Paulwhite

well the carb is normally set to the engine and because every engine is slightly different the carb will be slightly off but its an easy fix especially when you compare it to an engine swap lol if you warm up the engine then go on a road try and hit top speed then when u get back take ur spark plugs out (front and back) and post a picture up then i can see what the carb is up to and if it needs adjusting. could also explain why it sounds a bit weird. but sort that spring out. it should be as tight as you can get it (and its really tricky to put back on tight) i found the best way was to take the carb off and undo the bolt to the round bit that ur throttle connects to (but dont take it off!) and twist it round so that it tightens the spring, then do up the bolt and put back together. its fiddly and will probably take 2 - 3 attempts but it will sort it out. then when you get a pic up of ur spark plugs i can go through what you need to do to ur carb.

if its not running properly i.e feels slow, sluggish or just not right then give me a bell and i can tell you how to sort ur carb might need doin but might not. glad you have sorted it m8 now all you need to do is get it re- registered with the new engine then sort the piston rings on the old engine lol then you can sell that one but yeah nice one m8.

hit it with a hammer! it dont screw into the joint its just straight through! so give it a good whack and it should come out and il give you mine for nowt! just pay for postage and package done.

if you get a socket set on it and slide a metal pipe over the handle (to make the handle longer) then put ur hand on the end of the metal pipe ul find that its alot easyer to undo realy tight bolts either that or ul take the head off the bolts lol thats what i normaly do when its way too tight to undo it normaly.

lmfao but yeah (cough) you can clean the air filter in warm soapy water then dry it out for a couple of days then soak it in somethin .....think its either oil or fuel... im not sure on that one lol but ur probably better off buying a new oil filter. if it starts 1st time then ur battery should b fine so good luck m8

i ment cut the bolt off. and i did mean a blow torch but couldnt think of the name earlyer lol and if your in need of that bendy bit for the exhaust (think its the link to the rear exhaust that goes between the head and exhaust) iv got an old one in one peice if you want it just give me the dosh for p+p and its urs m8, with reguards to the last bolt ur better off takin the shifter arm off to gain access then soak it in wd40 over night then get a decent socket set on it, should do the job and last but not least iv sorted my engine out on monday and didnt need to take the engine out so iv now got an xv 125 virago engine with dragstar heads and it runns pretty sweet . just put the straight through exhaust on and jetted the carb today to see how it runs race- tuned lol.....beefy!

lol put it in 2nd gear and get ur m8 to sit on it to hold it steady thats assuming the chain is on

yeah you need to stop the sprocket from moving lol just get a freind to put the back brake on while you undo what u need to

ahh yes the infamous dragstar bolts. i just about managed to get a spanner on the bolt of mine and it came off with a bit of gentle force, but if yours are really screwed then get a hacksaw on the bolt heads and chop them off then when your exhaust is off you can get a decent set of monkey grips on them and slowly undo them, there is a little trick with a bunson burner, if you heat them up then let them cool down (dont put water on them) then the rust should come loose just enough for you to take them out. but ur best bet is to get them out any way possible then buy new ones to replace them. nearly every other bolt snaped or seized on mine when i took it appart seems to be same with alot of other xvs 125's

not sure about the crush washer but you should b able to re-use it if not check out wemoto they have a big parts list so might b lucky. and i hope your doing a little more than just changing the oil if its been stood a while, youl probably need to either clean or replace the oil and air filter, get new spark plugs, and might need a new battery, then you will have a better chance of getting it started up 1st time

yeah iv tried karen a while ago when i was trying to fit the dragstar heads onto the xv engine but no reply yet lol but on further thought advanced timing is not really worth it on a 125cc (unless your racing) and is a little beyond my skills. so iv just sorted out the timing so its set properly and re-jetted the carb to accommodate the straight through exhaust its helped out loads, iv now got tones of torque and it seems to pull allot faster than b4 but iv got to get it mot'd b4 i can carry out any decent speed tests. but all seems well and the dragstar heads make a noticeable difference. so im happy .........for now

measure the hole in the boot and the bottom of your carb to see if they match, there shouldnt be anymore than 1mm difference between them. if there is then you have the wrong boot. have you tried getting a small thick elastic band and put that on the carb then try to slot the whole thing back into the boot? the elastic band needs to be a tight fit otherwise if it gets dislodged it will get sucked up by the engine.

hi all im gonna go play with an xv virago engine with xvs dragstar heads (125cc) and was wondering if anyone knew about advanced ignition timing? iv read its supposed to allow the pressure of the combustion cycle to hit maximum on the power stroke therefor increasing efficiency and supposedly power / torque and lowering emissions but comes at a price (harder starting and choppy low revs) anybody got any tips or views on this matter? could do with some help or ideas of how to go about it. im going to post my findings once iv had a play but im hoping to gain just a little more efficiency which would result in a little more power ......hopefully lol

lol well just goes to show how stupid they are ! even if they did manage to get the chains off the bikes how would they get them out of the garden???? ask superman to throw them over the fence for them? lol but yeah glad to know they will get whats coming to them (just try not to get urself into too much trouble m8 ) if it was me id grab him tie him up shove him in the back of the car and go for a long drive to the middle of nowhere and drop him off. let him think about what he has done whilst he is trying to find his way home

mint il have 3! ( pulls a wad of fluff out of his pocket ) nice looking bike! do you get the suit and helmet to go with it? i wouldnt mid havin one even if i just put it in the living room and looked at it lol, just goes to show how good technology has become since the original tron was made.

thought they would, now they know whats there. its good that the police were only 5 min away normally they take up to half an hour and by that time there no use at all! dont suppose you saw where they got in? could do with making it harder for the little ba****ds to get in, or better yet out! id suggest setting up an infa red night camera inside the garage/shed where ur bikes are that way you defiantly know that youl get a good picture lol either that or take the lens cap off next time (lets hope there isnt a next time!) but yeah if you defiantly know that its that lad then hope you give him the blocking of his life but make sure its him cause you dont want to get the wrong person.

well... iv actually managed to fit the heads on and sort the timing out by using the list iv made and seeing when the spark plug sparks, and all is well! im quite surprised how well its worked out considering all iv got is some spanners and a ratchet set still a couple of kinks to sort out but it starts, runs and drives really well i dare say its slightly better with the new heads but yeah im gonna have a play later on in the week to see if i can smooth it out a little better cause at the end of the day it was just a good estimated guess to where the sprocket should go on the chain in relation to the timing on the engine to the timing on the heads. so yeah il keep everyone updated when i get some work done.

im guessing no one is sure to post a reply so im gonna go and have a fiddle

you could try putting a little oil into the spark plug hole on each cylinder b4 you try and start it (1st thing in the morning) to see if its ur piston rings, if it starts then you know you need new ones. but get a compression check done to double check.

soz i thought you were talkin about that war veteran bloke who phoned the police 5 times cause some youths were in his shed pinchin, but all he got was "im sorry but all our units are unavailable" so when he phoned up for the 6th time he said that the youths were in his shed nicking stuff and that he had a gun and was going to shoot them, then 3min after he put the phone down 2 riot vans, armed police and a couple of dog units showed up. but he got done for waisting police time. yeah i see where ur coming from, if you "booby trap" your fence then you will get bent over by the police if someone gets hurt. i still like the electric fence idea you know the ones you see in a field to keep horses in. they come keen!!! and mix that with a trellis, put some signs up and ul b fine

probs best getting new chain and sprockets as you dont know how long they have been on for plus you can compare the old ones to the new ones to see how worn they are, but is the back wheel all the way to the end of the swingarm? have you tightened up the chain? if you cant tighten the chain any further then you will definatly need a new chain and probably sprockets but hard to tell without taking a look

hi there im putting the dragstar 125 heads and cylinders on an xv virago 125 engine too see what happens they fit perfectly but the timing of the xvs heads is different to the xv all i need to know is if this is in order or if its wrong i.e the valve opens or closes b4 it gets to tdc or bdc. tdc = exhaust valve closed - air valve opens - piston goes down bdc = air valve closed - piston goes up = compression tdc = spark - piston goes down bdc = exhaust valve opens - piston goes up cheers .Paul.

good luck lol iv just swapped the heads on mine and iv got to re-do all the timing but yeah just hope there isnt anything wrong with this one

oh and forgot to mention if you go to the dealer for parts as long as there in europe then u should get them in a week, if there closer then say 2-3 days but if they need to make them then ur gonna be waiting a while. but pistons and rings (assuming ur getting the pistons with rings on them) should only take 2-3 days to get to u. and last but not least if you take the bike into the mechanics striped ready for the job it will cost less and it should take 1-2 hours for a qualified mechanic to do it, so double check the invoice. Going by how much parts cost and the labour charge at the cmc nearest me your looking at around the £140 mark for parts and labour to replace the pistons, (thats £40 per hour for 2 hours and £60 for your pistons)

hi again soz about not replying the site was playin up lol a simple test to see if its ur valves or piston rings is a compression check then do it again but put oil in the cylinders if the compression goes up then its ur rings if it dont go up by much then slowly goes down then its ur valves. if its your valves then ur in for a whole world of trouble! i tried to check mine the other day but the valve covers were seized tight and i couldnt take them off to save my life. and you dont need to take the engine out, the cylinder bolts have enough room to just slide out then there is plenty of room to slide the cylinder off the piston. its quite daunting doing it for the 1st time and it is a fairly big job but trust me its dead simple and should only take 2-3 hours per cylinder (max!) but thats just how long it took me going at a snails pace and having a fag and brew every 5 min lol but if you dont feel confident enough then probably best to get a mechanic to do it, or watch ur friend and learn (personally i learn better doing it myself) so yeah let us know whats happening and good luck m8. hopefully 6th time lucky at putting up this post!!!!!!!