TimmyT
XS400 Addict
My '78 E is ready to go after an entire year of rebuilding! I am a novice and this is my first bike however I have trolled these forums enough to know and be comfortable with most of what im doing. I figured it would be smooth sailing after wasting a night attempting to fill it with fuel for the first time... there was a few leaks and I was not at all prepared. One shop towel handy was not enough...no o-rings handy, no bucket within arms reach
Anyway that got sorted the next day so i threw a new battery in it fully charged. All of the lights work, the horn ect. One small short in a rear signal which I have to repair was noted. Another Quirk which goes against the grain of that which I have read 100 times here, my headlight will turn on when the key is in the on position.... I thought it was not supposed to work until the bike was started? would this be a relay issue?
The real issue is that I cant get it to fire. There is definatley fuel flow, there is spark on both sides, valve clearences checked. I can hear the electric startor motor turning over (i assume this means starter relay is good). I tried all 3 choke positions with no luck, I also tried the kickstart with no desired result, Im not seasoned at kicking it over anyway yet. The closest thing to starting I get is a small backfire on the right side and if im real lucky a bit of smoke from the right side air filter.
Some notable changes are the aftermarket harley fx slip on exhaust and pod air filters, also its been re-jetted (cant remember what size jet but I will have that to post tonight)...needle height not raised ...yet. There is also a point when I put the wiring harness back in noting that I thought the wires from points were reversed from the P.O although Perhaps it was stock configuration...grey wire (right points) to left side ignition coil. Then the orange (left points) to right side ignition coil so I swapped those to make it left points left coil right points right coil. Since I have also read of another person finding the same reversed points to ignition coil wires although im not sure if I should have left the original points wiring setup.
Can anyone help me troubleshoot to get this thing fired up? Whats the deal with the headlight?
Anyway that got sorted the next day so i threw a new battery in it fully charged. All of the lights work, the horn ect. One small short in a rear signal which I have to repair was noted. Another Quirk which goes against the grain of that which I have read 100 times here, my headlight will turn on when the key is in the on position.... I thought it was not supposed to work until the bike was started? would this be a relay issue?
The real issue is that I cant get it to fire. There is definatley fuel flow, there is spark on both sides, valve clearences checked. I can hear the electric startor motor turning over (i assume this means starter relay is good). I tried all 3 choke positions with no luck, I also tried the kickstart with no desired result, Im not seasoned at kicking it over anyway yet. The closest thing to starting I get is a small backfire on the right side and if im real lucky a bit of smoke from the right side air filter.
Some notable changes are the aftermarket harley fx slip on exhaust and pod air filters, also its been re-jetted (cant remember what size jet but I will have that to post tonight)...needle height not raised ...yet. There is also a point when I put the wiring harness back in noting that I thought the wires from points were reversed from the P.O although Perhaps it was stock configuration...grey wire (right points) to left side ignition coil. Then the orange (left points) to right side ignition coil so I swapped those to make it left points left coil right points right coil. Since I have also read of another person finding the same reversed points to ignition coil wires although im not sure if I should have left the original points wiring setup.
Can anyone help me troubleshoot to get this thing fired up? Whats the deal with the headlight?
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