Ok so i just finished rejetting the bike and installing a K&N lunchbox with a Jardine full exhaust and am now having problems figuring out what exactly to do to get the bike to run right now.  I have adjusted the carbs to get the color of the spark plugs to look like this:


I believe that is what they should look like color wise and both are the same.  Please tell me if that is not what they should look like.

But the real problem is that the bike will start (once i remember to turn the fuel back on) with the choke turned off but it sounds really rough.  Also if i pull the choke on it will then die instantly.  Two videos with sound of the bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1QTg3hfRBg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvZkeTyRoFE

I am wondering if their might be a leak where the exhaust connects to the motor since the bolts seemed to long almost for the new header of the jardine system but they say to use factory bolts so i did and made sure to tighten them but to not overtighten them.  I am not sure if it is a leak there or not also since if i put my hand over the end of the exhaust pipe i still feel alot of pressure there while the bike is running and i can't feel any leaks near the headers but don't want to stick my hand in to closely cause that would be a really nasty burn.  Are their any kind of gasket or something that is supposed to go betweek the new exhaust and the motor or is it supposed to be just the metal pipe up against holes in the motor.  Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.  Keep in mind i have never done a project like this before so it was all a first for me and have been able to answer many questions from reading through this site but was unable to find a scenario like mine with the search.

it sounds mean, i've got no idea what your problem might be but at least it sounds cool 

OK exhaust leak - OK definetly can make it act up, but it wont act up with choke on and work fine with choke off ... unless you can freaking smell gas from the exhaust @ the head.
There is a copper washer @ the exhaust port. Definetly needed to keep the seal. Else ... well with a few 100 miles a nice streak of carbon will be building somewhere and will point to the leak.
However ... I am yet to listen to the sound clip. So K, here goes ...
Cool.
Buddha.

Yea I hear all sorts of exhaust ... but it sounds very raspy and somehow like it has a knock. Dunno ... are your valves loose ... cam shaft side drift ?
Dunno, too much mechanical noise ... cant imagine that its a regular old exhaust leak ... but depends how much its leaking doesn't it.
Cool.
Buddha.

There are gaskets/metal crush rings that go between your exhaust and motor.  Labeled number 1 in diagram below...



Order them.  And then when you are going to install them, check and make sure the old gaskets are removed from the motor first.  Also, while you have the exhaust unbolted from the motor, screw in the bolts by hand as far as they go to give yourself a reference point on max depth.  If you find that your close to that, and the new exhaust isn't torqued down properly, get shorter bolts.  No biggie.

Still thinking...  (since the bolts seemed almost to long for the new header)

If the old gaskets are still attached to your old exhaust it would require you to tighten down the new exhaust a little bit farther than normal.  This may be the issue your having with the stock bolts not working as they should with the new exhaust.

Still thinking...

In the meantime, if you find your old gaskets on the old exhaust, you can unbolt the new exhaust, put the old gaskets back on/in, and then re-bolt up the new exhaust.  They won't work perfectly, but i would assume it to be better then straight header to motor until the new ones arrive.

Still thinking...

If in fact the old gaskets are in the motor and the bolts are too long to torque down properly, add some washers to the bolt to allow yourself to properly torque down the new exhaust until the new gaskets arrive and/or you get shorter bolts.


Plugs look good but i'm no expert.


Under someone elses sky - Bob!

did you order your jets from buddha? if not, it may be possible that you got the wrong type.  how does the bike run when you are riding it, at various throttle positions?  from the video, you may wanna bump your idle up a little.  may help to smooth out your idle

He did get from me, but even if he didn't, the 89-00 style pilot will not even fit the new bike.
The mains will fit, but more than likely they wont be that bad if you were to cross fit those.
Washers dont make a diff. But 89-00 use #4, 01+ uses a weird metric some or other.
Cool.
Buddha.

I had to unbolt my Jardine and re-bolt it a couple of times to eliminate an air leak on the left cylinder.   Slack it up all the way through, then re-bolt it starting at the header and working back.   Pay close attention to the fit at the head.

But I don't think an air leak at the exhaust side would be affected by enriching the idle w/ choke.....I would be looking at the carbs.   

Have you ridden the bike at speed at all w/ the re jet and filter/exhaust?

i haven't ridden the bike yet since it has been raining and having a feeling the bike wasn't running right didn't seem like a good combination.  I do feel like their is a leak at the left head of the exhaust but also noticed last night that their is no gasket their and it isn't attached to the stock exhaust either.  I am going to go to the local dealership and pick up the gaskets for the exhaust and try rebolting it all on this week.  Thanks for the advice.  Does my spark plug look to be the right color for rich/lean? 

QuoteDoes my spark plug look to be the right color for rich/lean? 

looks pretty good from the pic, but check it against this...

http://www.dansmc.com/Spark_Plugs/Spark_Plugs_catalog.html

Plug looks good to me.   I think you have found your problem w/ the missing gasket.   Good call not to ride in the wet w/ an iffy set up.

Ok update on my scenario.  I got the gaskets from the dealership and put them in and realized that their were gaskets in the head of the motor but i just didn't notice they were there but were defintely crushed down from the new ones.  So I installed the new gaskets and rebolted up the whole exhaust and wow what a difference.  That is what the exhaust should really sound like but for some reason whenever i put any choke on the engine just chokes and dies.  I do not have a full understanding of how the choke works but will be doing research on that tomorrow at work but would like to know if their are any suggestions for what i should be looking at to fix the bike so that the choke works again.  I am able to start the bike with no choke and it idles right around 1.2k and within a minute is smooth and the bike seems warmed up.  I still have not taken it for a ride since it has still not stopped raining but am hoping to go for a ride on sunday once the rain stops.  Any and all help is much appreciated with the my choke.  Thanks

For some reason it sounds like your idle is rich, hence the no choke start, and adding choke (richening the idle mixture) is basically flooding you out?  Just a guess.   What jets are your running, and how many turns out do you have your idle mixture screws?   Try three turns out.....turn them both in shut, then each one 3 complete revolutions back out.

I have installed 20 pilots & 147.5 mains with 1 washer on the needle and am at 4 turns out right now.

Sorry If if missed it but what year was your bike again?  Do you have mid main jets?   My bike (93) only has idle and mains, I run 40 pilots and drilled mains, for got what I have in there now, think they are .055 dia.

With a bigger pilot jet you shouldn't need choke at all - it's like it's got choke on already compared to stock as the bigger jet makes it richer. Exactly the same with my bike, any choke and it dies. But I've found I don't ever need choke to start even when it's around 0C (32F).

Just adjust your idle speed so that when started it will idle with no choke at close to 1000 rpm, then as it warms it will idle around 1300-1400.