Topic: How Do You Test For Spark From A Sparkplug?

[scottly]

Good idea, just using the overflow nipple rather than completely removing the drain screw! You don't have to leak gas in the bowls all over the motor!

[campbmic]

With choke off
#1 - Looks sooty and a bit damp
#2-#4 - Look sooty

With Choke On
#1 - Looks sooty
#2-#4 Look sooty but only a tiny little bit more white then previously

So I'm guessing #1 is running too rich, I've already leaned it out as much as I can with the air mixture screw. Do I need to put the slide higher or lower to make it leaner?

Later I'm going to be borrowing a manometer and actually synching the carbs correctly. I currently have 100 mains, do I need to go up a bigger size before I vacum synch the carbs? I have a 4 into 1 and emgo pods.

[scottly]

Black and sooty means rich, too much fuel! 2&4 look more white with choke on??? I think you may have reversed choke on for choke off. A friend of mine used to do it all the time with an XR200, and couldn't figure why it was running so rich!!
I would check the float levels with the tube before getting anal about sync.

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Are your mix screws on the pod side of the carb or the engine side?  If they are engine side, backing the screw out will add fuel to the mix.  If they are pod side, backing them out will add air.

[campbmic]

They are on the pod side and its backed out as far as it can go on #1 =/

[OldSchool_IsCool]

How well did the bike run on the stock airbox and filter?

[campbmic]

I bought it for $200 and it didnt come with pods or an airbox

[campbmic]

What if I just do plug chops and put the slide higher or lower until I find the right color sparkplug will this work?

[OldSchool_IsCool]

It's really not a trial and error kinda thing.  You need to be methodical in your approach. 

My advice would be to pull the carb bank again, pull the main jets and pilot jets and check that they are clear (both  end to end and cross ways through the emulsion tubes).  Use a nylon bristle from a brush to clean them.  Put all carb bits back into the body from whence they came.

Make sure all mains and all pilots are the same size and report those sizes here.  Double check the float heights.  Set the air screws to their stock setting.  Bench sync the carbs using the "flashlight" method.

Reinstall the carb bank.  Recheck your tappet clearances and your static timing.  Set your choke, cross your fingers and fire 'er up!

[w1sa]

The very next thing you should do is verify the fuel levels in the bowls. Use the method outlined above, with the bike sitting level. The fuel should come to about 1/8" below the body/bowl joint line. Once they are correct you can move on to other things with more certainty. If they are incorrect, you'll know to what degree the floats/valves need attention when you pull the carbs per 'Oldschools' suggestion.
 
Assuming the slides have been bench sync'd Ok, and everything else is also ok, it would work better now. But, if something else (eg fuel height) is (and remains) amiss, no degree of slide adjustment will properly compensate for allover performance and running.

[campbmic]

I'm just idling at 2k at this point. I haven't gotten to worrying about performance yet. #1 constantly has gas on it, no matter where I moved the slide. If I open the choke up a whole lot then there is a little less gas on number one.

I just pulled the slide needle to see if I didin't set it correctly, but its set just the same as all the others right in the middle. I'll put the slide back in and check the gas levels in the bowls.

They all have gas in them for sure but they might be at different levels I guess?

[scottly]

They all have gas in them for sure but they might be at different levels I guess?

Now you're getting it!

[campbmic]

Checked all of the gas levels. They were all the same, #1 was a smidge lower.
I don't really understand how having a high float level would cause gas on #1 plug anyways?

Any more ideas?

[scottly]

I don't really understand how having a high float level would cause gas on #1 plug anyways?

Any more ideas?

Carburetor 101.

Hey, you haven't gotten your stator yet, have you? What is your battery voltage under running conditions?
The black plugs you reported on 2 &4 are rich too, BTW

[campbmic]

The battery is decent, I would think if it had an effect on sparking it would effect them all equally. #2-#4 are all running on the rich side (black and sooty) its just #1 that is black and sooty and shiney. Its not oil because I'm not losing any oil and its not blue smoke.

I put a new plug in and the plug looks shiny and has gas on it but has no black soot on it? The exhaust is warm.

[scottly]

Sometimes it's hard to tell if the chicken or the egg came first: once fouled, plugs can imitate a rich mixture. If the exhaust on 3 is as warm or warmer than 2-4, with the new plug, I would go ahead and replace the 2-4 plugs, and see what happens...

[campbmic]

I meant to say that cylinder #2 through #4 (2,3,4) are all equally hot and sooty.

I just put a brand new plug in #1 and took it for a 2 mile ride. The sparkplug is shiny with gas but not sooty.

[fastbroshi]

  Just wanted to add here Mike came over yesterday and we swapped some parts and bs'ed for a bit, seems there might have been a misunderstanding about choke on/off.  Seems he was running the bike with the choke on all the time.  No wonder it wouldn't rev past 5k, he says!!!  He proceeded to ride home Superman style.
  
   He added that the plugs looked a lot better as well.  
  
  Mike when you get back home, before you mess with the jet needle settings, verify its current setting with that in the FAQ.  If it's at the stock setting, drop the clip one spot, raising the needle one spot in effect.   If your jets are stock 38s you'll need to go larger there as well.  It was popping a bit as the revs dropped ( I already told him this stuff, just repeating here for everyone reading).  
   
   Also wanted to add he called me from the road broke down with electrical problems from what he was saying, I think he's been into the regulator.  Someone with better electrical troubleshooting expertise can probably help him out here better than I once he reports back.