Adjusting fast idle on TK22 carbs

Hi All.
I have an 82 550 w/ the TK22 carbs. I have fab'd up some choke flap plates and they work well for starting, but I'm having some irritating issues. Just curious what others think:
I choke it, she fires right up. Right now the fast idle does not open the throttle hardly at all, if any. Not after too long the idle starts to climb, so I start working the choke off, but that transition from full choke and high rpm to no choke/falling on its face is very very thin. So, what I've been doing is leaving the choke on, taking off from a stop, taking choke off, then if I need to stop I have to put the choke back on, and of course, the rpms go high again. I take off, take the choke off and go - and then repeat everytime until its warm.

I'm thinking that the fast idle mod from Loudhvx might help some, but I'm starting to think my choke flaps may not move as easily as the stock ones, so my choke is really rich. Was considering drilling a very small hole in the flap to allow a little more air in...

Thoughts?

Also, I had a potential buyer for the bike last night take it for a ride. I think I missed on the sale because he was turned off by the touchy choke... Odd thing was, last time I took it for a spin, I came home and the idle was a little high (I also had some other lean symptoms). I checked for leaks, none. I richened up my pilot screws a hair, adjusted idle to 1200 and it was fine. Last night when the potential buyer came back, it was again idling at 2k. I barely touched the knob and it returned to 1200.

Something aint right there... on my 550 i removed the flaps completely and epoxied the hole shut and its worked great for more than 7 years now! When i start it i put the choke just shy of fully closed and start it. Once it starts i open it slightly put my helmet and coat on and turn off the choke and it runs perfect and ready to go.

As for the flaps, from what i remember it seems like they do have a small hole in them.

How are the basic things like compression, valve clearances, carbs clean? Then i would look at carb sync.

Running pods?

Hope this helps

Yeah, something seems not right....

Clearances are good (I did it a few weeks ago), compression is good (motor has 6800 mi, had 135 psi in the dead of winter), carbs are cleaned (I can do this in my sleep now) and they are synced.

I did get conflicting air screw specs though. I read in one manual 1 3/8 turns out - then I saw 1 1/8 turn out somewhere else... No pods, no aftermarket exhaust.

And, no way in hell would I ever be able to leave the choke on for 3 min, take it fully off and go - and I've been riding this bike for 12 years.

The screw settings are a starting point. Adjust ether way to best idle.
Steve

I've tried that so many damn times I lost count. I can never do it by ear, and my work placement physical tells me I got great ears lol.

In the past I've always set them to stock, then richened up a little bit because I know they were so lean stock...

I bring it up to about 3000 RPM and dial the miss out. Low float level?
Milwaukee's Best and High Life, both made by Miller. Butt wiper gives me a bubbly feeling in my head and makes me mean. Instant A**hole, just add Bud. :woohoo:
Steve

It doesn't miss. It idles high when choked and falls on its face if you take it off too much. Then when it was warm idle was high. I adjusted it down. 2nd trip after warm it was idling high, again.

When you did comp test did you have throttle wide open?

What color are your plugs? is yours electronic ign?

Have you ever checked exhaust temp?

I was wrong about the flaps, they dont have tiny holes in them.

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Steve

Harm, when I did compression test, it was dead of winter (like 5 deg), the carbs were off and the motor hadn't been run in a few years... It put up a good 135-140 on all holes, and my battery wasn't really anything to brag about either. That was before a valve shim adjustment as well - a few of them were just slightly out of spec, so I doubt it made a huge difference anyway. The plugs I have not looked at yet - but they were the plugs that came out of my old motor anyway, so I would have to get new ones to get a reading. Electronic ignition. Exhaust is piping hot on all 4 shortly after firing it up.

The bike runs fine and dandy when warm. oodles of power and smooth. Just the darn choke - its like ALL or NOTHING. So I was thinking my custom flaps might not move as easily as the stockers or maybe the fast idle isn't adjusted correctly. I think it just runs way too rich on choke (it smells rich and smokes a little when on choke) and either idles really high or dies, depending on where the choke is at. The part that bothers me is the 1st spin I took, i could tell it was a little lean from pipe crackle and hanging idle once hot. I adjusted my pilots a hair richer and adjusted the idle, put bike away. The 2nd spin I took, same symptom - came back hot idling at about 2k, instead of the 1200 I adjusted it to last time. I'll take it for a spin tonight and test it out again.

All signs point to a vacuum leak, but I douched it with wd40, no idle change... I have brand new carb intake mounts and my boots are decent. New vacuum plugs too.

I also epoxied a different set of choke flaps, but it was hard to tinker with the choke while riding around, so I made the flaps. I think if I drilled a little pilot hole in the flap I wouldn't be pulling in so much fuel and the choke might behave a little better. I also think that the issue may be if I pull the choke off a little the little doors might not be able to open because they are half recessed in the body and they are hitting the body?

The bike runs fine and dandy when warm. oodles of power and smooth. Just the darn choke - its like ALL or NOTHING.

Yes, that is what they all do, the choke is a really blunt instrument on what is already a cold-blooded engine. The 550's are particularly bad for that racing choke, but a minor detail on what are a great lineage.

I tolerate any lumpy running for the first couple of miles, this is a quirk of the 550's , besides I never thrash them when cold anyaway.

The one I just sold needed the choke to start. I'd pull it out 1/4 and it would fire right up. It would idle fine after a minute or two. Thing is, I didn't have it running until after I cleaned the carbs. Gunked up. I couldn't even get a guitar string through the pilots or a wire brush strand. I had to use the smallest jet drill I had. I know I made it a little larger and it ran fine that way. That might be all that's needed here.
Steve