92 Vs1400 front cylinder appears to be rich

[3andit]

Hey everyone as the title says it appears that the front cylinder is running rich.
First I'll give you the back story and then what I have done to the bike and what my issue is now.

So the bike is a 92 and it had 32,000km on it when it was parked 10 years ago. When the bike was parked it ran like brand new. Since the day the PO purchased the bike it has had aftermarket pipes on it.

So fast forward to today. I get the bike for a steal of a deal (bike was my step dads so I know the history) the bike has sat for 10 years... First thing I did was change all fluids, fog the cylinders, cleaned the airfilters ( I replaced them Later on in This story), pulled the carbs and cleaned the crap out of them, installed a new battery and put fresh gas in the tank. Now I went to start her up and she fired like it was started the day before... Great!! Took it out for a ride and marvelled at the power it had (until this point I only rode a M50) I did quickly notice that I could smell fuel when stopped at a light and my buddy following me one day said it smelled badly of fuel. Also on deceleration it would pop here and there. So what I did was order a set of K&N drop in filters. Installed them and the gas smell and richness went away... Great! But I was still getting the pop which I determined is coming from the front cylinder. So now I pulled the plugs to see what was up. Sure enough the front plug had carbon build up on it and the rear one lookes perfect... I did a plug swap as in switch each plug to see if I get the same result, and I do. After testing this I have noticed that the bike likes to stall every so often unless I blip the throttle once or twice when I pull up to a light. At this point I replaced the plugs with new ones... I'm still having the same issue.

Now I know I'm paranoid and OCD when it comes to sounds and performance but the front cylinder plug has carbon build up on it but I also noted that the front cylinder seems hotter than the rear one... Is this normal ? I don't know these 1400s that well is it rich or lean? Could I have screwed up the carb sync when I pulled them and that is the cause ? Where should I go from here ? I don't won't to wreck the bike and keep running it... It does seem to run fantastic when I do ride it other than that little blip at the light and the odd pop on deceleration

Thanks in advance for the help

[jonnycando]

Popping tends to indicate a lean condition.....

[scootermcq]

You might have screwed up the sync, but I would check the spark on that plug. It could be a weak spark which is not fully igniting the fuel. This causes the "rich" condition and also unburnt fuel sits in the pipes. When you decel it mixes air into the exhaust which allows the gas to ignite on the hot pipes. Might not be, but I would take a look at it.

As for stalling check your idle, needs to be around 1000 rpm. It is important to keep the oil flowing to the heads as well.

[3andit]

I know when I pulled the carbs, to make it easier to release one of the cables I turned the idle adjuster all the way out, and in my excitement I didn't count how many turns it was set at... Is there an approximate number of turns it should be at as there is no RPM gauge... Or is there another way ? Whe I put it back together and started the bike I just turned it until it held an idle and said good enough but I perhaps I was wrong

[scootermcq]

I know when I pulled the carbs, to make it easier to release one of the cables I turned the idle adjuster all the way out, and in my excitement I didn't count how many turns it was set at... Is there an approximate number of turns it should be at as there is no RPM gauge... Or is there another way ? Whe I put it back together and started the bike I just turned it until it held an idle and said good enough but I perhaps I was wrong

You can do it by ear... get another vehicle with a tach and run it at 1000 rpm. Set to the bike to sound like it is idling at the same speed.

Or you can buy a tach to use for testing

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/LCD-Digital-Tach ... yf&vxp=mtr

[jonnycando]

The idle speed is best set with the engine at operating temperature as well....ride it for say 15 minutes. Also if all else fails, you can approximate 1000 rpm by going for a "happy burble" not loping, not racing.

[3andit]

Awesome thanks for the advice! When I get home from work on Thursday I'll adjust the idle and check the spark. I have to wait for my carb sync tool to come in the mail before I can sync the carbs up. I happen to have a brand new set of coils plugs and boots for it if need be as I suspected them to be bad right from the get go just due to sitting for so long