, or stick an xj750 engine in. Read up on engine swaps in the overload hour. It's not a hard job

 

If the main and pilot got swapped it wouldn't even start.

 

He might be referring to the air jets, in which case mixing them up would allow the engine to run (horribly) and it would run incredibly rich.

 

The bike isnt running and if I recall I read a mention of flooding. The bike only runs on starter fluid. You dont need a mixture for it to just run until the fluid is out. Its an old trick I learned to rule out carbs or even fuel injection systems. Just spray a little starer fluid in the cylinder walls and the vapors as it evaporates is enough.

 

Yep. I had forgotten about the oiginal problem when I posted.

 

Omg. I just did this too!