small issue...need input

PLUMMEN wrote:

keith1 wrote:

PLUMMEN wrote:

check cam chain tension and or synch carbs would be a starting point.

if it isnt the chain, those carbs are going off to george faster than you can say "clean and right".....with an 8 week lead time , i want to be riding first weekend in april thats nice........no sense going for the dirt nap with your pockets full, wont do ya any good....lol...

no danger of that happening to me i work very hard at staying broke!:laugh:

nahhh....it isnt hard work..just point and click on buy and see cart......:laugh:

timebomb33 wrote:

one other spot to look could be the starter clutch if it is staying engaged it will make a really loud grinding noise as well. also check your cam chain tension as well as a few other people have said to check all you have to do for that is to roll the motor over to top dead center on compression and then back off the adjuster bolt and let it take up any slack if you don't here any sound from the tensioner pull it out and double check it's function. you wont need any extra hands because you set it without rotating the motor once it is at t.d.c. if the motor still has it's kicker pull the starter motor out and fire it up so it takes the starter drive out of the equation.

hey tim,
im running the ape manual tensioner....i m going to re-adjust fri aft or the weekend....im gonna roll it over a few times via the 17 mm and re-tighten....if it was the starter clutch, wouldnt i hear a hint of it above say like 1500 rpm? motor sounds top notch above that point and revs well....what i m hearing is definitely coming from the center of the motor....it is not eminating from one extreme side or the other....when i bought this bike it had a noise inside the starter clutch case and it stuck out like a sore thumb....i have since replaced the springs,and rollers, etc.....thanks for your input..
just thinking out loud a little....thanks everybody...i have my fingers crossed on cam chain adjust....

keith1 wrote:

...running the ape manual tensioner...going to re-adjust...gonna roll it over a few times via the 17 mm and re-tighten...

As probably already known ---
When setting the tension, be sure crankshaft has been rotated forward (never backward, not even a little) and stopped at TDC (TDC being the position with most slack in rear run of camchain).

Good Luck!

well it aint the tensioner....put motor at tdc for 1 and 4....tensioner turned real easy by hand ...turned it in about 4 turns...fired it up ...
cam chain is o k but it still wont idle right...also starts hard even with the choke...takes forever to get to the point where i can turn choke fully off......it will idle at 2k but if i start turning idle adjuster down, when it gets to about 1500 it just starts falling off...sounds like crap and dies....when i have been running it a while it will semi idle, but sounds like shit...there is definitely something wrong in idle circuit
from 18-2000 rpm if you rev it, it revs freely and sounds excellent...no farts no stumbles....
i m gonna yank carbs this weekend...i have to at least give em a shot before i send them out...
when bike was apart, i went up one size on pilots
but they were way too rich so i put old ones back in....i did change out the pilot screws with some k and l ones i had....i noticed the
screws had a different taper than the old ones..i didnt think it would matter...but it might....gonna put old ones back in, check for rough synch, give em a once over and probably end up sending them out anyhow!! funny thing is these carbs actually ran pretty good before.... .....thanks...keith

If not already checked, another possible reason for the reported symptoms could be that the advancer unit is sticking and needs cleaning and lubing so it will immediately return to idle position when it's supposed to.

Good Luck!

Keith, hesitant to offer, but... the chicklets which locate camchain rollers and the tensioner shoe/roller are different. the two which locate the shoe/roller pin being larger than the ones which position the cogged rollers. if that pin was free to roam it would do so under light load. and probly cause tensioner to be at end of travel. a manual tensioner would have no such limits. tho would be difficult to read. If your' aware of this. dis-regard. the wear limits of stock cam chains are (according to manual) phenominal.and while cam timing would suffer should'nt be excessivly noisy. One can't expect a 30 year old motor to sound like a sewing machine. by the same token you should be able to idle @ 1k w acceptable noises.worn clutch basket/primary gear, typical. since your' motor is fresh, you might re-install stock tensioner, adjust, lock and remove. and see where set point is. Bum cogs sing like cannarys, cam chains worn beyond tension Tinkle,clutch baskets rattle and are empasised w/ carbs out of sync. oops. last call. G

Would you happen to have flatslides on there? This sounds like what I just went through. Brand new rebuild with brand new mikuni RS's and they rattled so bad I was ready to go back to my round slides. The bike ran poorly and wouldn't idle either. I finally synched the carbs and everything improved immensely - especially the rattle. I was just getting everything close to being dialed in the snow started to fly - now I have to wait till spring

Anyway, I'm just wondering if your noise might be those carbs rattling? If so, start with synchronizing them. Good luck and keep us posted.

79MKII wrote:

Would you happen to have flatslides on there? This sounds like what I just went through. Brand new rebuild with brand new mikuni RS's and they rattled so bad I was ready to go back to my round slides. The bike ran poorly and wouldn't idle either. I finally synched the carbs and everything improved immensely - especially the rattle. I was just getting everything close to being dialed in the snow started to fly - now I have to wait till spring

Anyway, I'm just wondering if your noise might be those carbs rattling? If so, start with synchronizing them. Good luck and keep us posted.

carbs are definetly rattling....i m gonna send them to george....already contacted him....i am not a carb guy....i would probably have these things on and off 3 times and still not have em right...time for the pros.....thanks guys

gane wrote:

Keith, hesitant to offer, but... the chicklets which locate camchain rollers and the tensioner shoe/roller are different. the two which locate the shoe/roller pin being larger than the ones which position the cogged rollers. if that pin was free to roam it would do so under light load. and probly cause tensioner to be at end of travel. a manual tensioner would have no such limits. tho would be difficult to read. If your' aware of this. dis-regard. the wear limits of stock cam chains are (according to manual) phenominal.and while cam timing would suffer should'nt be excessivly noisy. One can't expect a 30 year old motor to sound like a sewing machine. by the same token you should be able to idle @ 1k w acceptable noises.worn clutch basket/primary gear, typical. since your' motor is fresh, you might re-install stock tensioner, adjust, lock and remove. and see where set point is. Bum cogs sing like cannarys, cam chains worn beyond tension Tinkle,clutch baskets rattle and are empasised w/ carbs out of sync. oops. last call. G

thanks....i know the deal with the chicklets and am 100% sure the big ones and little ones are correctly located....all new cam chain and sprocets and rubber guides.......

Did you check the cam lob to head clearance?
Even a so called drop in cam may still hit the head
some times. Especially at low RPM.

DISCLAIMER: i am in no way an expert, at anyting. anything i say is my own opinion and/or observation, and should never be regarded as fact, unless otherwise stated.

What are current plug readings from lowest sustainable rpm?

Should know this for later comparison after carb rebuild.

Has spark quality at kickover been visually examined?

Forgive me for still harboring suspicion of inadequate voltage reaching coils at idle rpm.

Good Luck!

FastKaw1 wrote:

Did you check the cam lob to head clearance?
Even a so called drop in cam may still hit the head
some times. Especially at low RPM.

DISCLAIMER: i am in no way an expert, at anyting. anything i say is my own opinion and/or observation, and should never be regarded as fact, unless otherwise stated.

VERY good point - I can't believe I forgot about that. I had a "clearanced" cam cover that was hitting my cams before. The head also needs proper clearance. It's probably worth checking...