tomtaz1975
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Let's Ride!
Posts: 34
Milwaukee, WI
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MY01:
Picked it up last year, in good shape but the previous owner really didn't replace/upkeep the consumables, IE oil and filter filthy, air filter filthy, tires pretty bare, spark plug sooty black, etc.
Everything ran great. Since these run like tanks I wasn't too worried about the consumables. I put on new tires, new iridium spark plug, new air filter. Still ran great, but I started to notice this annoying squeal from the right side. Only could hear it with clutch in and moving, or barely when idling. It had something to do with the muffler, maybe more of a whistle than a squeal. Other than that, virtually no backfires, but felt sluggish.
To deal with the whistle-squeal, and part of the sluggishness, I installed a much more free-flowing muffler, DUNSTALL STYLE MEGAPHONE MUFFLER from JCWhitney, which I had to jerry-rig on with automotive flex-muffler connection to deal with the 5-10 degree bend. I immediately have noticed more power and love the deep-loud sound.
Now, however, I have to use the choke to start when I didn't have to before, and to keep it from dying I either have to keep the choke about 1/3-1/2 out and/or increase my idle screw. I also get constant minor backfires, both between gears and shutting her down.
OK, that's the background. Now the Q's.
The sooty spark plug would have led me to believe the bike was running RICH. The fact that I have to use choke and get backfires leave me to believe the bike is running LEAN. Could the spark plug color/soot be misleading because it might have not been changed for forever? Could I have possibly taken the bike from a RICH condition to a LEAN condition purely from the muffler?
If I am LEAN and need to richen the mixture (that's my best guess at this point), I plan on adjusting the needle jet and air adjustment screw. I've messed with a needle jet before, I haven't done the air adjustment screw. Does anyone have a good picture of where this is on the carb?
I am really only interested in having the bike run well, NOT maximizing performance.
With that in mind: Do I really need to change the other jets, IE with a stage 1 kit? Should I really also create a higher flow air filter?
I want to install a raptor petcock (based on another thread I would love to be able to take the tank off easier) and adjust the carb at the same time, and I'm hoping not to start off going the wrong way. I also don't want to go through a lot of work and realize I really do need new jets altogether.
Any help is appreciated!
Thanks, Tom
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