Bruce1300
Member
I got a 2004 in late May with only 5,000 miles. I've already put on another 7,000 and thought the bike ran great with the exception of a quiver at idle. It got a little worse and was a little difficult to start of in first gear, so I changed the plugs and tried to sync the carbs. The net result is that the bike idles well and and runs even better.
Here is my possible problem: When syncing the carbs I used an older mercury MotionPro gauge which I've always used with a couple old XS 650s. The gauge is marked in two digit increments (10, 12, 14 etc). I believe these increments are centimeters of vacumn pressure and I would need to multiply by 10 to get mm. The idle was set to 1,100 by the in-dash tach. My first reading from cyl 1 to 4 was 23, 23, 16 and 22. This being a Gen 1 I focused on syncronizing to cyl 3. The adjustment screw bottomed out at a reading of 22.5. I was hoping to set cyl 3 to 25, which I believe to be 250 mm, I then set the other three cylinders to 22.5 to keep the four cylinders balanced. The motor ran smoothly and a short test drive proved to be great.
Shoulld I be worried about the cyl 3 adjustment being bottomed out and only at 22.5 or should I go back and try to back off the adjustment for cyl 3, but increase the idle to make it run at a reading of 25 and then sync the other 3 cylinders to 25. I am assuming that backing off the vaumn adjustment to cyl 3 would allow me increase the idle adjustment without going over 1,100.
It seems like it would be a balancing act that may be unnecessary if the throttle bodies are now in sync and it is running better than ever?
I would also like confirmation that the MotionPro gauge two digit number are centimeters.
Thanks for any info that will help.
Bruce Leinaar
Here is my possible problem: When syncing the carbs I used an older mercury MotionPro gauge which I've always used with a couple old XS 650s. The gauge is marked in two digit increments (10, 12, 14 etc). I believe these increments are centimeters of vacumn pressure and I would need to multiply by 10 to get mm. The idle was set to 1,100 by the in-dash tach. My first reading from cyl 1 to 4 was 23, 23, 16 and 22. This being a Gen 1 I focused on syncronizing to cyl 3. The adjustment screw bottomed out at a reading of 22.5. I was hoping to set cyl 3 to 25, which I believe to be 250 mm, I then set the other three cylinders to 22.5 to keep the four cylinders balanced. The motor ran smoothly and a short test drive proved to be great.
Shoulld I be worried about the cyl 3 adjustment being bottomed out and only at 22.5 or should I go back and try to back off the adjustment for cyl 3, but increase the idle to make it run at a reading of 25 and then sync the other 3 cylinders to 25. I am assuming that backing off the vaumn adjustment to cyl 3 would allow me increase the idle adjustment without going over 1,100.
It seems like it would be a balancing act that may be unnecessary if the throttle bodies are now in sync and it is running better than ever?
I would also like confirmation that the MotionPro gauge two digit number are centimeters.
Thanks for any info that will help.
Bruce Leinaar