86 500 xc

bike could be vibrating enough or oddly that the seat isnt sealing...

Cool. Ill have to pull carb back off tomarow and go over it with a fine tooth comb. May have managed to get a piece of dirt or other debris in it. Don't really see how as there hasn't been anything showing up in filter but weirder things have happened.

It does it even when not running, well after initial start up that is.

test the floats in a container or in the bowl itself by filling it up with fuel. 1 may have a tiny hole and sink!

what carb is it the vm units have a removable brass seat with a stainless steal valve, might have to clean up the seat with cutting compound for a better seal, check the seat is screwed down tight leave the bowl off and connect to the tank and test the valve, make sure you let the fuel run through the valve before gently closing it, keihin have non removable seats and rubber coated valve tips proceed as above but chech the tip as the rubber coating wears and will have to be replaced if worn.

You nailed it. I left bowl off and worked levar/arm to close valve. Its slowed flow but definatly didn't stop it. Pulling it off to take it to kitchen table, for cleanup and or lapping. It is a mukuni carb. Thanks for the insight!

Found the culprit. Must have been in there for a while because I have had a filter on for quite a while.



While I was in there I did use lapping compound and gave it a couple turns...just to be sure.

i take it we will see a new vid soon? these old husqys will really make a tech out of you!

I may post something this week, but havnt got radiators fixed yet. I might have to put one of them back on and make a quick launch on the street..:if I can find someone else to run camera! Also found that needle was missing clip! Hope it has been gone since i first pulled carb/ put new barrel on, cuz i would hate to have that piece floating g around in the crank case!!! I do want to thank you all for ur support and knowlage in this build! As said it does make u learn a lot tinkering with old huskys!

Son of A!
I got it tuned to start well. The needle had lost its clip and was floating freely. I started at top position and settled with it and next to bottom setting. Kicks to life after 2 open throttle, finger on kill switch kicks. Then usual fires on 1go kick...sometimes 2 kicks. Either way it don't like having the choke on hot or cold.
Took it out for a back yard test run and all went well! What a blast. Great throttle response. Only have one radiator on due to missing mounts. Thinking ill go by a set of late 90s or early 2000s Yamaha radiators as they mount off front of radiator at all corners... Any way back to the problem at hand.
After warm up ride I was taking her down to an empty office building to play around in the parking lot. Planed to video a few launches on the pavement and get a feel for how it handled. First go kick and it kicked back... Apparently while riding around the back yard the bump stop for kicker lever vibrated off It kicked hard enough to crack cover just infront of the kicker. Went ahead ad kicked it again and it was apparent there was international contact with clutch/basket! Luckily only thing damaged is the cover and they r easy enough to find on ebay and I have a buddy who can weld it back together if I can't source another one. Just another set back.

That's how important rubber is to prevent stuff ups!!

Yeah I know! I put a knew one on but didn't use enough loctight Gotta learn the hard way sometimes! at least I caught it right away s it could have been much, much worse!!!

Chinese radiators on ebay are well built but the brackets were a bit light.
Good price .
Have them fitted to my 400 and have had no trouble since I fitted new brackets.
I keep saying that a deco valve will stop any kickback and have had no trouble since i fitted mine.
Had broken foot syndrome before.

I'm definatly going to look into a decompression valve. I wish I had done it while I had the engine apart last time. The win reason I'm looking into Yamaha radiator is the mounts are not just on inboard side of radiator. They anchor bough inboard and outboard sides to keep them more stable. If it was still in a husky frame I would make due with the stock brackets on Chinese radiators but since it is now a hard tail it vibrates more. Only give is front forks and rear tire(which isn't much). Having the weight of radiators suspended out off the fame without a outboard mount allows them to move/vibrate to much. Going to cruise the cycle salvage to see what I can come up with.

wouldnt be a bad idea to slap on a air cooled jug and head.....wouldnt have to worry about having rads on this type of bike..

Yes that's something I have been discussing with my pops. It's not gunna get run for long periods of time so it may be in my best intrest...probly would be cheeper than another set of radiators. I have seen head on ebay but not a jug/piston

What years am I looking for if I want to swap to air cooled? I see a 84 head for bout $75 my piston is good and can be reused in aircooled jug...just can't find a jug. Will it affect HP?

83-84 500 should be air...but the pipes are different also...would fit on your block, and you could swap to a air cooled sidecover, any four stroke cover up till early 2000s will work as well. the four strokes had their pump on the head. a lc cover will work as well, just have to take out the pump and make a blocl off plate to seal the case up. might lose a tad bit of power but i dont think you will notice it...im not sure if the pistons are different between the air or liquid. i dont think they are

you wont have to worry about heat with the air cooled motor long as you arent sitting alot or working it hard going very slow...