Ludlow
XS650 Enthusiast
Hello folks,
I recently started riding my 72xs after bringing the paint job back to as close to factory as possible. Since my tank was at the body shop, maybe not the best first move, I hadn't had the bike on the road yet. I started it before sending everything off, and the compression was great... but...
While the cosmetics were getting done, I went ahead and rebuilt the carbs (diaghrams looked like new), adjusted the valves, set the timing, put the angular contact bearings in the steering head, and anything I could afford while waiting. Now she's back together and on the road. Well, she was. My first issue was poor performance after warm up. It behaved as if the left cylinder quit firing. The bike had half power and I was getting popping out of the left pipe. Idle was fine, but nothing else. I tripple checked the float level, but it was right at 25mm both sides. No leaks in the floats, I even popped the bowles off while full and they appeared to be at the right level. Inline filters are flowing freely and the plugs weren't fouling.
Yesterday riding home from work the poor performance was making me crazy. I pulled the choke on and suddenly had my other cylinder back but with popping. The other thing that started was a top end whinning that got louder and louder durring the 10 mile ride. It changed pitch and volume with the RPM. Oh-no - bearings (?). When I got home I pulled the plugs and they were gas fouled due to the choking. I retentioned the timing chain thinking/hoping that was the source of the noise. Then, when resetting valve clearance with the plugs out, I noticed turning the motor over by hand was rough. That's what really concerns me. Turning a motor over by hand with no spark plugs should only give resistance from the crank counterweight, right? This felt choppy, like something hanging up.
After all these adjustments and engine cooled down, the high pitch noise was still there. I can barely hear the exhaust over it. It seems to be coming from the front or top of the engine. And the left cylinder is still giving me trouble.
I'm hoping that I don't have to pull the engine and rebuild, so I'm posting this to see if any of you have experienced this set of symptoms. Could it be a fried cam chain tensioner? Why the whine? Compression still rocks, so
Thanks for any pointers. I guess the worst case is pulling the engine and going through it. Sounds like most of you guys have done that before. How hard can it be?
I recently started riding my 72xs after bringing the paint job back to as close to factory as possible. Since my tank was at the body shop, maybe not the best first move, I hadn't had the bike on the road yet. I started it before sending everything off, and the compression was great... but...
While the cosmetics were getting done, I went ahead and rebuilt the carbs (diaghrams looked like new), adjusted the valves, set the timing, put the angular contact bearings in the steering head, and anything I could afford while waiting. Now she's back together and on the road. Well, she was. My first issue was poor performance after warm up. It behaved as if the left cylinder quit firing. The bike had half power and I was getting popping out of the left pipe. Idle was fine, but nothing else. I tripple checked the float level, but it was right at 25mm both sides. No leaks in the floats, I even popped the bowles off while full and they appeared to be at the right level. Inline filters are flowing freely and the plugs weren't fouling.
Yesterday riding home from work the poor performance was making me crazy. I pulled the choke on and suddenly had my other cylinder back but with popping. The other thing that started was a top end whinning that got louder and louder durring the 10 mile ride. It changed pitch and volume with the RPM. Oh-no - bearings (?). When I got home I pulled the plugs and they were gas fouled due to the choking. I retentioned the timing chain thinking/hoping that was the source of the noise. Then, when resetting valve clearance with the plugs out, I noticed turning the motor over by hand was rough. That's what really concerns me. Turning a motor over by hand with no spark plugs should only give resistance from the crank counterweight, right? This felt choppy, like something hanging up.
After all these adjustments and engine cooled down, the high pitch noise was still there. I can barely hear the exhaust over it. It seems to be coming from the front or top of the engine. And the left cylinder is still giving me trouble.
I'm hoping that I don't have to pull the engine and rebuild, so I'm posting this to see if any of you have experienced this set of symptoms. Could it be a fried cam chain tensioner? Why the whine? Compression still rocks, so
Thanks for any pointers. I guess the worst case is pulling the engine and going through it. Sounds like most of you guys have done that before. How hard can it be?