Maxim rat?

[Taintedsaiden]

ok ok! To satisfy all of you curious cats, I am finally posting pictures of my J. Believe it or not, it looked much worse than this but running ok when I bought it.

Now, It runs fantastic! But still looks like a crippled dogs ass. I was at a local shop the other day oogling over some customs when the dealer commented about my "rat" bike. I hadn't even considered that before. It will never be pretty again with its tweaked frame and every body piece mangled; but how about expanding on the aesthetic deterioration? Anyone?

Now that I have your attention, Earlier this week I did a thorough carb cleaning with three boils two with the juice, the third with plain water, then the aerosol cleaner, then blasted the shit out of it with 125lbs of compressed goodness. Bike runs fantastic as expected. However. I checked the compression today for the first time (out of curiosity,) and found two things. 1, my right sparkplug is suddenly running super rich, perfect before the cleaning. 2, the cylinders tested at 100/107 with oil -Right and 102/109 -Left. Effed up right? Insight please if I have a problem. The bike has a bajillion miles on it, most unaccounted for because of meter malfunctions from before I obtained it, so I'm sure the lowness is normal... Or is it?

 

[xschris]

Have you adjusted the valves on it? With little change with oil then its valves worn or out of spec. But with lots of miles it could just be worn out. As long as it runs good just drive it and worry about a rebuild later.

 

[Taintedsaiden]

Cool cool. yes Ive adjusted the valves, then re-adjusted when the new shims didn't quite fit spec perfectly. After all measurements were to spec, I noticed a huge difference in exhaust note, (the valves were waaaaaaaaaaay to tight,) and a small jump in power, but I also noticed a hell of a lot more valve chatter. I realize its normal for these bikes, but I just feel like somethings off. The fact that my right plug is suddenly showing rich after my latest carb clean, and that my right exhaust pipe shows little in the way of exhaust while warming up compared to my left; It leads me to believe that something has to be wrong with the top end somewhere. Ive pulled the coils and they both function perfectly so I don't believe its a lack of strong spark. Oh well. I will probably just pull back on the air fuel screw and ride till she dies as you suggested.

 

[bentwrench]

I can never remember the right order for tuning, but I thought you should do a carb balance after a valve adjustment... not sure what order you did it in...

 

[bcware]

Yes, balance the carbs

 

[xschris]

yes yes yes