The Wild and Woolly Adventures of a Bike Repair Noob

........ find a used airbox.......

 

http://sandiego.craigslist.org/ssd/mcy/3542679563.html

 

Now that I've researched more, I don't think the ram air thing will be good for our sensitive little carbs. Oh well, it was just an idea.

However, if I do get an OEM airbox, I have no idea how I'm going to cram it in. Thanks for the tips and links guys. I'm still leaning towards making something that will not only be functional; but keep with the bobbed look.

 

You can keep "The Bobbed Look" and still run a stock Airbox.

There was a fellow from Maine that preferred the "Naked" look.
He mounted the Regulator, Solenoid, Ignitor, Fuses and a couple of Relays INSIDE the Airbox.

Then, he had the exposed sides of the Airbox decorated with airbrushing too make it look like sheet metal with the WW2 Insignia painted on Fighter Planes.

http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en ... 3,s:0,i:93

 

Thanks Rick.

I just PM''ed chacal about a new set of aircleaner joints. Hopefully, I get them in soon and then I can start messing about with an airbox.

Ecologito sent me a link (thanks again bro) for a Seca airbox for sale. Do you think the airbox from a different XJ style bike will suffice on my 700? I'm still leaning just to make my own for that custom look. Although I have no idea on the cubic airspace the stock airbox provides.

 

+1

 

^+2

Gary

 

Will this airbox work?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160846057770&item=160846057770&lgeo=1&vectorid=229466

 

Check this out from a fellow forum user:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=41130.html

 

Thanks Maxim-X!!!

I priced out a new set of air cleaner joints. They're like 80 bucks which is cheap considering that chacal actually makes them in his shop and it seems that he's the world's only providers of these things!

As good of a price as they are for a custom-made set of joint boots, 80 bucks is still 80 bucks and about twice over budget for what I had in mind...Sigh. I PM'ed maxim6 to see how much he's asking for his assembly. If that doesn't work, them I'm going to fabricate my own intake system and pray that it works, lol!

 

So, I took the plunge and ordered a set of what will pass for velocity stacks. I'm going to construct my own air box since those funny little air cleaner joints seem in short supply and as much as I'd like to, can't justify spending the cash on chacal's custom ones.

I'll take pics and keep you all up to date as soon as I get them in.

 

Howdy all.

I haven't constructed the air box yet; but I tested out my "velocity stacks" tonight with a little 91 octane and some Lucas miracle juice in the tank.

There was no idle improvement until I decided to fidget with the idle screw. Voila! It will actually idle without cutting out and the throttle response is quick and doesn't lag or bog down.

Question though:

I killed it mid-idle and did a plug check. Here is what they look like:

#1 Mostly dry/black
#2 Mostly dry/black
#3 Mostly wet/black
#4 Mostly wet/black

The other thing, is that my carbs are now leaking fuel. Now, I did have it on prime at first and opened the throttle while trying to start it until I realized (thanks to the forum) that I have a choke lever (the controls are long gone). In my excitement to test fire the engine, I had completely forgotten about that.

After I choked it, it fired right up. I'm wondering if it's normal for the carbs to leak since I tried starting it many times before I choked it and made the mistake of opening the throttle and messing around between prime and "on".

Any thoughts on the plugs as well?

Oh yes. Another thing. Every once in a while while revving it up, it would backfire (although increasing the idle seemed to eliminate most of the backfiring while revving).

I'm not sure if I gave you guys enough info to help diagnose the next step. Please let me know if I can provide any more info.

Thanks everyone!

-Erik

 

Something else interesting to note:

#1 and #4 header pipes aren't hot although they are both getting spark.

#2 and #3 header pipes are hot.


The right side exhaust pipe seems to be blowing clean...The left side is blowing a little wet.

 

Have you service your carbs? I am in the process of replacing the 650 engine on my seca with a 750 engine. When I open the carbs to clean them I found all sorts of gunk, two float valves were frozen shut, one float post was broken. I am surprised the previous owner says it ran fine.

I have been reading a lot around here and it seems like it is hard to fine tune your with with the stock setup so it is almost impossible to do so with mods like pods. It becomes a guessing game/trial and error.

 

Thanks ecologito,

The PO has cleaned and synced the carbs before I got it. I'm thinking since I had opened the throttle while on prime, that it flooded the carbs...Or I have a float stuck perhaps. I'm wondering if I should just drain the carbs and see what happens?

I read about you getting a new engine! That's awesome!

I imagine I'll have to pull the rack and tear it apart. I hope I can isolate the leakage problem before I do that though.

 

Even on prime, your carbs wouldn't have gotten flooded if the floats have worked properly.

 

If the carbs were flooded I would check two things, one make sure that the petcock works properly. The other one will be the cab floats and needles. You should at least remove the bowls and check the floats and you will be able to inspect visually the jets and make sure that they are clean. Obviously something is not right.

 

One important thing to check is your oil right now. Yep, oil. If your carbs were leaking these bikes have a reputation for letting gas through the carbs and running down inside the cylinder. This can not only wash away the oil that lubes the piston, but can also contaminate the oil in the pan. Simple check is to look at the sight glass while it's on the centre stand (when cold/cool) to see if it's over full. You can also unscrew your oil filler cap and take a good sniff, if there is any smell of gas fix the carb problem then change the oil before you start and run the engine again. Running the bike with gas in the oil can/will lead to total engine failure or at least serious damage.

 

No perhaps about it; either stuck or mis-adjusted. If your floats are operating correctly, it shouldn't matter if it's on PRI or not.

I would not trust the story the PO told you about the carbs.

 

Hi Ejpt, trust fitz and maxim-x, you need carb work before the air box issue. 2 wet plugs is float issue, and the black ones are off - running rich.

A PO could have cleaned the carbs, but so long ago it needs it again.

And you could have gas in the oil - pull the fill cap and smell - you'll know. If so, give it a couple oil changes to clear it out.

See here: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... stuck.html