RyGuy Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Hello all! First the good news....MY BIKE HAS COME ALIVE! :D after buying and installing some carb kits i got from siriusconinc (Thanks to drewpy for the very helpful link!) the carbs on my 78 xs400 are now in working order and the bike now starts and stays on for more than 2 seconds Now the "not so good" news... The bike turns over and idles, but the idle speed rises, very slowly, from about 1200 rpm to 2000 rpm over the course of about a minute and continues to rise at this rate. With my limited (but ever expanding!) knowledge of my bike, i assume that this can be fixed by adjusting and fine tuning the idle/air screws on each of my carburetors. But, by all means, prove me wrong if theres something else to be done. Another thing I've noticed is that after I've started the bike and its had time to warm up, white smoke starts to emit from both exhaust pipes, with significantly more smoke coming out of the left side. I dont believe its water vapor due to condensation, because it doesn't dissipate quickly like vapor, but rather clouds and rises upwards. My first thought was that oil was somehow being burned, but i always thought that smoke indicative of oil burning had a bluish tint and smelled, well...like oil. Yesterday (the day of the bikes rebirth) I performed MY first oil change on the bike. The "oil" that I drained out of it looked and smelled like a 50/50 mixture of oil and petrol. I assumed this was due to the leaky carbs that had gone unfixed until i bought the bike. I replaced the old oil with 1.5 liters of 20W-50 oil, recommended by the bikes repair/maintenance manual, and .5 liters of and oil treatment substance recommended by my mechanic (According to the repair manual the oil pan holds just over 2 liters of oil). Could the change to new oil be responsible? If not, while the bike runs theres a scratching sound that comes from the engine that sounds like a metal whisk being stirred around in a metal pot. Could it be a problem with the head/head gasket? Truth is i really dont know, and cant afford another trip to the mechanic on a college students budget. ANY input/advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! Ry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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