Greetings from Vancouver BC

[nakedjordan]

Hey, my names Jordan and I recently bought 2 1979 XS400's! This will be my first road bike.. Before this I have only owned dirt bikes. So i'm pretty excited!

I plan to keep one mostly stock with a few minor changes and whatnot and make the other one a hard tail over time!
The one bike just needs a few parts to get running.. We drained the oil out of the second one and it was mostly gas with a bit of oil.. So i think we are gonna have to rebuild.

Anyway here are the bikes!

 

[logan]

welcome, lots of help here. there are a couple other B.C. boys here also! those bikes look like they have potential, good find!

 

[xschris]

Welcome! Good find!

 

[Arclight88]

Welcome, it's good to have a new member. Good to have another street rider! I look forward to your posts. I too am rebuilding a bike that leaks gas into the oil sump. I start the top end rebuild next week - if the darn parts show up!

 

[drewpy]

welcome Jordan, is that you puking?

 

[XS-Time]

Welcom from the island!
Yeah I'm not sure about that avatar. It makes me feel ill. Perhaps it just brings back bad memories.

 

[drewpy]

reminds me of the kids when younger, dad I feel....ugh ugh bl-ugh all over the place.

 

[xschris]

My son is 4 and he did that in a store a few weeks ago I was not happy.

 

[XS-Time]

I always found it funny that the kids would wake up , get out of bed, walk past the bathroom, down the hall with linoleum, stand at the doorway of our bedroom, call "Mom...Mom...Mom" till we woke up then say " I don't feel good" and thow up on our bedroom carpet.

 

[OleDoc]

welcome aboard.that avatar reminds me of the 12 pack process

 

[FlyingAnvil]

He was drinking American beer. Any updates?

 

[nakedjordan]

Haha it was the result of shotgunning 3 beers in a row. Lucky enough to get the picture!

I almost had the one bike started today.. Got the carbs cleaned out real good, new spark plugs, new oil/filter and what not.

For some reason both the bikes were missing the hose and banjo fitting that go from the tank to the carb.. I went to a bunch of shops and no one could get me one so we ended up making one ourselves (I still had the bolt that goes into the carb just not the fitting around it)
So hopefully next time I'm out at the shop I will get it running and I'll have an update!

Cheers

 

[OleDoc]

He was drinking American beer. Any updates?

maybe gennesee?

 

[nakedjordan]

hey guys just a quick update. I got the bike running and its goin good. Needs some new tires for sure cause they are old and hard so they don't grip to well haha

I'm gonna search into this but if anyone could throw some info my way if they aren't to busy that would be rad.

Today I went to ride so I turned the gas on and the choke on full, went to start the bike and within like 20 seconds I had a puddle of gas on the ground. The gas is coming out of my right air box. So I took both air boxes out and dried them and waited for all the gas to dry and the bike not to be flooded anymore. I went to start it again and it started but then stalled out..
Once I got the bike goin it kept trying to stall out and then once I stopped riding gas was coming out again..

What could be causing this? This is my first real experience with carb work but the carb is fully rebuilt with new jets and everything so I'm lost..
I turn the gas off everytime I stop riding too..

Anyway, thanks for reading and any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

[nakedjordan]

sorry, little more info I forgot.
I don't have an inline fuel filter (I haven't had time to grab one.)
and there is no gas in the oil.. that was one of the first things I checked.

 

[Arclight88]

When gas puddles out of the air filter it is almost always caused by the carb float valve sticking in the open position.

The lower portion of each carb houses a float, like in your toilet tank, which raises the float valve upward to shut off the flow of gasoline into the carb bowl. When that float stays down, the float valve is 'stuck' open and gas fills the bowl, overflows into your breather tubes, and out of your airboxes. It is also probably running through the engine side of the carb into the oil sump (check your oil for strong gasoline odor!)

Its and easy fix, shut off the gas, remove the carbs, clean the floats, bowls, and float valve. Inspect the floats themselves do not have gas in them via a break or a pin hole. If one or both has gas in it, it will need to be repaired or replaced.

Check the float valve point to make sure it is still in good shape - nice and pointy. If it a newer model it will be covered in a rubber like compound. Ensure that this rubber tip is good shape.

There are several good posts on this subject on this site. Also, check out member BCWARE's videos on carb maintenance...they are really informative!

Keep us posted.

 

[nakedjordan]

^ thanks, I have looked into all this and I'm gonna go work on the bike right now.

I'll update soon!

Cheers

 

[dO-bOy]

Hey. You're from vancouver and like beer, so I like you

 

[fc10a3]

I'm with do-boy. we should have a group ride this summer.

Do-boy u still live where you said you did. like 10 mins from me.

 

[dO-bOy]

Yes I do! Bike should be ready to roll end of this month. PM me your number and let's ride! That goes for anybody