A long time ago, I had posted about bringing a parts bike XJ back from the dead and getting her running. It was nothing but a frame with an engine that was sitting in a garage for a few years.
I had been acquiring parts slowly while working full time and studying for certifications. Eventually, I got her running and in a rideable condition (with many setbacks along the way). I replaced so many things it's hard to keep track.
From memory:
- Rebuilt Front forks, replaced seals, filled with Heavy Duty fork oil.
- Rebuilt Front / Rear brakes
- Rebuilt Front / Rear Master Cylinders
- Replaced fuel pump
- Replaced fuel petcock
- De-rusted fuel tank
- Repaired faulty sections in the wiring harness.
- New battery, plugs, air filter, fuel lines, vac lines, oil filter, chain, sprockets
- Replaced rear shock with the ER6N shock.
- Fitted wheels with tubes and IRC GP Tires
After a lot of research and garage time, this is what I ended with:
There was a period of time I was chasing my tail trying to figure out a fueling issue and I had taken the bike to a mechanic. Long story short, I received the bike back with stripped idler gears and had hit a stop. I was pretty heartbroken at the time. I was hesitant about taking the whole thing apart to replace them. I did it anyway.
After putting everything back together, the bike wouldn't start. Nothing but a clunk.
Not good. Because I didn't check before taking it apart, I wasn't sure if this happened at the mechanic or my own hand. Regardless, my heart sank.
Then I found a donor bike on marketplace listed for $300 in running shape.
After arriving at the location I found that the bike was in less than desirable condition, but I figured I could use the parts and motor potentially. We jumped it with a car and I was able to hear the motor crank over. With 39k on the odo, it was lower mileage than the motor I had. Although, this one was sitting for quite some time.
At first, I simply swapped the motor over. I replaced some gaskets/seals, put a new clutch on it, swapped the sprocket, new plugs, and I was riding.
The bike ran, but not great. Low throttle response was not there and the bike would continuously sputter at low throttle. Anything past 1/4 throttle was fine. I used the carbs from my previous bike (which had been cleaned and reassembled). I ran a wire through all passages, set float heights (dry and wet), and still continued to have problems. Distressed, I abandoned working on the bike for a while.
Fast forward to current day:
Since the bike wasn't running great and I had already had the idler gears come in before I discovered the broken valves, I decided to tear it down and set everything properly. Replaced the idler gears (with associated gaskets, o-rings, etc.) and reassembled. During this time, I was heavily reading upon the carb cleaning and reassembly process. I discovered that I had missed the installation of a crucial component. When I had reassembled the slides, I hadn't installed the little black plastic piece that sticks on the bottom end of the needle underneath the c-clip and sits at the bottom of the slide.
I reinstalled this piece and tested the carbs on the bike. The idle ramps from like 800 to 3000 unless I hold the throttle steady. I tried to tune the pilot screws and set temps with an I/R thermometer but idle would still climb. (I'm open to help and suggestions)
I tore the carbs back apart, cleaning everything as I went, and reassembled properly. I set pilot screws to 2 1/2 turns out (full 360-degree rotation for each turn), set the fuel levels to 5mm on all carbs using the clear tube method and an auxiliary tank, and synchronized the carbs using the BB method.
As I have finished writing this, I am heading back into the garage to test.
