85 FJ1100 Minor Ping Issue

[Slick]

There are previous post about some of the things I have done over this season, but feel free to ask.

I FINALLY bought a CarbTune after rebuilding my carbs over 1 month ago. 2 days ago I synced the carbs. They werent too bad I guess, ok fine they were pretty off. I cant even put into words the joy of hearing the engine smooth out as I adjusted the last carb. Now, the only thing I notice is a slight ping/pop coming from I believe cyl 4 and every now and then, right when you hear the ping (you really have to listen for it when riding) I feel a drop or two of fuel spit out of the overflow hose and onto my ankle. Any suggestions?

Also, I noticed my RPM gauge likes to hop around a little. The engine is not jumping around just the gauge. It mostly happens when idling and it will bounce up to 2000-2500. If I blip the throttle most of the time it will stop. Where does it get the RPM data from?


If you guys could post the little things to check how your bike is running I would appreciate it. I'm talking about the, "if you rev your bike to 3k and let off it should..." or "when in 5th gear at 55mph your bike should...". I'm just curious.

[Arnie]

You could move your overflow hoses so it doesn't hit your ankle.
Check your exhaust header bolts for tightness.  It may be a slight backfire caused by air getting into the exhaust.
Tach instability might be caused by poor ground or signal lead from the coil.  Check they are clean and tight.

Arnie

[flips]

There are previous post about some of the things I have done over this season, but feel free to ask.

I FINALLY bought a CarbTune after rebuilding my carbs over 1 month ago. 2 days ago I synced the carbs. They werent too bad I guess, ok fine they were pretty off. I cant even put into words the joy of hearing the engine smooth out as I adjusted the last carb. Now, the only thing I notice is a slight ping/pop coming from I believe cyl 4 and every now and then, right when you hear the ping (you really have to listen for it when riding) I feel a drop or two of fuel spit out of the overflow hose and onto my ankle. Any suggestions?

Also, I noticed my RPM gauge likes to hop around a little. The engine is not jumping around just the gauge. It mostly happens when idling and it will bounce up to 2000-2500. If I blip the throttle most of the time it will stop. Where does it get the RPM data from?


If you guys could post the little things to check how your bike is running I would appreciate it. I'm talking about the, "if you rev your bike to 3k and let off it should..." or "when in 5th gear at 55mph your bike should...". I'm just curious.

Hi there
Ditto what Arnie said.I"d be wondering about your carb float levels.My tacho "magically" stopped hoping around when I ran a new ground wire from the battery up to a compressor up under the front faring for a new set of air horns.Must have been a poor ground on mine.
And as for "if you rev your bike to 3k and let off it should..."
A.Be disappointed.
B.Slow down if your moving.
C.quickly return to idle.

Or "when in 5th gear at 55mph your bike should..."
A.Be hoping you will go faster... 
B.Not spit fuel on you ankle....
C.Be very happy and ready to pour on some torque with a crack of the throttle!
My  86 1200 gets some vibration at 60mph in 5th but then smooths out at 65+,but I think that is typical of an 86.I'm saving up for some vibranators!

Cheers and ride safe!

[hein]

       How do you feel a drop of fuel on your ankle while riding? I really hope your not riding in bare feet. As to the pop/ping, under what conditions does this occur? Did you do a valve lash check before syncing the carbs?FJ's are not noted for pinging as a rule but a tight intake valve or a leaking valve could cause a popping noise. Do a valve lash check and a leakdown test first. Get some decent riding boots  then do the diagnostics mentioned and report back.  Hein.

[Slick]

I'm will have little time to actually tear this thing down and do the suggested. But I wanted add whatever I can for the sake of documenting.

The day I posted about the spitting and pinging I had only taken her out for about 15min around the neighborhood. The last time I was working on her as well as rode was right after I rebuilt the barbs. I had a few issues and parked it. The day after I took her out to go to the Doctor because its a nice smooth 20min, 65mph ride. I was cruising @70(Our police tolerate 1-5) and the bike seem to feel like it was ?surging? It was a VERY slight feeling of the bike accelerating and decelerating over and over  every 5 seconds. I just changed the plugs and I'm going to take her for a ride to the bank and maybe take her on the highway and see how things go. I really shouldn't have needed to change the plugs since I just put them in about 600 miles ago. But I can tell you she sounds like a beast now, has an easy start, and idles smooth(still a low ping here or there). No more erratic RPM gauge either.

If I slow roll the throttle, from 1k-1500rpm is ok. Then around 2000rpm it starts popping and pinging the worst, gets real rough until 2500-2600rpm then smooths out and is snappy up as far as I want to take her. Throttle snap from idle has a slight stumble. I can take a video of her starting and idling and whatever, then post it if that helps.

I thank everyone that's helping, and I want it to be known that I am a College student getting ready for my first year. So money and time are very sparse. I have been wanting to check my valves for the longest. The bike has 16k on it and the PO(My best-friend of 21yr) purchased it from a guy that restore/rebuilds bikes. The guy had too much work load and needed to get rid of a few projects. I just don't know how far he got.

P.S The reason the fuel was hitting my ankle was because I had on ankle socks, sneakers, and shorts. I live in suburbs with a lot of 30mph roads and its not at all uncommon for people to cruise around wearing that. I have an ICON jacket and boots too... with toe sliders   It just sucks to ride around like that when its around 85F, suns beating on you, 45mph max roads, and a DAMN red light every 1/2 mile. Don't get me wrong I do go for nice country rides, I'm just talking about when I have that itch to ride, so I take her out for errands.

[Dan Filetti]

P.S The reason the fuel was hitting my ankle was because I had on ankle socks, sneakers, and shorts.

Dude, you will fall dressed that way 1 time, and, having learned the hard way, never do it again.  You can of course do whatever you want, it is your bike and your skin and all, just trying to save you some painful skin graphs... 

Dan

[andyb]

some painful skin graphs...  

I so want to take a picture of skin and label the x and y...


That said, good gear with proper ventilation is a lot, lot more comfortable than wearing shorts.  And doubly so on the crashing end.  I've tried both while dressed in both ways and now you will not see me on a bike with shorts on, ever.  In 85F weather with humidity running >70%, a mesh jacket is almost too cold to ride in at speed.  Discomfort from gear means you simply have the wrong gear.  I think my mesh cost me $25 on ebay, so it's really a relatively minor expense... one of those things that once you've ridden in gear appropriate to the situation, you'll consider it an absolute necessity.

[Slick]

some painful skin graphs...  

I so want to take a picture of skin and label the x and y...


That said, good gear with proper ventilation is a lot, lot more comfortable than wearing shorts.  And doubly so on the crashing end.  I've tried both while dressed in both ways and now you will not see me on a bike with shorts on, ever.  In 85F weather with humidity running >70%, a mesh jacket is almost too cold to ride in at speed.  Discomfort from gear means you simply have the wrong gear.  I think my mesh cost me $25 on ebay, so it's really a relatively minor expense... one of those things that once you've ridden in gear appropriate to the situation, you'll consider it an absolute necessity.

I totally understand what you are saying and I agree that there are dangers to dressing that way.I have 2 things to add. I see that I may not have made it clear that I ALWAYS wear my jacket. I only said t-shirt referring to the under clothes. Now as far as the shorts go, maybe the comfort comes from years of blasting around my suburb neighborhood on my 89 KX80 with no helmet let alone no shirt half the time. But dont think I am not extra safe when my legs are not protected, Maybe its our roads, or the people? I dont know.

So I have a video of me starting my bike cold, letting her warm up, and then rolling the throttle. I will be posting it up later today.

[nvmike24]

Proper gear is much like Insurance from my point of view.
1. It is not needed very often.
2. I bitch when I pay for it often.
3. I'm dam glad I have it when the situation arises that I need to use it.

Most accidents happen with in 10 miles of home, so move 11 miles from home!

I have had road rash on many occasions, had my big toe torn off riding dirt bikes in sneakers. Now being over 50 and realizing I'm not indestructible I'll sweat in the 105 plus degree heat of Las Vegas a little rather then go out with the gear hanging on the hangar.

Just my 2 cents brother. 

Good judgement comes from expireance, unfortunately most expireance comes from bad judgement! IMO

[FJTillDeath]

To be quite honest gear is essential. my 2 cents, but from my accident where I Tboned a car (wasnt going that fast but negligence from both parts played the factor) gear is essential. On the day I was wearing my normal clothes, work pants, smart shirt, hoodie and lether jacket with smart shoes ( the lace up kind) and my back pack for work. My helmet essentially played no role in helipng me as it flung off the moment of impact. I twisted through the air lande a couple of times. damages: I broke my thumb and thats it ( i was wearing gloves - not leather or bike gloves but they were thick) and the thumb that broke was on the hand that the glove too flung off. My backpack actually saved my back and neck and uiltimately my head (although if i had gone faster i dont think it would have). otherwise i had a gash in my head and road rash on the top of my foot(which was covered by my shoe??) anyway point is these things dont look pretty and even with some protection you can still get roadrash and very bad rash by that too. Its a good thing that you wear your jacket a nd you may be lucky your community is not a dangerous one, but these things do happen. and if you arent dressed for it you will regret it.

Now I wear a blazer and a leather jacket, a good set of jeans, some nice thick biker boots, good quality biker gloves and although I still wear the same crummy helmet (waiting for finances to improve to upgrade) i ensure that it is fitted on properly.

Just to let you know my accident was on a 125 not much more powerful than your 80cc and with a machine as powerful as the FJ I wont take chances ever.

Othewise with regards to the pinging, a video might do some good as I myself have an 85 1100 that used to have some slight pinging until I worked on the intakes to the carbs, cjanged my petrol and some other factors that the guys on the forum helped me with. Now i still get a slight ping when Im in stand still traffic, but its nowhere near as bad as it used to be. I still have to pick up a set of side scoops for my FJ but the dealer qouted me at 3500rand (500 - 600 dollars!)

Otherwise looking forward to seeing the video and hope things work out for you my 10cents on the matter

[hein]

     A video?  Perhaps I'm a bit dim or "challenged" but I can't figure out how to take  pictures of noise.

[andyb]

Frequently, video includes audio. 

[hein]

Frequently, video includes audio. 

Well Andyb you have confirmed what my wife has been saying for years. I am challenged when it comes to modern electronic gizmos. She refers to me as a ludite. My cell phone can't take pictures, one of my two work computers operates off of dos, I still use a fax machine and  have only recently switched to a digital camera. On the plus side, I do know how to build a still and make  high test alcohol.

[rktmanfj]

On the plus side, I do know how to build a still and make  high test alcohol.

Send us some Red Cap for the ECFR... or better yet, just deliver it!        

[Slick]

I will have the Video up soon. I have to find an editing program to edit out my licence Plate, and maybe the rap music playing in the back ground. But I dont think I can do anything about the music part, so just put cotton in your ears to catch the blood