imported post
I just bought a 78 GL1000, it was cheap and in need of some work. I've got some minor electrical problems if anyone knows of a place to get schcematics but my question here is about the rough idle and hard starting.
I'm not new to carb'd engines but this is a bit different then a car. The previous owner said he had just "rebuilt and balanced" the carbs which means he messed around with them until he could get it to idle on it's own. It starts very hard. It will stall the starter sometimes then catch and try to fire. When it does this it cranks really easily. Once I do get it started it willnot run on it's own with out alot of choke (it was 110 here today) and thenit pops out the exhaust. Inspecting the plugs I find #1 and #2 black with carbon (not burnt oil) and #3 and #4are dark brown. I know nothing about these carbs but did manage to find the idle mixture screws which were out 3 turns. This seemed excessive so I set them all at 1 1/2 and it idled a bit better, or at least on it's own. Using starting fluid I have found vacuum leaks on #3 and #4 carbs so I think the idle was set too rich to compensate for the leak. But these leaks appear to be at the air box so I'm not sue if my thinking is flawed.
My question is: Do the condition of the plugs point to carbs being out of sync or should I be looking at the carbs individually for stuck floats etc. I've got a Haynes repair manual coming but if there are any sites with good info I'd appreciate the links.
Thanks
Brian
I just bought a 78 GL1000, it was cheap and in need of some work. I've got some minor electrical problems if anyone knows of a place to get schcematics but my question here is about the rough idle and hard starting.
I'm not new to carb'd engines but this is a bit different then a car. The previous owner said he had just "rebuilt and balanced" the carbs which means he messed around with them until he could get it to idle on it's own. It starts very hard. It will stall the starter sometimes then catch and try to fire. When it does this it cranks really easily. Once I do get it started it willnot run on it's own with out alot of choke (it was 110 here today) and thenit pops out the exhaust. Inspecting the plugs I find #1 and #2 black with carbon (not burnt oil) and #3 and #4are dark brown. I know nothing about these carbs but did manage to find the idle mixture screws which were out 3 turns. This seemed excessive so I set them all at 1 1/2 and it idled a bit better, or at least on it's own. Using starting fluid I have found vacuum leaks on #3 and #4 carbs so I think the idle was set too rich to compensate for the leak. But these leaks appear to be at the air box so I'm not sue if my thinking is flawed.
My question is: Do the condition of the plugs point to carbs being out of sync or should I be looking at the carbs individually for stuck floats etc. I've got a Haynes repair manual coming but if there are any sites with good info I'd appreciate the links.
Thanks
Brian