float height

[a1steaksauce]

I'm trying to adjust my float height on a 81 heritage xs400 (SOHC)
Which tab am i supposed to fool around with to get back to normal?
There is tab that is right above the float pin that I have screwed around with and now the minimum float height is much higher. Furthermore, the brass tang for adjusting the max float height seems to not really bend and i'm afraid to put more force on it.

What is the minimum height supposed to be and what is the max? I'm currently running pods and straight pipes(how the bike came) and I'm hoping that I can at least get the stock numbers. I know the max is supposed to be 26mm (mine is currently at about 32mm)

what am i doing wrong here? there also seems to be two steel wires coming from the float pin that are on top of the brass adjuster that might have to do with something? please help!

 

[a1steaksauce]

This starts way back. I've tried quite a bit of things and it seems to only make things worse because of my bad methods.
So I first had idling issues and hanging throttle issues. I couldn't hold an idle for longer than 3-5mins continuously and my throttle would hang for about 4 seconds even after letting go. I knew that my jetting was ok, definitely not bad enough to be this bad. Thus, I thought it was either my carbs being out of sync or my float height being misadjusted.
So I bench synced my carbs (pretty damn accurately this time around and saw how out of sync it was due to my friend trying to ear sync it). Then, I checked the float height. The online forums said that it was to be 26mm. My float was 26mm at the resting position (float being slightly depressed). However, it was 32mm when it was fully reversed, which was the way most of the people in the forum measured their float height.
I tried to get it close to it. It led to me leaving the float at about 22mm in resting position and 26-27mm in the fully reversed position. I tried to start the bike and it wouldn't start. So I then just put it back to the original position, however, it wasn't exactly accurately done because the adjuster tab got kinda screwy from when I messed with it, but it was within 1-2mm of the original position). It fired immediately and revved like crazy because the throttle was slightly stuck. Anyway, this got the bike pretty warm because I don't really have a reliable kill-switch on my bike and had to manually starve the carbs of air. At this point, the bike would only start on half-choke. It would immediately die in full choke and also in no choke. (I tried to ride it around and when i took off the choke while throttling, it was fine, but once the rpms dropped it never recovered and the bike just died.)
I tested for airleaks around the carb/engine manifold, but the idle was never exactly super smooth so I didn't really notice rpm changes (I don't have a speedometer or rpm gauge on the bike).
What should I do here? I don't want to start syncing the carbs with a manometer in this condition. Should I try to screw with the float settings again?

 

[xschris]

If you have brass floats you set them to 26mm height ( center tang) foam floats are 22mm (center tang) You should never touch the outer tab as that's just for keeping the valve in place for when the bowls are empty. Pods and straight pipes are a bad setup with these bikes. A carbs sync with a manometer is a must. Make sure your pilot mix screws are set to at least 3 turns out to start with.

 

[a1steaksauce]

thanks for the reply chris. I'm planning on doing yet another ultrasonic carb clean, putting slightly bigger jets (running 137.5 with pods and straight pipes and I think I'll try using 145s and see just how rich they are), changing the spark plugs, and syncing the carbs. However, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to set the float to 26mm when I have to measure the float height upside down. No matter how much I adjust the center tab, if I adjust it at this position(which is what people on this forum tend to generally think is the best method), the float height doesn't change at all.

 

[NewHavenMike]

I use the enrichener/choke every time to start. My bike needs a minute or two to get warmed up, EVEN in the summertime. The idle will start to rise around 2000rpm and then I can take the enrichment off. The bike shouldnt start, or should be a little difficult to start without the choke.

Measuring float and adjustment is super easy, get a damn ruler lol. Floats install one way, not sure why you are reversing them?

The float tang rests on the spring loaded pin on the needle valve, if that pin pushes into the needle, you need new ones.

Dont bother buying those massive jets either. Test the jets you have now. Ill take a guess and say that 145s will be too big, considering I run 130s and it rips..

You will get tired of straight pipes real fast, trust me