Mike Mattia
thatonekidwhoneedshelp
so ive got a 1978 xs400E thats having some issues, not sure if they are all related. i have a parts bike which is all there. ive already swapped the engine out of it and put it in the working bike. the previous engine was smoking and singing like a song bird in the bottom end. these problems arose after the swap. valves are in spec, timing set properly, everything is as it should be mechanically. pictures below, engine sat for a few years and has roughly 14000 on it according to old speedo.
1. ive got a hanging idle when hot, when cold it comes back down no problem, it will hang around 3k when i pull in the clutch and roll to a red light after having held a steady rpm down the road, the problem will go away if i slowly let the clutch out while in gear at a stop, as the engine comes under load it will drop the rpm to idle. sometimes it idles and stays, other times it idles for half a second and then drops to around 600 or 700 rpm but usually doesnt die completely.
2. my left side cylinder is lean as hell, right side is nice and brown. im aware this and the previous issue are due to an air leak someplace.
3. at idle (1200-1400 rpm) while hot im losing my right cylinder. it sounds like a single cylinder and i can pull the right plug with no difference in sound whatsoever, this is how i know im losing the right cyl. i gain it back after idle no questions asked, i can pull the plug on the right while im riding and its obvious that im losing a cylinder.
4. my mixture screws dont seem to do a damn thing. ive blown the carbs out proper and hit all passageways with carb cleaner and air compressor. still acts the same.
5. while trying to adjust mixture screws one day i melted both coils simultaneously, which was baffling to me. i replaced with coils from parts bike, right side coils used to always get warm after a ride.
im the type to freak out when a problem arises rather then be able to sit and figure it out, so im kind of at witts end with this one. help would be greatly appreciated!
1. ive got a hanging idle when hot, when cold it comes back down no problem, it will hang around 3k when i pull in the clutch and roll to a red light after having held a steady rpm down the road, the problem will go away if i slowly let the clutch out while in gear at a stop, as the engine comes under load it will drop the rpm to idle. sometimes it idles and stays, other times it idles for half a second and then drops to around 600 or 700 rpm but usually doesnt die completely.
2. my left side cylinder is lean as hell, right side is nice and brown. im aware this and the previous issue are due to an air leak someplace.
3. at idle (1200-1400 rpm) while hot im losing my right cylinder. it sounds like a single cylinder and i can pull the right plug with no difference in sound whatsoever, this is how i know im losing the right cyl. i gain it back after idle no questions asked, i can pull the plug on the right while im riding and its obvious that im losing a cylinder.
4. my mixture screws dont seem to do a damn thing. ive blown the carbs out proper and hit all passageways with carb cleaner and air compressor. still acts the same.
5. while trying to adjust mixture screws one day i melted both coils simultaneously, which was baffling to me. i replaced with coils from parts bike, right side coils used to always get warm after a ride.
im the type to freak out when a problem arises rather then be able to sit and figure it out, so im kind of at witts end with this one. help would be greatly appreciated!
