Help!

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Thanks for the photos Devon. As others have said, not my style of bike, but it looks nice.

The biggest safety issue I can see is the position of the electrical system components - ESPECIALLY the coil - right under the carbs. That is a genuine fire hazard.

Also, the lack of an upper engine mount is a compromise in frame strength and ridigity - although given the style bike, perhaps your riding doesn’t involve twisty roads, higher speeds or longer distances.
 
You should be able to feel a bit of slack by pulling up on the black cable where it enters the brass at the carb tops, before the cables start to pull the slides up. Remove the air filters and watch the slides as you work the throttle. They should both return to the same height and open at the same time, distance, adjusting the screws with no throttle should move slides up and down. If one slide does not drop fully even with a loose cable, remove it from the top and look for dirt or rough spots. For a fresh start, with screws loose, slides closed, turn each screw til slide just starts to open, add say 1 turn to each, fire it up and see what you have. Adjust, keeping number of turns on each screw the same until you read up on and do a carb synch.
 
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OK it sounds like this is fairly new stuff for you.
#1 ignore anything the PO said, he either lies or didn't know what he was doing. This is always the best way forward and will save you hours or days of grief.
#2 an old saw says 90% of carb problems are electrical (ignition). This is kind of true because the other 50% of carb problems on an XS650 are valve, mechanical advance related. :sneaky:
#3 fixing a problem is always so tempting, you bought it to RIDE not as a shop toy. The FASTEST way to a rider (pushing a bike home is very discouraging) is a methodical wake up drill, checking each and every facet of what makes the motor run. Here's a good XS650 101 from the TECH section found in the top menu bar. http://www.xs650.com/threads/367 spend a couple evenings going through what's presented there and check that your bike engine is set up adjusted properly.
#4 after "fixing" a couple problems, with poor results reread #3

I could go on but that'll do for now! Hopefully others with direct experience with that carb set will show up and make suggestions.
 

Hi devon and welcome,
finally, a photo of the entire bike. The photo tells me that your runaway throttle problem has a lot to do with a sticking and too-short throttle cable.
The too short fix could be at no cost if the twistgrip was turned so that the throttle cable points down instead of up.
The sticking fix takes cleaning, re-lubricating and re-routing the cable to take the kinks out, especially that sharp turn into the carburettors.
As to the rest of the bike, oh dear me, where to start? the extra fork gaiters ABOVE the lower triple tree fer fuxsake?
After my son had stopped laughing at that he said "I'd get the frame welds checked before I rode that bike anywhere because the guy who built it
didn't have a clue."
 
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Hi devon and welcome,
finally, a photo of the entire bike. The photo tells me that your runaway throttle problem has a lot to do with a sticking and too-short throttle cable.
The too short fix could be at no cost if the twistgrip was turned so that the throttle cable points down instead of up.
The sticking fix takes cleaning, re-lubricating and re-routing the cable to take the kinks out, especially that sharp turn into the carburettors.
As to the rest of the bike, oh dear me, where to start? the extra fork gaiters ABOVE the lower triple tree fer fuxsake?
After my son had stopped laughing at that he said "I'd get the frame welds checked before I rode that bike anywhere because the guy who built it
didn't have a clue."
 
There is a lot going on with this bike that PO may have been over his head on. BATTERY and SPRAX??
But first thing is those carbs. Not a fan of those they are used on race bikes and there are many write ups about the failures of them with having hard time to setup correctly for street use. Had a couple sets and one set kept vacume locking . So how I would approach the fix is disconnect the cables both sides. Take filters off so you can see down throat of carb and a just needle so they are open a little. Start bike and if it does fire up set idle adjustment. When you are dealing with two into one cables they are always a challenge until you get them right.
 
There may be no fixing those carbs. A well respected member here spent several months and hundreds of dollars trying, and finally gave up. The problem is they're very poorly made. The parts inside aren't machined well and don't fit right. Floats hang up, slides stick, etc. You seem to have encountered the sticking slide problem on yours. Best solution is to chuck them over the nearest fence and get a whole new different set of carbs.

The overall fabrication of your bike doesn't look too bad, it just seems the guy didn't use much common sense when it came to the layout of some things (coil under carbs, fuel filter on top of engine). You need to make some changes and it's probably best they be done before you even ride it.
 
After my son had stopped laughing at that he said "I'd get the frame welds checked before I rode that bike anywhere because the guy who built it
didn't have a clue."
This is the same son that didn't like the calendar, isn't it?
 
This is the same son that didn't like the calendar, isn't it?

Hi xjwmx,
I said that while my son liked the calendar he reckoned that January had too much artistic shading to see the bike's details and that December was out of focus. And if you'd read the rest of the string you'd see that December's photographer agreed with him.
As to the extra fork gaiters above the triple tree, go on, admit it, you snickered too.
 
Extra gaiters, wrapped pipes, giant volt meters, ape hangers, MX tires, flat black paint, chain tensioners, chain oilers, what's the difference?

Scott
 
Extra gaiters, wrapped pipes, giant volt meters, ape hangers, MX tires, flat black paint, chain tensioners, chain oilers, what's the difference?
Scott
Hi Scott,
with the exception of a chain oiler ( to give a five-fold extension of chain & sprocket life) & MX tires (for those who want a 400lb dirt bike)
there is no difference. They are all fashion statements. It's just that putting gaiters on parts that don't move is especially amusing.
Mind you, there was a post a while back asking where to put chrome coil springs on his hardtail because he liked how they looked.
I'd have had his frame's welds inspected too before I rode it.
 
Again thanks for all the advice. This is what both carbs look like with no throttle and both idle screws turned all the way out. The throttle seems to not be sticking. I’ve not tried to start the bike yet I was gonna see yalls input on this picture.
 
I have absolutely no experience with those carbs, so take this witha grain of salt... That slide opening looks awful big for idle. You sure they're seating all the way down on the idle screw?
 
Positive. The slides seem to be open a little even with no throttle and both screws all the way out
 
Does a couple of turns on the idle screw move them up?
 
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