I told my friend this looked like a good bike, he bought it based on me saying we could sort out the backfiring and stalling issues. Now I feel responsible to make good on that but it's not going well. 1985 yamaha virago xv1000. Transistorized ignition, two hitachi cv carbs, vacuum powered fresh air system to reduce emissions. My first mistake was thinking this would be like working on a honda of an earlier vintage, boy was I wrong!
When I got the bike it would idle poorly and backfire a lot. The carbs sounded unbalanced, and if you opened the throttle it would die.
So far I have drained the carbs, supplied fresh gas to the fuel pump from an auxiliary tank. Checked to see spark at both plugs (the spark will jump a 1/4" gap), checked the vacuum lines and boots for leaks, disconnected the emissions system (not removed) and temporarily plugged the vacuum ports. Battery shows 12.6 volts after a charge and rest. But now it WON'T START, starter spins the motor, but it will only fire once or backfire once in several tries.
Tried to remove the carbs last night, but failed...did some more research (thankyou youtube posters) and planned to remove the carbs for cleaning tonight, wish me luck and persistence.
I thought I could at least get it idle poorly and go from there, but no luck.
Any suggestions of where to look would be most appreciated!
