Expert: Collin Bradham - 9/29/2006

Question
Hello...I'm working on an 81 Virago XV750 that had been sitting for 4 years. I cleaned the carbs very thoroughly, cleaned the tank, rebuilt the petcocks, replaced the plugs, and got it running, sort of. The exhaust had been gutted to the point that it basically has just drag pipes. The bike runs well at high RPMs but has a hard time idling. I've seen a lot of info saying that the mixture is too lean because of the open exhaust, so I experimented with opening up the mixture screws a little at a time, to no avail. Now the engine wants to race when you hit the throttle and takes forever to idle down, then eventually dies. Seems to make no difference where I set the mixture screws. Any ideas? Thanks

Answer
U r beyond your mix screws.  Baffle the pipes, or jet the bike.  I would suggest baffling cause open pipes offer no back pressure.  Open pipes r an illusion, even drag bikes have some back pressure from the pipes usually in the form of a reducer at the head.  Good luck!