Girlfriend just bought an '83 Maxim 400 (XS400K)

[Dirk Squarejaw]

My girlfriend bought an '83 Maxim 400 for $250 off of Craigslist and its clean overall for being 25yo, but had sat for a few years and needed the carbs cleaned. So I disassembled them and dipped them overnight and they are partially reassembled. However.......

I found a PDF manual online and downloaded it. This manual has some masochistic way to set the floats which includes mounting the carbs, filling them with gas, measuring the height of gas in a tube connected to the drain screw holes, find out their wrong, remove carbs, remove bowls, adjust tangs, and over and over until their right. These carbs are a pain to remove and I'd really like to reinstall them ONCE.

BTW, the bike is all stock. I saw the thread a little ways down about floats, but I didn't know if the settings would be the same for the 83 as the 78.

Anyone have a "normal" float height measurment that I can set them to?

Also, how many turns out for the idle air screws? A good baseline setting would be great!

[Paul Mc]

You could set the float height/fuel height with the clear plastic tube method, but do it on a workbench and not mounted on the bike? Got to be better than fitting and taking off a lot?

I don't know how many turns, but as a starting point I'd go for 1½-2 turns out from fully in (sort of a universal setting).

[Gnash]

You can actually get to the air mix screws with the carbs on, through the airbox. It's a bitch, but once you get a flathead on the slot your in. I start at 1 turn and go from there. Between 1 and 2 turns. I have never adjusted past 2 turns. Man, the floats are a bitch. I actually have a friend who adjusted those for me with this carb tool that looks like a couple thermometers for two carbs. I could never get it right by just guessing by bending the tab on the floats.