Setting Idle Speed (and backfiring)

[Jere]

Hi guys, been awhile since I've been on here.

Is there a specific style of tachometer that I need to check the idle speed and how do I hook it up to check?

What does the manual mean by the "high tension cord?" I'm assuming this s the cable that clips on to the spark plug?
sorry for such a newbie question.


I took the carburetor apart and cleaned it up and have no idea what position the idle speed stop screw was in. I also adjusted the valve clearances, but the bike still backfires on me (seems to run rather well though). I do hear a putter while idling. I just noticed that there's smoke coming out the front of the engine. Would this be the cause of the puttering (i'm assuming because of improper backpressure)? I'll adjust the bolts on the exhaust pipes.

Let me know what you think.

[geezer]

yeah you would be better off replacing those gaskets between the exhaust pipes and get some new screws instead of risking stripping or breaking one off in the head with the old rusty junk. yeah fix that and alot of your isues will go away

[jonathan180iq]

If you're lucky, those bolts are just loose and you don't have a bad gasket, or worse yet, a cracked head.

If tightening the bolts doesn't work, then, like Geezer suggested, remove the bolts and exhaust gasket and replace it with new parts, just to be safe.

www.ronayers.com is a good site for OEM parts. It also has a microfiche attached to so you see parts diagrams and everything.

[Jere]

Thanks for the info guys. I've tightened them to the specified torque (10 ft-lb) and the backfiring seems to have stop. There's still a puttering, but it seems to be performing ok.

The bolts are rusty as hell so I'm going to order the new ones and the gaskets soon and replace them.

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. I've ordered a few things (carb parts) from cheapcycleparts.com but the shipping to Canada is very expensive.

[blaine]

Originally Posted by Jere

The bolts are rusty as hell so I'm going to order the new ones and the gaskets soon and replace them.

When you replace the bolts,make sure you put anti-siege on the threads.They have a nasty habit of sieging in the head and breaking off.I replaced mine with studs to eliminate that problem.
:cool:

[Peachy140]

Im having the exact same symptoms. As a matter of fact Ive found the backfiring has gotten worse since the bike came out of the garage. It used to putter and backfire occasionally when decelerating, usually going down hil but now the backfiring is really loud, theres a huge bang when i turn the engine off and the revs are running kinda high.

They replaced the gasket (apparantly) and cleaned the carb. So what else could it be? What bolts were these that you were talking about?

[blaine]

Originally Posted by Peachy140

Im having the exact same symptoms. As a matter of fact Ive found the backfiring has gotten worse since the bike came out of the garage. It used to putter and backfire occasionally when decelerating, usually going down hil but now the backfiring is really loud, theres a huge bang when i turn the engine off and the revs are running kinda high.

They replaced the gasket (apparantly) and cleaned the carb. So what else could it be? What bolts were these that you were talking about?

The exhaust header bolts.If the exhaust is leaking at the head,it would cause your backfire,but not your fast idle.If you can't idle the bike down,it sounds like a vacuum leak to me.
:cool:

[Peachy140]

So definately an exhaust issue, which also explains why white smoke appears to be coming from the engine. Cool, ill use my newly acquired service manual to fix it myself rather than waste more time and money taking it back to the garage.

Thanks