mcompton1973

Well, I will run some through her. I was planning to ride it to work today, so I guess I will Go ahead and grab some seafoam on the way, its about 50 miles each way. I will do that, and then I will ad some more when I let her sit for a couple of days with the bad weather coming as well.

I feel like the rest of the bike is in good running order. ALL the fluids were done, the progressive springs, new tires, the CLASS system working right. When I ride the bike, it feels strong, and smooth, and good...but the MPGs suck. part of that is the brakes which I will get figured out. I am a little afraid of seafoam right now since the previous owner said the carbs and bike was fine UNTIL he ran seafoam in the tank...lol. Then he pulled carbs I think 5 times before he decided to sell it to me. lol. I probably should pull spark plugs and check them...and check compression. I have not done either of those things.

The guy I got it from gave me the shop manual on a disk. He went through the carbs multiple times....but obviously something he did not get just quite right. (he was a member here and his trials were pretty well documented) Rear end I know is done. Calipers were "rebuilt" and new pads. I dont think they are de-linked and I dont think that he replaced any lines. That said, the fluid in the sight glass up front is nice and clean. I need to look at the back. I found some other posts that talk about opening bleed screws at different places to isolate the issues. I have not done that yet....but I will.

I never get fuel on my twinkie's they wouldnt taste as good. :-) You are right....Oklahoma roads are horrible....but I was on good interstate and Arkansas highways. I have not checked anything yet. You have to understand that I dont really know this bike that well yet. I dont know the fuel lines, I dont know where the fuel drain screws are. I dont know where the "twinkie" is. I am going to order that video on the carbs....Any other good resources I should check out on that?

OK. I need to know how to proceed on the mileage issue. I am going to have to fix the dragging brakes no matter what. I think they affect mpgs some.....but not 15 mpg worth. I dont know what makes THAT big of a difference. The bike is so much fun....but....stopping every 80 miles to fuel is a pain. Here is what I am thinking: Option 1: I take the carbs off the bike. They have already been cleaned with new parts multiple times by the PO...but he never felt he had them right. We have been operating under the assumption that there was just a stuck float, and the transportation kind of fixed that. But here I am trying to figure out the mpgs....so maybe something is still not right from what he was doing before. Might end up being relatively easy, and a lot of the cleaning has been done already. Option 2: I have a parts bike. Its same year. had 67k miles on it when the stator went out 4 years ago. I could pull those carbs off and start fresh trying to rebuild, clean, adjust etc etc and see if that fixes the mpg issues. At least I could ride the bike while I am getting them sorted.

470 miles today. Couple of things. 1. MPG still suck. about 24 average. Low of 21. High of 26. Speeds between 55 and 75....most of it around 65-70 2. Bike is running cool. Now....it was only 65 today....so I dont know if that is it...but temp gauge was pointed downward between startup temp and straight out....and I thought normally they liked to be a little warm. 3. I could sometimes smell raw fuel....but I never saw any under the bike or anything...so not sure...couple be obviously related to the mpg 4. I had hours and hours of boring interstate to ride...then about 2 hours of fun in the Ozarks......except it rained the whole time I was on fun roads. I am surprised at how solid it felt in the rain (wasnt POURING.....but it was raining and wet...I was probably more cautious than the bike required. 5. I am still getting used to the bike...but man it just makes me feel confident. It just always goes where I want it to. So much fun. 6. I took a cell phone charger to plug in the cigarette lighter, the lighter worked a week ago....today when I put the charger in it had a small spark, then I couldnt get it to work. I am guessing I blew a fuse, but dont know why.

I am probably going to ride it about 400 miles today the way it is. Get a better idea on MPGs and stuff for today....then I will have to mess with brakes this weekend. I was "told" it had rebuilt calipers and new pads....I dont know what condition the lines are in or anything else....so I will have to do some digging I think

you are talking about 9/10 of a mile on yours....and I am only getting 2/10 or 3/10....so I feel like that is not good at all. lol. First attempt was 3/10, then 2/10 twice, then 3/10....maybe just a little longer on the 4th try...that was the slightly downhill.

from 35mph I tested it 4 times and its dark....but I believe 2 on relativly flat....once on slight uphill, once on slight downhill. I got between 2/10 and 4/10 of a mile from coast to so slow I had to put feet down.

yes, one handed is fine...its not locked up or anything....but there seems to be some drag. I cant "spin" it like a bicycle tire or anything. of course...I dont know if I am supposed to. lol

Got it up on the center stand. brakes ARE dragging! Both front and back turn...but I can hear a little metal on metal sound. now, how do I fix it? lol.

This makes me think of something else.... What MPG does the bile like to be run at? When do you shift and what RMP range is best? I dont want to lug it....but it runs much higher RPMs than the bikes im used to owning before.

OK, Any tips/tricks on this? I will try to do it tonight. I am (hopefully) going on a 6-7 hour ride tomorrow. I will deal with the low mpgs for now...I cant think that it will HURT anything, just my wallet.

Yes in 5th gear. I did not think about ethanol in the fuel. How much difference can that be?

The good news is.... I got the carbs sync'd today...and the idle adjusted right. Sync the carbs was WAY more work that it needed to be. Some links and directions have the banks on the wrong place for my bike. I have an '86....so some of the directions are probably for the older bike. But I have 1 and 2 on the LEFT side of my bike. 3 and 4 on the Right side, and within 1/2 of that is the one that sync's left side to the right side. Once I really understood it all, it was all good. I am not 100%, but I am 95% and the idle now when hot is about 1,000 rpm. Bike is MUCH quicker off the line than before. I managed to burn my hand a couple of times...fun fun. Now, the concern. I rode it for a while. About 20 miles at 65-67 mph (about 3,600 rpm). Then about 30 miles at 55-57 (about 3,000 rpm) then the last 20 at 65ish again. Had 2 stops. My mpg was about 27. Now....to be fair...I know I need to average it over much more time riding to get a better idea...with only 70 miles, the variance in how full the tank was and stuff can make numbers skewed...but that still seems really low. Any thoughts?

ok, so I WAS adjusting the sync not the idle today. lol. It looks like the idle screw adjusting would be a Phillips and from the pictures it looks like the screw driver would be pointed upwards to make the adjustment? I will look at this closer tomorrow and try to compare it to my bike.

Let me see where I get this weekend...If I do not make good progress, I will take you up on that!!!

That would be awesome if you dont mind. I am visual. I live in a little town called Castle, OK I work in Sand Springs, OK which is basically Tulsa. I also have business in Cassville MO and working on some other small towns in MO. I will make a trip up through Joplin sooner than later once I can get the bike where I am really comfortable....and I am getting there.

Today was the first time I was able to pull the side panels and really look at the vents etc. Got it nice and hot...parked it and took a 15 minute break. Started fine. Rode home and parked it, let it idle while I pulled off side panels etc. there was a drop or 2 MAYBE of fuel that was in the vent tubes...I will keep an eye on it....but I am not worrying about it anymore. I was going to adjust the idle speed on the carbs, but I am need a better picture of where the idle adjustment screw is. I turned what I thought was it (based on picture from the digital service manual....which just isnt clear at all) pretty sure that it was the sync screw on the left side for adjusting the left bank and right bank of carbs...and that is why it wasnt doing much. lol.

Crazy It was 92 here yesterday.

No, I was serious....the hahaha was....maybe I should know what it was I was buying and how to use it before I dropped $130 on it. I had a tooth pulled Wednesday that had some serious complications, so I am not sure I will get to the garage today....but hopefully by tomorrow I can get to work on it.

Well, I am amassing my gear. I bought the LS2 Strobe in white off Ebay, it just got here. I have my combat boots which are heavy leather, protection for the ankle etc. Now I need to find gloves, and mesh jacket and over pants for the Summer. I will probably switch to leather and chaps in the winter. In the summer there are times I would like to ride it to work, and my daily "uniform" if you will is a polo and shorts. So if I can wear protective gear over that, would be better than changing whole outfits probably.

I got my CarbTune today.....now, to figure out how to use it. HAHAHA

I didnt realize you were so close. Heck yeah, I will come up that way once I think I have the carbs dialed in a little better. 5 guys burgers are good.

I am not going anywhere today, had a tooth pulled. Lucky I can do this through the clouds in my brain. What is in Joplin?