New to 500's...a few issues....HELP! ALOHA!
Posted: Sun Nov 17, 2013 4:56 pm
Aloha,
I'm dialing in a bike that's been sitting for 10+ years after being rebuilt by LanceGamma. I'm having a few issues..
Quick background: Bike has 13,800kms, was rebuilt 10 years ago and parked. After speaking to Rick Lance, he indicated the pistons and rings were left alone, but cylinders honed and new seals installed. Tommy Crawford pipes installed, K&N pods on elephant ears, stock carbs rejetted. I rebuilt carbs and adjusted float level to "new, updated " spec from factory service manual. . Bike sounds great on my lift, all cylinders about the same exhaust temp from infrared reader. Misfire under load only, not on bench. Plugs are NGK BR9HS (though 8's were in it when I took her apart). Lots of hot, steady throttle days, and hills in your typical ride, no traffic to speak of.
1. A really bad "stutter"/misfire between 4500 and 5500 rpm at ALL throttle openings under load, so I'm leaning towards an ignition issue.
2. Bottom end is really soft, softer than my RD400 was, no real "hit" until 8000 rpm.
3. Fouling plugs INSTANTLY...ok within 3-5 miles or less... 3 of 4 are toast and I'm limping home. Plugs don't get too dirty in such a short distance, so it's hard to tell exactly what is going on. I was thinking coils failing when warm, but 1 cyl (the same one all the time..front left..) keeps chugging along, when the rest are dead. And it looks great in color.
4. Spark (with new plugs) is so weak I need to close garage door to see it. Coils have an additional ground wire going to cyl head that P/O must have installed, definitely not OEM. Giving clue to prior spark issues....,
5. Cranking compression is about 80psi on all 4 cylinders. Seems low, but all are within 5psi....maybe still breaking in from rebuild?
6. Smoke was gnarly initially (after first fire-up in 10 years) but is barely a puff when warmed to operating temp and not noticeable much at all at idle any more.....there is smoke...but again, not as much as any of my other 2-smokes. Running Redline in the injector tank (bled)....as I do on all my bikes for consistency. Is this a "500" thing?
So anything stand out as extremely goofy?
Who makes a good coil set-up and is it necessary?
Mahalo,
Kelly
I'm dialing in a bike that's been sitting for 10+ years after being rebuilt by LanceGamma. I'm having a few issues..
Quick background: Bike has 13,800kms, was rebuilt 10 years ago and parked. After speaking to Rick Lance, he indicated the pistons and rings were left alone, but cylinders honed and new seals installed. Tommy Crawford pipes installed, K&N pods on elephant ears, stock carbs rejetted. I rebuilt carbs and adjusted float level to "new, updated " spec from factory service manual. . Bike sounds great on my lift, all cylinders about the same exhaust temp from infrared reader. Misfire under load only, not on bench. Plugs are NGK BR9HS (though 8's were in it when I took her apart). Lots of hot, steady throttle days, and hills in your typical ride, no traffic to speak of.
1. A really bad "stutter"/misfire between 4500 and 5500 rpm at ALL throttle openings under load, so I'm leaning towards an ignition issue.
2. Bottom end is really soft, softer than my RD400 was, no real "hit" until 8000 rpm.
3. Fouling plugs INSTANTLY...ok within 3-5 miles or less... 3 of 4 are toast and I'm limping home. Plugs don't get too dirty in such a short distance, so it's hard to tell exactly what is going on. I was thinking coils failing when warm, but 1 cyl (the same one all the time..front left..) keeps chugging along, when the rest are dead. And it looks great in color.
4. Spark (with new plugs) is so weak I need to close garage door to see it. Coils have an additional ground wire going to cyl head that P/O must have installed, definitely not OEM. Giving clue to prior spark issues....,
5. Cranking compression is about 80psi on all 4 cylinders. Seems low, but all are within 5psi....maybe still breaking in from rebuild?
6. Smoke was gnarly initially (after first fire-up in 10 years) but is barely a puff when warmed to operating temp and not noticeable much at all at idle any more.....there is smoke...but again, not as much as any of my other 2-smokes. Running Redline in the injector tank (bled)....as I do on all my bikes for consistency. Is this a "500" thing?
So anything stand out as extremely goofy?
Who makes a good coil set-up and is it necessary?
Mahalo,
Kelly