5Twins, thanks for that, makes this a little easier. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting this bike running. My only ready to go street bike is a Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad. Great bike, but seems to get heavier every year.
I guess I didn't catch the part about the advance rod bushings. Unless there's an easy way to remove them from the old camshaft, I'll have to get new ones. I read on the forum that there have been some issues with these parts from Mike's. I found them on XS650 Direct, actually a little cheaper. Also saw that the inside of the camshaft may not have been reamed and there is a method to clean up the cam bore and sand the seal and bushing OD if needed. The info on this forum is very helpful.Just a thought; if points is not a deal breaker for you, it would actually be easier and cheaper to switch the '79 electrics on to the '83 motor. The only touchy part is ensuring the advance rod bushings are fit into the '83 camshaft properly. That way the harness, stator and all components work from the '79 chassis
That sounds like a reasonable plan........It should take the jetting for the '79 BS38 carbsTha saga continues.
Well, it runs! Not great, but it does run. I've had the carbs apart 3 times so far, removing and cleaning jets an blowing out passages. I'm getting backfiring both exhaust and occasionally through the carbs. So far it has difficulty running with the choke off also. I have no idea what #'s the jets are as PO made a mess. I can't see any markings on the jets at all. Looks like a cold chisel was ised instead of a screwdriver.
Bearing in mind these are the '79 carbs on an '83 motor, I think I will opt to replace all the jets with new. Bike has a 2 into one exhaust of unknown make that seems to be in decent shape which I will keep. When I start it again, I will run Sea Foam in with the gas.
My big question is, since the carbs I have are BS38 and the motor is 1983 and came with BS34 carbs, what jet sizes would be recommended to at least get me in the ballpark?
Yeah, the centrestand shuffle. Amuses me every time it does it, until it backs into something.This bike I'm working on does remind me of my Triumphs in a way, when you rev it, it dances across the floor.