yet another problems thread

a1steaksauce

XS400 Enthusiast
Messages
39
Reaction score
0
Points
6
Location
Portland,OR
I decided to start a new thread because the previous posts on my last thread were a bit misleading-

So my bike would at first start to die when I put it in gear and would have to feather the throttle to keep it alive (would idle fine in neutral). Furthermore, I would have to rev super high to get to reasonable speeds within certain gears and the bike sounded like it was only firing half the time.

I narrowed it down to the clutch or compression issues (I changed spark plugs, cleaned carbs, tested the tuning, synced carbs, and probably more)

I rode it around despite its issues about 3 times and now it won't even idle in neutral properly. Therefore, I was wondering if somehow the clutch could affect the way the bike idles in neutral.

Furthermore, I haven't been able to test the compression when hot because of starting issues, but when testing compression cold, I got a mere 75psi, but equal on both sides. I want to say that I just had the compression gauge not as tight as I probably should have, just because I'd rather not tear the whole engine apart.

I plan on soaking the pistons in some mystery oil/acetone mix for a month

Any help or previous, similar experiences would be extremely helpful.
Thank you to the community
 
Last edited:
The least compression should be is around 120 psi. Max is about 160 psi. Always do a cold test. Have you set the valves yet?
 
I haven't adjusted my valved yet.
I checked the clearances about 2 months ago and they seemed fine, although that might not be the case anymore.
Should that be the first thing I check?
 
I would check again. There are threads on valve setting in the forum as it can be done wrong causing issues.
 
Back
Top