[superbird52]

I got my new (old) '79 cx500 out today and finally got to ride it. The only thing is, it's a little bit gutless in the low range, then the power jumps and the revs take off at 5000 rpm. I can handle having that power, just prefer it not so suddenly. I assume it has to do with carb jets? Should I just clean them out really well? The other thing is when I got back the fuel overflow line was leaking fuel. I turned the petcock off just for the sake of saving it. Was this because the carbs were flooded or because I need to shut the fuel off every time I ride? I'm new to motorcycles and thought that the carbs would keep it from leaking all over with it open.

 

[CXPHREAK]

Low speed stator coil perhaps?

 

[superbird52]

Hmmm... I hadn't thought of that. Would another symptom of that be battery acid overflow? Or is that just due to a new battery?

And how would I test that?

 

[CXPHREAK]

The low speed stator coil powers the ignition up to around 5000 RPM where the high speed coil takes over and is part of the ignition system, seperate to the charging system though contained in the same part.



This is just a guess because of the rev range you mention, suggest you do the relevent tests to rule this in or out.



It could also be dirty low speed circuits in the carbs too.



Maybe the battery was overfilled. I'd check that the electrolyte levels are still right and clean up any spilled acid and then do a voltage check across the battery terminals with the engine running. Overflowing batteries are often due to a faulty reg/rec. You don't really want to see more than 14.5v at around 5000 RPM.



The reg/rec units on these bikes don't often fail but anything is possible.

 

[superbird52]

It probably was a little overfilled. All the cells are in the right range now. And I'm getting just about 13.5 volts at 4000 rpm or so.



I did notice that sometimes the jump would occur just a little bit lower (~4500 rpm), would that rule out the stator? Or does the "handoff" between low and high speed vary a little?



I don't have time to do the tests right away, but I'll do them as soon as possible.



If it is the carbs (I hope so), is there a link you can recommend for instructions on cleaning them?



Thanks for the info and suggestion

 

[CXPHREAK]

I'll leave it to those who are good at links to furnish the carb links for you. There is a lot of info on the subject on this site and LRCXed literally wrote the book on the subject. I have this and reccomend it very highly, it's about $25.



All the relevent stator tests are here too.

 

[superbird52]

Ok great, I'll just search through. Thanks for the help.

 

[Shep]

Ok great, I'll just search through. Thanks for the help.

A full section on the carbs here,



http://globalcxglvtwins.hostingdelivered.com/viewforum.php?f=19