Lucked out?

[Screaming Meemie]

So Betsea (my '79 H.Special) & I just moved back to Bozeman, MT from MN.. bozeman being much drier and ~4000 feet higher than MN. I'd bought a UNI PK-82 filter kit (comes as a two-pack, black plastic end-caps, $27 shipped from shmamazon) in advance to swap out the airboxes on arrival, which i got to today. No pics, but the oem filters were rotted and the whole shebang was in disgusting condition.. keep in mind the bike ran great with these on in MN.. so well i didnt even check it after i'd bought it haha whoops, wont do that again. anyway, I cleaned the carbs, swapped in the UNI's & ran her for 5ish miles & all was great. If anything, better response & more snap at altitude than she had before, & no overheating... i couldnt believe how well everything had worked in MN considering how bad the airbox was. Plus i didnt re-jet, in the hope that freeing up the intake w/the UNI's would "cancel out" the elevation change, & so far it looks like i guessed right!

So, did I just luck out? This engine just really seems to want to run.. ive got 400 total miles on the clock so far & the only fault is the right side cylinder pops a bit excessively out the exhaust on deceleration. I think this may be due to a slightly loose valve cuz i can hear a bit of a tick on that side before its nice & warm, but no problems & it's barely noticeable at all.

 

[Kinsygrl]

I'm sure if you bothered to read/ search the forums you would find he response / answers to the question that has no doubt been gone over in tremendous detail by one of the sites seasoned 650 veterans that are obviously worn out by helping the hundreds of ignorant hacks that seem to flock to forums for help/ knowledge!


Did I do good Griz?

 

[XSLeo]

In the carb guide is a section on carb tuning. I might recommend you read it. www.amckayltd.com/carbguide.pdf
Leo

 

[Screaming Meemie]

Ok, Wow. I was not positing with the intent of begging advice from "one of the sites seasoned 650 veterans" because I'm not capable, I'm merely trying to show my incredulity and excitement at how well my bike came/is coming together. I've read most of the guides on here already, which is one of the reasons I was so stoked at my outcome. Try not to jump down people's throats on forums, it makes you look childish and sours the easy-going rep of, I feel, the true bike guru's. If you think a poster is simply begging for help before actually doing any research (NOT the case here) and you just can't help but get your knickers in a knot, don't reply & go have a beer instead. We're all adults here. Just my

If i'd created a thread that read something like "Wat podz too get for my bike" & had no idea what carb, jets, altitude, or filters I was running... then some serious scolding would be in order. Not anyone in particular, just this damn internet culture. Rant over.

 

[gggGary]

Do some plug chops but since it is common to lean out the jetting for altitude you may have lucked into the sweet spot, less restriction + higher altitude = cancel out changes. It's possible your engine has been ingesting stock "mouse hair" from the ratty stock filters too.
An intermittent tick is often cam chain adjustment issues. Lot's of how to's on that. I have come to like the do it while the engine is running version. Have you synched, resynched the carbs? That often cures reduces one side backfiring.

Montana mmm good place to go. Welcome to the board too. Post some details about your bike?

 

[nj1639]

I'd like to think the original responses were tongue in cheek as it gave me a good laugh!

Sometimes we amateurs don't know how good OR how bad our machines have been running until we do a change-up and see the difference......helps us on the road of 'expert' advice.

Like G says, you might have got lucky within the parameters. I changed out some stock air filters recently to Unis and was amazed at the difference.....didn't know the '83 could perform any better, so, good on ya!

 

[5twins]

When your jetting is close, sometimes the only way to tell if a change will help is to try it. So, try some 137.5 mains and see what happens. That's one of the first rules of carb jetting - when you think you're right, try the size above and below to make sure.

 

[Screaming Meemie]

I did sync the carbs, but never hurts to double check at the new elevation. Thats on the list, as well as checking the cam chain now. I found a pdf manual on biker.net to do those adjustments, & see how she responds. Im hoping that freed up intake - 'mouse hair' (great term, btw) + 4000ft = correct jetting, but i'd rather be a bit rich than lean if beggars can be choosers. Keep an eye on 'er I 'spose

Betsea:

'79 Heritage Special I bought beginning of July from the original owners with 23k on the odo. Since I've had her I painted the rims & fork tubes, tossed on some header wrap, replaced the bulbs in the displays, adjusted the brakes, cleaned the carbs, drilled the stock exhaust baffles, switched from 17/34 to 17/30 sprockets, put on some renthal bars, changed a few fuses, & took off a luggage rack! Just got UNI pods on too, of course.

Eventually I want to go with some of Mike's 16" turn-out mufflers, some 2" lowered shocks ($50 honda rebel shocks on the 'ol ebay), a TC bros side-plate & tail light bracket & a fork brace from GordonScott, so I can go fender-less. Plus get the seat recovered when I'm in the money. 300ish bucks plus the seat so maybe it'll come together sooner rather than later.

 

[aaronrkelly]

Yeah I did the same, love those UNIs.....super filters.

Ive got the GordonScott fork brace on mine and really dig it.....but have you seen Hughs new brace (I think it came out last month or so).

I like it a bit better then Gordons.....but since Ive already got his mounted I dont like it enough to pay for another one.

 

[Kinsygrl]

I'm so sorry if I offended... It was more of a joke/ poke at some of the recent sit issues. My bad carry on then!

 

[Screaming Meemie]

Ooooh yeah Hugh's brace looks nice, i like that extra bit over the top. & I'm all for calling somebody out (actually not really, I just save my breath, since this is the internet & all) when they need it, but I'm just saying I am not that guy. hah.