Noob here, 1972 xs650 not firing on right side

Rat650

Rat650

XS650 Enthusiast
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Hello all, I recently convinced my wife to let me buy a 1972 xs650 :bike: I rode it for a couple weeks with no problems. Out for a ride one evening I noticed my clutch cable was hanging on by a thread so I had the fittings replaced on the cable and changed it out and adjusted it. It was a week later due to rain and being busy that I was able to try my replacement cable out. Rode for about five minutes, everything went great clutch worked fine. Then the bike started to bog and sputter and lose power. Got it home and found it was not firing on the right side. I pulled the plug, looked really black and I cleaned it up. Reinstalled the plug and the the right side was firing again, for about five minutes..:confused: Any help pointing me in the right direction would be very appropriated
 
Hi Grinder, I have tried switching the plugs from side to side and the problem stays on the right side. One thing I noticed that I thought was really weird is that if I pull the plug wire off of the plug and give it about an inch or so air gap it will fire..? It"s rough and smokes a bit but for some reason will fire with an air gap.
 
Sounds like it's time for a complete tune-up, maybe a carb cleaning too. Also, plug caps, plug wires, and coils can go bad. One of those items on the right side may be on it's way out. Condensers can crap out too. You might try swapping the condenser leads side to side to see if the problem follows.
 
Hi 5twins, I have checked the cam chain tensioner and valve lash both were ok. I will check timimg once I get a light. I am currently in the middle of a carb clean and found something that doesn't seem right on that right side carb. The brass fitting that the fuel line hooks to freely pulls in and out of the carb? Seems weird, and I recall a little fuel leaking there one day. I plan on getting a pamco with the new coil wire and caps and some new plugs as well in the next week or so. Hopefully then I will be able to rule out all of those. Where do I find and what does the condenser look like? Also could I safely move plug wire from side to side to see what that tells me? Or will that kill my coil?
 
You can't just swap the plug wires side to side or the coils will be firing at the wrong time. You'd need to switch the connections from the points at the coils. Swap them, then switch the plug wires. That would test you coil/plug wire/plug cap assembly and tell you if something was wrong with one of them. Not which one exactly though.

Your condenser "pack" (2 condensers mounted on one bracket) is located on the back side of the upper left engine mount. It will have 2 black leads coming off it, one from each condenser. Switch them to change which condenser works with which cylinder. Here's what the condenser pack looks like .....

XS26-5114Condensers.jpg


Each black lead will go into a double connector along with one wire from one of the points sets. The other ends of the doubles run to each coil .....

CondenserHook-up.jpg
 
The fuel line nipple shouldn't just pull out. It may have just not been driven in far enough. Compare how much the loose one sticks out to the one on the other carb. If it's out farther, gently tap it back in with a small hammer. If it is in all the way but still loose, you could try dimpling the sides of the part that inserts with a center punch. That would tighten the fit. Stick something in the barb like a drill bit so you don't collapse it when center punching. If you need to do this, I would use a little gasket sealer on it as well to help seal the leak.
 
Ok, I will check it and make the fix. I'm also wondering now why the fuel level was high enough to come up out around that fitting.. Float or needle stuck? It all looked ok when I pulled it apart.
 
The fuel level in the bowls probably wasn't that high. That area around the nipple is above the bowls and before the fuel gets to the float needle and seat assembly. It's always full of fuel from the tank.
 
I just went through a very similar problem with my '77. It would run good for a few minutes then sputter and shut off. I found that I didn't have equal pressure out of both mufflers. The right one was about half the pressure of the left. Went through all the carb and non-carb, carb issues (cam chain, valves, points, etc..) Long story short, I eventually determined that it could only be the coil. Changed it out and it's been running like a dream ever since.
 
Well I reassembled the carbs and got em back on the bike. Not sure why but now I can't get it to fire up at all!:banghead: The only thing I noticed was after I had them in was two mysterious hoses that I couldn't find a home for.. I see two brass fittings sticking out on the inside of the carbs but the hoses don't reach and I'm not sure they even go there. I guess it's back to the carb manual
 
This is not a picture of my carbs, but it shows the two brass fittings with the short pieces of hose attached to them on the inside face of the carbs. So I'm pretty sure that's where my mystery hoses go.. Can anyone tell me what these are and if not having the hoses hooked to them would keep the bike from starting? My feeling is they have nothing to do with it not starting and I goofed up elsewhere..
 

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One stroke from BDC to TDC is the compression stroke, from strokes 1-4, after that there are two other strokes, a complete 360 degree revolution is 2 strokes--proper timing evolves from the compression stroke...not just any old TDC position.
 
Belle said:
One stroke from BDC to TDC is the compression stroke, from strokes 1-4, after that there are two other strokes, a complete 360 degree revolution is 2 strokes--proper timing evolves from the compression stroke...not just any old TDC position.
Click to expand...

I understand the basics of 2 & 4 stroke internal combustion engines. I don't think you understand my question. Both sides can be in the same cycle at the same time.
 
Unless you're trying to push them that way, in which case you'd need to change valve timing so both pistons are receiving the potential to fire the spark received simultaneously. To that, I take my hat off to you & wish you the best of luck. Make that Work--The Suzuki Savage is a single cylinder 4 stroke with enough power to suggest possibility.
 

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