Joy!

So my friend Viragoking came over today, hauling his 1985 Yamaha Virago xv700. We knew there would be some carb work to do, since gasoline would pour out one of the carbs after shutting it off. Also, when the bike was running, fuel was shooting out the exhaust (never a good sign) He had "hired" someone to clean his carbs for him, but shortly after he got it back, it started developing problems again.

Cosmetically, the bike is in pretty good shape, a few dings in the tank, the fork seals need to be replaced, oil change, air filter, the basics... He's got a new seat on order, and is expecting it soon

Prepare yourself...

We pulled the carbs off the bike. Let me just say that I thought the xj700 carb set up was confusing at first, though with repeated removals, the job got easier. The xv700 has hoses and tubes running every which way.. but that wasn't the big issue.

Let me just say that the greenish looking diaphragm you see to your right was actually the better looking of the two. Yes, there are only 2 carbs on this bike. Viragoking thought the parts were supposed to be green ("I thought they were pretty green plastic"), but with a bit of 1000 grit sandpaper, some wd40, they cleaned right up.

This was supposedly after the bike had been cleaned for $100 by a professional. Not very professional if you ask me. The guy obviously didn't pull the diaphragms, nor anything else except the owner's leg telling him things were done. The crud in the bottom of the fuel well was years old, and it looked as if someone had taken a screwdriver and tried scraping the gunk out.

Now, the odd thing was, this bike was firing on only one cylinder, but ran pretty well, to hear Viragoking tell it.

The pilot jet was clogged with debris. (Actually, there wasn't anything that wasn't) Luckily, he had ordered a carb rebuild kit for 32.00 (total for both) that included absolutely everything we needed.








What amazed me most was that the bike was still running, even after we discovered a few surprises left by a previous someone. We don't know who, but there was a small cap bolt (the kind that usually is decorative that fits over the end of a bolt) left inside one of the vacuum tubes. It was obviously placed with malice because it took some doing to pry the little sucker out. If this was an attempt to toss the proverbial monkeywrench into the machinery by the same aforementioned loser who did such a great job cleaning the carbs the first time, I hope karma punches him in the nads.

Finally, this...

Friends, if this isn't a reason to always do the work yourself, I don't know what is. It's obvious by the condition of the emulsion tube that it has never seen the light of day outside the factory. That's a whole lot of crap on that tube. The emulsion tube had to be forced out of it's seating with a screwdriver.

The carbs were carb-dipped and lovingly attended to by Viragoking, using a toothbrush and sandpaper and carb cleaner to get every last bit of gunk. The looked spotless on the inside when he was done.

Rudely, I started working on the carb hat, showing a bit of shinyness with some sandpaper and WD40 and sweat to expose the aluminum underneath. I say rudely because I started the job... Now it's up to Viragoking to finish it. Knowing his attention to detail, I'm sure that won't be a problem.

While the carbs were taking a bath, we took a closer look at his spark plug boots. One of them was completely useless, no resistance noted with the multimeter (oddly, the same one that wasn't firing) so I pulled an extra boot out of my collection and hooked it up. The other cap and the new one read between 5.69-5.80. Primary coils and secondary coil checks were within spec (although I'll have to check with my online buddies... the readings seemed awfully high 26.9)

We finally got everything put back together (man, that was a lot of work to do in a small space!). The carbs were reattached to the bike, the boots held in place with new clamps, his intake boots... well, that's going to take a bit more work. Pouring over the schematics, I can't find the gaskets that should be between the manifold intake boots and the manifold. Perhaps there isn't one? From the looks of the boot, however, there was something there at one time that appeared to be a gasket, but I can't find it. Pilot screws were set to 2.5 turns out.

Viragoking had forgotten his key at home, so had to run and get it. While he was gone, I gapped his new plugs and changed them out, changed his gear shaft oil (it looked bad) and turned the bike around to ready it for it's first ride.

Not ten minutes later Viragoking was back with key in hand. Setting the petcock on prime, we waited a few moments before slipping the key in...

It started! A little rough at first, but that worked itself out. I jumped on my xj700 and away we went. We took a short run down the street and at the first corner, I asked him how it felt. With a gleam in his eye, he said something, but due to the decibel level of his pipes, I could barely hear a word. He had this crazy look on his face...

We took off around the corner and he kept up pretty well until the next light. Then, like a jerk, I took off while he stayed behind.

Not sure what was happening, I turned around to see what had happened. He was still at the corner so I pulled up and we pulled onto the motorcycle runway (the sidewalk) to find his bike was acting dodgy. Poor throttle response and needed choke to keep running. He pushed it back to my house (I wasn't going to push it!) and of course once we got there, it started up again. The next time we went out, his bike took off like a rocket. (kinda sounded like one too).

The bike has some tuning issues to figure out, and front fork seals to replace, possibly a new starter, but it's running really well, considering what it had just been through. Viragoking is a pretty cool guy whom I look forward to riding with in the future.

Major Improvements and a new friend

So after many adjustments to the pilot screws, changing out spark plugs, adjusting this, tinkering with that, I'm almost to the point of being happy with my bike. Pretty decent throttle response (though still hangs a bit in first... not sure why that is) and the Max Factor (hey, the X has the X factor, why can't we have a Max Factor? Copyright infringement notwithstanding...).

Here's a video of my bike start up after a short run with the new adjustments. Frankly, after trying several combinations, I set everything to 2 out, and will adjust accordingly based on further plug evaluation.


The bike is running much better now, but I know there is still some room for improvement. And... though I hate to put it in writing, I may need new piston rings at some point. I noticed an oily residue on one of my plugs. When I adjusted the pilot screw, that oily residue disappeared, so I'm not sure what that means.

I also met up with Viragoking (not his real name, but I created an email account for him under that pseudonym so we can join virago mailing lists and get his bike running.) He owns a 1985? xv700 Yamaha Virago. It needs some carb repair, and I offered to help him out. I am no expert, but I'm willing to help a fellow biker who may turn out to be a riding brother. Here are some pics of his bike:




















He's a good guy who works hard doing landscaping. Considering how hot it has been, I feel for him! The towel you see tucked in under the engine is to catch the steady drip of gasoline that runs freely from his carbs. He's ordered carb kits for his bike, and we are going to do our best to fix them up this weekend. Like I say, I'm no expert, but all carbs are basically the same, so here's to hoping.

I took my bike over to his house yesterday and it ran pretty well. I could tell the plugs were fouling, however, on my way back the bike didn't have the same response as before. Luckily, the extra plugs I had brought with me weren't needed.

So, basically, the bike is getting there. I still have a bit more tuning to do, but at this point, I am happy with the way things are progressing.

At least until I have to tear my engine apart again...

Holy Mackeral!!

Okay, I was getting pretty disheartened with the way the bike was going. It seemed like every thing I fixed ended up messing something else up. It was a vicious cycle of repair and try, repair and try.

Until today.

I had a feeling my throttle/butterfly valves weren't working correctly. The bike was having... breathing issues. Well, after a frustrating couple of hours working on the bike, changing plugs, hooking up the carb tune, color tune etcetera ad infinitum, I finally got frustrated beyond the point of reason. I twisted all the idle screws all willy nilly... and heard a remarkable change in how the engine sounded. It sounded... better.

Hooking the carb tune up once again, I noted some movement in the rods that hadn't been there before. Excited, but keeping my emotions so under control I am now an honorary member of the Vulcan High Command, I turned the screws a bit more, trying to bring the rods in line.

Slowly, things started shaping up. Throttle response was better, there wasn't a hang at 2000rpms and above, better yet, the engine didn't sound rough.

The true test, however, was hooking the gas tank back up and taking it out for a ride.

Since I bought the bike, it hasn't responded this well! Acceleration was pretty incredible and the bike idled right where it was supposed to idle.

Now, realistically, I realize that I still have work to do. I still need to figure out why the plugs are fouling and adjust it with the color tuner. There was some mild hesitancy at certain points, but over all a definitive step to wahoooo riding.

All the hard work is starting to pay off... however, I may still need to pull the carbs to do a throttle seal replacement. I think that may have something to do with the problem, but for now, I'm happy.

More tomorrow.

Frustration Mounting..

Okay, I've done just about everything imaginable to this bike. Here's a recap:

* Dyna coil and wire installation
* New plug caps
* Air filter
* Oil Changes (x3)
* Valve clearance
* Carb cleaning (x4)
* Carb boot mod and install
* Inline fuel filter
* Bench sync
* Gear oil change
* Valve cover paint
* Contact cleaner and dielectric grease on every conceivable connection
* Brush check and generator cleanout
* Manifold intake gasket replacement
* Throttle cable replacement
* Pilot screw replacement and re-seat
* Wax and polish and clean, clean, clean
* Morgan carb and color tune.

So here's my problem. Fouling plugs. No matter which way I adjust the pilot screw, I can't get the pretty bunsen burner blue we all know and love. I'm starting to run out of options of things to repair to get it running right.

Not to mention, I am having trouble with the idle now. Adjusting the idle screw has little to no effect on the idle. I'm wondering if maybe I can add a couple of washers to kind of move the spring forward that will allow more contact with the idle bar.

That is something I am going to look into today.

Anyhow, here are some pics of the fabrication of the carb boots.

First pic is of one of the old boots. Dimpled, hard in spots and difficult to get a good seal to the carb. Brand new, this little item costs 19.99, $11.00 for the bracket, and if I'm not mistaken, at least a buck or two for the screw. No one expects them to last forever, which is why, when I found the fab of the carb boots, and the fact they were only $3.87 + tax, it couldn't be beat.


Here it is, same size both in length and diameter (although, truth be told, the shiny metallic clamp came with the item) and nearly the same material. I suppose it doesn't matter which brand you use. Someone mentioned American Valve, another brand, but in this case, it's the size that's important.

The lip is a bit different, not that it matters, because it butts up to the edge of the airbox anyway. You'll want to remove one clamp.




There it is... the ominous black hole. I pulled the old boot off without removing the carbs. Call me a radical.










Here it is, the last hold out. I saved this one for last because I paid cash money to have it shipped to me. But, off it came, and on went the new boot.











A little WD40 on one end...













And here they are, 4 little ducks, all in a row. Has to be the easiest install of anything I've done on this bike.

For some weird reason, I thought once I got the boots replaced, the bike would run like a dream. Well, that's not true, at least so far.

I'm going to check in at xjbikes... hopefully someone will have an idea.

Hot stuff

Took the bike out for a ride tonight... yes, on the highway. Still lacking in throttle response, and can't get a lot over 70, but I did hit 70mph. That is a triumph, considering what this bike has been through. Still popping a bit, which usually means running lean, but some of the plugs are still fouling. I'm going to carbtune tomorrow, and quite possibly replace all of the carb boots with a nifty new fab from a flexible coupler from Home Depot. I had been running with one of the boots not making a very good seal (obviously a problem) and had read on xjbikes about a fab using a vinyl/rubber coupler that fits the carbs perfectly between airbox and carbs. All I did was remove the c clamps, remove the old worn out boot, fit this one in it's place (didn't even have to take the carbs off). Had to use a bit of wd40 to slip it into position, but wow, what a difference.

What I really need to do is try and stop burning myself. I burned my forearm today on the exhaust, then again tonight after I got back from the ride, touched my calf against it as well.

I tried colortuning one of the cylinders that keeps fouling, but even though I moved the screw all the way out then all the way back in again, I couldn't find the sweet spot. I'll keep trying. It's got to be there somewhere. I'll carb tune tomorrow as well.

It's a good thing my significant other is so understanding...

Stuff

So, the bike is running, although now I notice another of my carb boots needs replacement. I've been tooling around with only 3 carb boots fully attached! I'm surprised it runs at all.

Tried doing a carb tune on the bike this morning, but pretty poor response, what with that boot issue. Also did an oil change, changing out that oil filter that was soaked in gasoline.

I'm not going to be working on the bike for a few days, due to a personal issue (I prefer not to go into here). Suffice it to say, once I get that boot in place, I'll be back at it!

Talkin' 'bout my generator...

So, here's the inside of my generator cover. Those little posts are the "brushes" though why the designers didn't just call them posts is beyond me since I tried brushing my hair with them and got nowhere. Actually, it looks as if they are still in pretty good shape.

I keep learning little bits about the bike.

Things like, "Hey! Maybe you should be more careful with that gasket!: or "Hey, maybe you should change those tires!"

It's odd, but in reality, the cover and innards looked pretty darned clean. In the photos, however, I can see all the areas I should have cleaned a bit better.

Did some cleaning...

With the carbs off until I receive those manifold gaskets, the bike sure isn't going anywhere. So, I hauled it's carcass out of the garage and started doing some cleaning of the engine. Even though it looks better, I still have a long way to go. I kind of like the look of the silver against the black, so I am torn as to whether or not I should paint the engine.

I took the generator cover off just to have a look at the insides, but had no idea what I was looking at. The screws came out pretty easy; knock on wood. I know at some point I am going to have to get in there and do some tinkering, but for now, I think I'll just leave it well enough alone.

Come on Monday...