Questionhello chris,
The bike's an 81 XJ650 Maxim.
It would start on full choke but not idle. The idle adjustment knob made little difference.
My neighbor messed with the throttle stop screw (carb synchro screw) that's at the right front of the carb bank. Now it won't start even with full choke. In fact, it will only start with a blast of Quick Start and runs for only a moment.
So it seems to be a fuel starvation problem but the gas is running and the hoses aren't leaking.
There is a lot of looseness at where the throttle cable ends at the carbs and joins the throttle linkage but when I twist the throttle the linkages seem to work fine. Would messing with that carb synchro screw keep the bike from starting even with full choke? If so, how many turns out just to get it running before doing a carb synchro? Or if the starting problem isn't caused by the mis-adjusted carb screw, what else should I look at? The battery's strong and bike turns over like mad trying to start but just won't fire.
thx,
baz
toronto
AnswerHi Baz.
The big problem is that someone who didn't know what he was doing tmpered (without any of the proper measuring tools) with an adjustment that was set at the factory. Since there are 3 carb synch screws on the bike, it helps to know which one was tampered with and how far and which direction it was turned.
You should never adjust the synchro without the bike running at idle or without a carb synchro tool attached.
If the synchro was reset incorrectly, it will start, but not run. If it was set off far enough, then the bike will not start at all. There could also be other problems with the carbs. Possibly the carbs are dirty or there may be a blockage in them.
Now, what you need to do is get the bike to a mechanic to look at in person, since the synchro was messed up. The big problem is that there is another problem besides the synchro and that needs to be assessed in person by a trained mechanic.
Good luck.
FALCON
