86 XT600 Carb Swap

[pulpbleacher]

Hi All
New guy here. I've read thru the posts here already and you all seem genuine and interested in helping.
My bike had a engine job 2 years ago by a trustworthy mechanic. I ran it for 6 months off and on, it ran flawlessly. Then parked it for a year and a half. I started it up the other day on fresh gas and it spits and coughs and dies. I turn up the idle screw to get it to idle but it smokes, bogs and dies. This primary-secondary carb setup is a little baffling.
The carb manual looks complicated as hell. I'm on a budget and I live in Canada.
Is there a carb setup available in the aftermarket like sliding Mikuni's to replace a seemingly outdated stock setup?
If not, does anyone know A decent website that has easier stock carb cleaning and disassembly - assembly instructions?
Thanks for the help and Thanks to the Senior members.

[Bugz-101]

Yup - I am thinking the same thing with my '85 tenere. Down the track when I get to the motor that is...

Surely a pair off a late model XT with low mileage or an aftermarket set would provide extra power and or better fuel economy than my 20+ year old carbs.

[Lamin Sambou]

hi and welcome,

first thing, what model is your bike? or post a pic.

you can go out and buy a different set of carbs, but it sounds like it ran OK before you parked it up? so why go and spend all that money and time on new carbs.

overtime the old fuel has probably left some deposits and partially or fully blocked some of the jets. also have a look at the state of the air filter and check none of the rubber intakes are perished and letting in air.

have you got the clymer manual for your bike? if it looks too complicated pay someone to do it for you, still gonna be cheaper than new carbs.

[wolfzero]

the later carbs are the same primary and secondary set up so wont be any better than cleaning out your original set.
changing to something like a set of twin mikuni's will make very little difference compared to the oe carbs unless you change the exhaust system and modify the air box, and that will do nothing to improve economy.

[BlackDogZulu]

Let's get this right ...

1. The bike ran flawlessly (your word) after the engine job
2. You left it parked up for 18 months
3. Now it runs badly.

Does this suggest anything to you? Carbs can gum up with fuel residues in a lot less than 18 months. Take the carbs off, give them a good clean and blow through, and try again. I would be amazed if the bike wasn't "flawless" again.

In my opinion, the Yamaha dual carb set-up is pretty good as it is. I have had 3 XTs with the YDIS system, and it's been fault-free for me. If you start looking at different carbs, you will have to take charge of getting the jetting right and you'll be relying on trial and error for all your settings. Don't go there

[zigzag]

hi there i agree with blackdogzulu if it ran fine before there is no reason it should be any diffarant now. i would clean the carbs you have as they were good before ,you may need to replace gaskets/ o,rings etc but if you buy second hand ones you may be in the same situation . stick with parts you know to be good also give the bike a full service , 18 months off the road is no problem unless the bike was stored under a waterfall or in a canal, good luck with it . zigzag

[pulpbleacher]

Thanks for the response guys. I guess a little common sense comes into play every now and then.
I took the carb off, removes the float bowl and it was gummed up pretty bad. I cleaned it up with carb cleaner, re-installed the carb and had to fuss with the cables to get them to where they were. I added some 'go-juice' that I use in my snowmachine and kicked the crap out if it for an hour. I drained the float bowl several times and then it roared to life. Idles great, no bog, little smoke, but has a pop at one third throttle when held steady. That is it.
She'll be 'flawless' again.
thanks again.
If anything else comes up I know where to get advice.
D.

[pulpbleacher]

Here are some images taken right after I dug it out of the garage.
I still love this bike. She's quite the Thumper.
It's street legal, just have to get plates.