barelycompetent
81 XS650 Special
Hey all, I know this question has been asked and answered many times, and I have done a search on it, and read MANY of the different threads, all this did was confuse me lol. Sorry to ask the same question again so go easy on me. I have also read the carb guide several times. Just need some clarification on a few things. Ok so the bike is an 81 special, that when I bought it was running a stock exhaust, with pod filters. The pod filters are the 54mm? ovals from Mikes XS, and the carbs on it are the BS34's, but I cant tell you the jet sizes right now as the PO sealed the float bowls to the carb bodies with some type of unknown sealant. The bike was running pretty well but I did have a slight popping noise coming from the right side exhaust, seemed to be worse when the outside temps were cooler, but less noticeable when warmer weather. I just put a Gordonscott 2-1 exhaust on it with a 12inch stainless open muffler on it, and I fired it up yesterday. I had the exhaust headers ceramic coated black so on the coaters advice I let the bike run for about 25-30mins. The bike started right up, seemed to run fairly well, but about the 20-25 min mark the popping sound started, and it seems amplified now because of it being a 2-1 exhaust. I know that I need to get into the carbs to find out what jetting is in there, trust me I know, just trying to figure out how to break the bowls free without damaging them. So my questions are, since I had the popping with the stock exhaust, what does this indicate? Would the extreme cold temperatures make the popping worse? I have replaced the carb boots and checked for leaks as well, and all is good there. Am I running lean on the right side or rich? I should also mention the PO had two different plugs in the bike when I bought it, one was the BP7es, and the other was a BP6es, if I remember correctly, the 6 being on the right side. I replaced with brand new 7 plugs both sides. Thanks for any tips or advice, and thanks for not jumping all over me for asking the same question again lol.