Damaged AF screw Help

[Designer]

Aequitas4, What you have does not dictate a new/different Carb. That is costly advice born of one who lacks the expertise to fix what you have,... so he applies such a lacking to your Skills,...and posts such a suggestion.

If you can, do give the suggestion of Herb a try. Seeing as how the Threads a not damaged, it would be great if using them would move the Cap Remnants outwards.

Another thing would be,...With your patient skills and the careful use of a sharp-pointed Pick,..... to remove that remnants of the Cap around the perimeter of the Hole.

Thus leaving you with an IN TACT Idle Adjustment Screw and a Fully Servable & Adjustable Carb. Saving your Hard-Earned $$$..

[hillsy]

[sgtcall]

Don't let him suck you in Designer.

[Designer]

Don't let him suck you in Designer.

Thanks! I sure won't.

Just like here, when hillsy was shown mistaken, He tried to do the same thing in the other Thread posted by Aequitas4.

I think the oil coming out of the breather issue is just a 1500 thing - and only happens when the bike is run hard.

Uhhh,...nope! Yes,.... ​You are certainly free to think that,...but doing so would be a mistake.

So oil DOES come out of the 1400 breather?....and you plumbed yours pretty much directly into the carb?

hillsy, I'm not going let you start another bickering argument and drag this Thread Down.

We see you doing this lately and it is NOT in The spirit of Tech Board.

I apologize to you, Aequitas4,...seems hillsy thinks he's.."the burning bush" ..of the Tech Board and gets real testy when he's mistaken.
Please don't let him turn you away.

[hillsy]

Just like here, when hillsy was shown mistaken, He tried to do the same thing in the other Thread posted by Aequitas4.

You probably should go back to that other thread and clarify what you are saying to that guy.

[navigator]

I did find a rear carb on ebay from a 96 vs1400. Should that be interchangeable?

Yes, and probably your best option at this point, provided the one on ebay is not munged up...request pictures from the seller.

[Designer]

With all due respect,...I can't say as I agree.

As both Herb and I see it, the situation he has with the Idle Adjustment Screw & Cap appears to be fixable. And he and I outlined methods to accomplish that.

Since this 'situation' is external and doesn't affect the Internal passages and the overall Carbs Functioning, I don't see how that situation (with the Cap/Screw) makes the Carb Unserviceable/dysfunctional.

So,...what is it that would necessitate the Expense $$$ of a New/different Carb ?

[Designer]

Okay,. I will make you this offer.

Send that Carb to me, and I will get whatever is left of The Cap out without further damage (which I see is pretty much cosmetic)... for FREE
AND,... I Personally Guarantee that the work I perform will NOT Adversely Affect,.. nor Make Worse ,... the Serviceability and Current Functionality of the Carb. Which you reported as being this;

The 97 intruder 1400 I recently bought is now up and running, drag pipes, pod filters, dyna ignition, carbs synced etc. Its running pretty well but when I went to adjust the rear carb a/f screw during my tuning process I found the previous owner had left me this:

To establish some modicum of trust with you in my Technical Abilities, I offer you to see one of my several 1400 Projects that I have created in my Shop;

viewtopic.php?f=32&t=4139&start=26


I'll get that Bad Boy Carb of yours fixed in a New York Minute.

[sgtcall]

Aequitas4, I would take Designer's offer.

[Aequitas4]

I appreciate everyone's help on this, especially designer's offer. I ended up grabbing the cheap carb off of ebay with the intent of getting the bike running and then trying to get the old screw out myself. Might be a little easier if I'm not worried about ruining the carb. If it works, at least I'll have a spare or one to offload cheap if someone else here on the forum has a need.

With the ebay carb I was able to get the bike up and running only to find it was impossible to maintain a good carb sync. I later found an air leak on my front carb boot. After resolving this I ran into multiple issues that appeared to be battery/starter motor problems only to determine that my decompression unit was not operating properly. Still working on adjusting this but by manually activating the decompression lever on the front head I am able to get her started easily and everything is running great.

Thanks again for everyone's help and sorry for the delay on the update!

[Designer]

Hey! So good to hear from you again. Thanks for the Update.

About your Decomp system....I had once some issues,...so I gave mine a "tune up". I lubed the Cables with a Liquid Graphite Lubricant that is used for Mountain Bike Cables. It goes in liquid,...the liquid dries,..and leaves behind Dried Graphite Lubricant.(pretty slippery stuff) A good choice for these cables, kinda-cuz Greases tend to attract dirt and hold it.

And,...I took off the Decomp Return Springs at each Cylinder Head Decomp Lever.....and flexed them "out" to so when installed, they created a bit more "closing power". The power of the Decomp Solenoid is MORE THAN enough to overcome the small amount if increased closing effort the "flexed" Return Springs now created. Never had any problems in 14 years now.

My offer still stands for your Carb. And,....for you?.....NO CHARGE!!

[Aequitas4]

I may give that spring idea a try. I'm kind of surprised with all of these "it wont start" threads that there's not more people talking about the decomp system. They symptoms I had definitely resembled a bad battery and then a bad starter motor. On start the voltage would drop way low and the engine sounded like it didn't want to turn over.

Replaced the battery first (it was old anyways) and the motor still wouldn't turn over. Starter solenoid was good so verified a good ground and put power directly from the battery to the starter motor with no improvement. Removed the start motor and cleaned out all the dust, polished commutators and checked gaps and brushes. Ran great off the bike but as soon as I reinstalled the motor would not turn over. Tried replacing the start motor with new one and nothing changed.

Removed the spark plugs and the engine turned over effortlessly. After that I read up quite a bit on the decomp system. Solenoid was activating and both heads appeared to be moving on start according to the timers. When I manually pushed the front head decomp lever all the way forward (further than the solenoid was pulling it) the bike turned over effortlessly and as I slowly released it the bike fired up perfectly.

I still plan on making some adjustments to the Decomp cables but after I worked them back and forth a few times with the cables set to the manual specs it seems to fire up every time. It definitely seems to me that this decomp system not being set correctly significantly narrowed my operating window on startup and may have contributed to overworking my old battery and long list of other startup issues I have fought previously.

I'm also seeing a lot of guys with the LC 1500's talk about doing the LC shuffle where when the bike won't turn over you put it in gear and roll backwards to decompress the engine. Gonna have to test this and maybe remove the decomp system all together if possible and start another thread!

[hillsy]

I may give that spring idea a try. I'm kind of surprised with all of these "it wont start" threads that there's not more people talking about the decomp system. They symptoms I had definitely resembled a bad battery and then a bad starter motor. On start the voltage would drop way low and the engine sounded like it didn't want to turn over.

Replaced the battery first (it was old anyways) and the motor still wouldn't turn over. Starter solenoid was good so verified a good ground and put power directly from the battery to the starter motor with no improvement. Removed the start motor and cleaned out all the dust, polished commutators and checked gaps and brushes. Ran great off the bike but as soon as I reinstalled the motor would not turn over. Tried replacing the start motor with new one and nothing changed.

Removed the spark plugs and the engine turned over effortlessly. After that I read up quite a bit on the decomp system. Solenoid was activating and both heads appeared to be moving on start according to the timers. When I manually pushed the front head decomp lever all the way forward (further than the solenoid was pulling it) the bike turned over effortlessly and as I slowly released it the bike fired up perfectly.

I still plan on making some adjustments to the Decomp cables but after I worked them back and forth a few times with the cables set to the manual specs it seems to fire up every time. It definitely seems to me that this decomp system not being set correctly significantly narrowed my operating window on startup and may have contributed to overworking my old battery and long list of other startup issues I have fought previously.

I'm also seeing a lot of guys with the LC 1500's talk about doing the LC shuffle where when the bike won't turn over you put it in gear and roll backwards to decompress the engine. Gonna have to test this and maybe remove the decomp system all together if possible and start another thread!

Couple of thoughts on this:

I wouldn't rule out that your starter solenoid is fine. Happened to me on an old GS1150 I had - changed everything else but still had issues turning over (especially when hot). Changed the solenoid and that fixed it. May not be your problem but in the grand scheme of things it's a pretty cheap part to swap out.

Also the decomp solenoid might be not working properly (hint being how you pulled the lever and the bike turned over). Tweaking the springs to make the lever close harder is a bit pointless because the decomp lever will naturally want to close (as long is it isn't binding anywhere). The motion of the exhaust valve will keep the lever shut. Syncing the cable is crucial here as there is very little tolerance with the system.

My LC never suffered from starting problems. I remember it being said on many occasions on the previous board that if you have a fully charged battery, good starter motor, etc you can start these bikes without needing the decomp. Not sure how true that is but GMan used to sell a LOT of his larger CCA batteries to that crowd - who never seemed to have problems again.

[Designer]

I may give that spring idea a try. I'm kind of surprised with all of these "it wont start" threads that there's not more people talking about the decomp system.

Removed the spark plugs and the engine turned over effortlessly. After that I read up quite a bit on the decomp system. Solenoid was activating and both heads appeared to be moving on start according to the timers.... When I manually pushed the front head decomp lever all the way forward (further than the solenoid was pulling it) the bike turned over effortlessly and as I slowly released it the bike fired up perfectly.

I still plan on making some adjustments to the Decomp cables but after I worked them back and forth a few times with the cables set to the manual specs it seems to fire up every time. ....It definitely seems to me that this decomp system not being set correctly significantly narrowed my operating window on startup and may have contributed to overworking my old battery and long list of other startup issues I have fought previously.

I'm also seeing a lot of guys with the LC 1500's talk about doing the LC shuffle where when the bike won't turn over you put it in gear and roll backwards to decompress the engine. Gonna have to test this and maybe remove the decomp system all together if possible and start another thread!

What you just mentioned..(that I highlighted)... pretty much points to doing what I had mentioned about a "Decomp Tune-up".
In doing so, you will be best assured of The Fullest Possible Operating Range of the system .

Strengthening the return spring(s) will do the Best You Can Do to ensure the Decomp Lever(s) returns when the the Decomp Solenoid wants it to. Remembering that it has to close by overcoming any resistance in the cables themselves.

It's hard to imagine doing my "tune up" would be pointless as the Decomp Lever does not Always naturally return at the best possible time.

[hillsy]

Tightening the decomp springs is working AGAINST the solenoid - which is what is happening here if you are manually turning the decomp lever further than the solenoid is doing....and the bike starts.

The cable sync is pretty important here - as well as ensuring the levers can move freely and the solenoid is working properly.

This is the method to check the solenoid on the 1500 - should be the same for your bike and worth checking as it's pretty simple:

[Designer]

I may give that spring idea a try. I'm kind of surprised with all of these "it wont start" threads that there's not more people talking about the decomp system.

Yes, .and having them work against the Solenoid more effectively will ensure they are the most freely moving.

When the system is in top Condition, the Solenoid has MORE THAN enough power to pull the Decomp Levers when operating,.... even after "Strengthening" their Springs. This is about making sure that the Levers have the best possible chance for Fullest Total Movement Quickly in operation.

The Cables/Levers might be restricting the Solenoids movements,....so this "Tune Up" measure I suggested "flexes" the entire Cable/Lever System so as make as sure as possible the freest most total movements.

Add to this,.... do check and clean your Solenoid for Freest/Fullest movements. It doesn't take much Dirt to Slow/ Restrict it.

I'm also seeing a lot of guys with the LC 1500's talk about doing the LC shuffle where when the bike won't turn over you put it in gear and roll backwards to decompress the engine. Gonna have to test this and maybe remove the decomp system all together if possible and start another thread!

I fixed one of my Riding Buddies 1500 which would not turn over once in a while when we were Riding. Turns out there was an intermittent "Hang Up" with the Solenoid that a good Cleaning and "Polishing" of the Solenoid Piston/Bore fixed,....that, along with a good Cleaning/Graphite Lubing of the somewhat Dirty Cables. After giving it the Return Spring Tune up",...all has been well of several years now.