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Omaha, NE here. Don't see to many XS's around.

I've done the test with the floats, they're good. Just went out there and fired it up. Last time it ran was Friday. The filter was empty. Didn't turn the fuel valve on. It ran for about 30 seconds and then died. Wouldn't fire back up till I opened the fuel valve. So, it seems like the fuel is...

Bike: 78 xs650SE, BS38 Carbs History: Bike is in mid build (running and riding). I have one of those fancy dancy glass fuel filters with the replaceable filter element inside. I recently rebuilt the carbs with the kits from MikesXS and cleaned them thoroughly during the rebuild. Bike runs...

I just went down to the local Yamaha dealer and took my axle with me and they went through their used parts bin and found spacers that fit. Cost me about a buck.

Yup. I use a ratcheting 1/4 wrench and flathead screw driver bit. Pretty simple.

Mine does the exact same thing. I thought it was running rich on the left side cause the plug would always be charcoal. Then I looked in the left side exhaust pipe and noticed it was covered in oil inside. Come to find out I have a head gasket leak on the left side and the hesitation on firing...

Well, guess it's gonna have to wait till winter then. That's when I'm doing the tear down and rebuild of the whole bike. Thanks for the help. Guess I won't be able to tune it using the plugs right now. Gotta rely on the seat of the pants feeling.

Retiredgentleman, You may be on to something. Just swiped the inside of the exhaust. Left pipe is coated with oil, right pipe is normal exhaust carbon.

Haven't seen any black smoke, except when I have the choke on. The engine only has 9k on the clock. When I bought it, it ran like this (hence why I got a kick ass deal on it). I can live with changing a head gasket, if that's the issue. I'll retorque the heads and go from there.

Ok, here's the stats: 78 xs650 special Bs38 carbs Open exhaust Pod filters 27.5 pilot, needle on position 3, 135 main Floats adjusted to 24mm Here's the problem: Left cylinder is rich (black charcoal plug) and right cylinder is good (maybe a little lean). I can clean the plugs and put them back...

Yup. Dirty 13 Chapter in Omaha, Ne.

Leo, thanks for the info. I'm a Jeep and Harley guy so these Yamahammers are something new to me. There's a crap load of guys, like yourself, that have a shit load of knowledge. I'll definitely be asking some questions soon. Especially if I can't get this thing running right. Appreciate it!!!

Shit no. Wish that was mine in the pic. I just grabbed one from the interwebs that showed the part I was talking about. I have no plans to shine up the engine. I am gonna paint it though. Whole bike is gonna be white and black.

Yeah, true. Was thinking of running both hoses to a T-connector and then put a breather on the single.

I'm at work right now. I'll post up some pics tomorrow. Might as well start a build photo history. I'm just gonna get it runnin good and ride it till winter and then start the tear down. Still got my Street Glide to ride during the winter.

Thanks for the heads up on that. I like that idea better than two little baby breathers hanging out above the carbs.

Got it. Thanks for the help. And this is the reason I didn't want to buy someone elses project. You never know what you're gonna get. Guess it's time to put some small breathers on them. Now, on to the crazy ass carb crap the PO rigged together.

New to the XS650 realm, but not new to bikes. Been looking for a project for awhile and ran across 78 Special that was already hardtailed. Couldn't pass up the deal. Anyway, it runs rough, as expected (the PO wasn't quite the wrench turner he claimed to be), but I'm working on the rough running...