Here's the skinny. I will try and keep it short but I tried several different things you all may need to know about.
'03 was starting to run nasty and I assumed it was the battery since it was the origonal one. Didn't seem to be holding a charge (I thought).
Replaced with a brand new one. In the days the bike sat until I installed the batt I guess things went from bad to worse. Couldn't even start it. Checked the gas tank vent hose, nothing unusual. Checked plug gaps, disassembled carb and cleaned. All seems to be in order.

Problems:
No choke it turns over and over, never starts. Does drain battery...
Choke on it cranks right up and runs smooth, give it any amount of gas and it dies.
Let it sit a few hours and it started, gave it some gas and it revved okay, but after a few seconds started backfiring through the carb.
Took the time to swap plugs and carb off of the '00. '00 ran fine with '03 items. '03 same condition as before.
Tried switching plug wires (you never know), same problem.

Seems to me to be electrical, and I'm thinking maybe ignition coils, or maybe CDI. Not really wanting to switch these in case it's something earlier in the system that is going to mess up the good ones. I'm hoping it's something simple but more than likely it's not.
Battery did seem to charge back up while it was running with the choke on, so I think that rules out the stator or regulator/rectifier.

The '03 plugs were obviously wet before the swap due to lack of spark. After running them in the '00 they were fine.
I'll stop here and see what transpires. Not much response to my sprocket chain question but I have the new smaller ones installed and the chains got tight enough, so I'm good there.

 

Spitting back into the carb - have you checked the valves to see if they need adjusting? Hard starting is also a symptom of valves needing adjusting.

 

Check your carb I had a problem with the choke and spit back threw air cleaner. I had mud in my carb. I cleand it out worked fine. The guy that had it before me must have goten some dirt in the breather and whala mud. Good luck.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Check the strainers in the tank. They may be plugged up. I would have to agree with the valve clearance suggestion. Does it have a good hot spark?
Hold one of the plug wires in your hand, crank the bike. If you can't hold the starter button down, the spark is okay. Just kidding! Having a little fun. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

sinch, As I stated I did break the carbs all the way down. Didn't need it but I hosed them down with carb cleaner since I had gone through the trouble of disassembly. They both work fine on the '00.

clshortt. Strainers are clean. Checked spark, not with the old hand trick!, and it is there, not quite sure if it's a good hot one or not but it does have spark.

So do the valves just wear out or come out of adjustment over time? The motor has never been broken into. Is it a major undertaking to get to and adjust them?
What you guys are calling spitting back through the carb, is this the same as what I'm calling backfiring throught he carb? I'm confused as to how ignition in the cylinder would make it back out, but I know it didn't sound good while it was happening, hence me shutting it down immediately.
I couldn't swap the rectifier and the CDI to try and narrow down the problem as the connectors are different between the '00 and '03.

Thanks so far for the input. Anybody live near 29 Palms that has done this (valves) before and wants to make a little $ on the side? I'd be glad to watch, learn, and help and pass the experience along to someone else in need.

 

I'm doing my valve adjustment right now actually... I'll get into detail in a little while later...but basically take off the gas tank, pull the plugs, set engine at TDC with locking bolt, remove valve cover and gasket. Make sure cam lobes are facing away from each other, and the lines on the cams match up. Use a feeler guage at this point and slip one at a time under the cam lobe between the lobe and the shim. The measurement is the highest feeler guage you can slide in (not force). From there, if you need to, remove the allen bolts from the cam bridge, remove the 2 bolts holding the cam chain guide to the cam bridge, remove the cam chain tensioner. Make sure not to drop chain cown inside the cases, secure it with a string or something. You should now be able to remove the cams, and the cam bridge exposing the shims and buckets. Remove the shims from the top of the buckets, and measure them with a micrometer.

Now here's the math. take the clearance you have, subtract the clearance you want, then add that final number to the shim thickness you have. If the number is higher than your current shim thiskness, you need a thicker shim. If the number is lower, you need a thinner shim.

Example:
measured clearance----0.011
clearance required------0.005
subtract the 2 numbers to get 0.006
say your current shim is 0.0845
add the number you got from the first equation to your current shim thickness to get (0.006+0.0845=0.0905)

If you get yourself a shim that is 0.0905" thick, your new clearance will now be 0.005.... within spec.

Hopefully tahts not too confusing, and so much for the short version, but let us know how you make out....Good luck.

 

DaBomb650, I tried your last suggestion. That's why I'm just now getting around to responding! That was a good one.
No really, just got the part in from eBay, gotta love those folks.

Got 'er up and running boys! Hard to believe all of those problems that I explained were caused by the regulator/rectifier. Picked one up off of eBay for $15 and now she's running like the Beast she was meant to be. Simply amazing that it gave every symptom in the world of being fuel/intake related. Was only getting 11 volts when 14.25 is required.

I really hope this helps some other folks out as well (BYRD_MAN). I know I had a few PM's and will answer those shortly.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

 

Ace - CRANKIN! Glad you got the old girl gin'n again. Time to ride! I don't get it, mine is an '01, I have never had an issue with the regulator. I'm sure my time will come. I may buy one of these and throw it in the trailer box. At least I will have one when she does "cook off".

Wha Hoo! "PRO RIDER" - (sorry, had to )[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Good to here ya got her figured out. In the event that you ever do need to adjust your valves (*and you will) the link in my signiture will explane how to take care of that when the time come's.

 

Eaglecollector, where do you ride down in the Yucaipa area? I hear the Badlands are off limits and I've about seen every inch of real estate off of the I-10 at Date Palm. Same for up here at 29, seen it all and looking for some new ground within an hour or so drive. Is there anything ATV friendly in Cherry Valley? I heard that those small dunes to the West of the 111, past the fans, were okay but are now off limits. Have you done the whole Johnson Valley deal?
Just looking for something new, and closer than Dumont