Hey guys...so its finally up and running but having some issues.

First off, its really hard starting when its cold. Once it does finally fire up (a few minutes of cranking) with the choke on the idel is very eradic. It fires, dies, fires, dies, fires...idel goes up and down and sounds like its missing. On occasion it will backfire through the carb.

I have noticed that rolling on the gas before i attempt a start that there is no stream of fuel inside the mouth of the carb. This is true weather its warm or cold. This leads me to beleive the accelerater pump is shot and the carb needs rebuilt. I plan to order an andrews high flow pump and a rebuild kit. Oh ya...its a butterfly Keihin Carburetor. It also has hesitation once its warm, have to get on it slowley.

Am I on the right track with the carb? Could it cause all my issues or do I possibly have a timing issue as well? Timed it once already but the timing light was set at 30 advance and I timed it at idle. I think it needed set at 0 and the rpms at mid point, but not 100% sure.

 

Rebuild the carb, or better still, get a later keihin and jet it to your bike. Cold, the motor likes fuel on start up. You are right, there should be a stream of fuel from the accelarator pump jet when you whack the throttle. I'm sure you checked the the manifold mountings.

 

Cherry, I did. Have a small leak where the intake meets the back cylinder head. New seals and clamps on order.

Suprising lack of responses here, have had to seek help elsewhere. No one had opinion on the timing either.

 

Took it on the longest ride yet...about 25 miles total...found another issue. She smokes at idle after running for awhile. Burning oil for sure. I pulled the plugs and cleaned them, reinstalled and marked them on the intake side and ran it till it smoked. Pulled the plugs and determined i only had oil on one side of each plug so I am guessing valve seals are leaking. Also did a pressure check. brought each cylinder up on TDC and pressurized the cylinders to 20psi. Air is leaking past the exhaust valve on both cylinders. No leak into the carb or air into the oil tank. So the rings and intake valves appear to be ok. Not sure if this has anything to do with the burning oil or not.

This bike only has 17,000 miles on it but sat for at least the past 4 years that i know of. Could the sitting make the valve seals go bad? Regardless i forsee a head job in the future. Any idea of cost?

 

The later shovels didn't have the solid top end like the earlier shovels. Cheaper materials and such. A good top end will do the job, done by someone who knows what they are doing. When you get the heads off, and you are game for it, follow the instructions in your shop manual and re-lap the valves and seats yourself. You may fix the problem and have the satisfaction of doing the job yourself. It's not hard at all.
As far as the timing, I don't use the dial back light. Just identify your advance mark, hook it to the front cylinder, bring it up to 2000 rpm, stick your face in front of the hole and get a face full of spray. If you are using a HI 4, time the rear cylinder, using the rear advance dashpot on the unit and have the light hooked to the rear cylinder. Identify your rear advance mark on your flywheel.

 

i am deffinatly game! Will order new valve seals, head gaskets, and rocker box gaskets when I order all the other parts on my list (including the service manual). Anything else you can think of i will need to do this myself?

I timed it last time just as you said. Afterwards as the starter inganged sometimes it would lock up and blow the engine backwards I think. moving the timing slightly fixed this for the most part....still does it sometimes. Not 100% sure of the cause.