What type of mileage are you getting? + other questions

[SRwitt]

Ok I know my mileage isn't going to be spectacular at the moment seeing as I've only got about 250miles since doing a ring job, but I just filled up  this morning after filling it up yesterday afternoon.  3.7 gallons for 60 miles ~16mpg.  This was riding farely hard the whole 60 yesterday afternoon averaging above 8k when on the gas.  She seems to be running a little rich, and have been told by my g/f who has followed me a couple of times that the exhaust smells of fuel.

I haven't ridden too slowly yet (but I haven't been running out to 14k either), to see what happens, I'll try with this tank

Other things that have changed since before I pulled the bike apart.  I replaced the stock petcock with a Pingle and the required larger fuel line. I dont seem to be leaking any fuel from where the line attaches to the carbs.

 I've removed the airbox snorkel and drilled some holes in the lid, how many holes and how large of holes do you guys that have done this run?  I've got 6 ~.5" holes in it right now, nothing crazy just trying to lean it out a little.

Maybe a rebuild and jet kit is in order?  The bike has Guam Air Base Stickers on the fork tubes, so in a previous life it was at sea level, I'm at ~2500'.  

I know before I tore the top end down I was getting better than 30mpg and no better than 50.

So in order my ?'s are.

1. What type of mileage are you getting

2. Could the larger fuel line be a part of my problem?

3. How many and what size holes are people running in the airbox lid?

4.  Which jet kits are people using? I'm thinking of going pods/slip on/factory pro config 30 kit

5. I know the elevation difference from Guam to North Idaho will make it run rich.

6. Could it be just the fact the rings aren't seated yet?

[PitterB4]

1. What type of mileage are you getting
Before I went with the race exhaust and bigger jets, I was getting high 30s/low 40s pushing it pretty hard.  It was less than that after the mods.

2. Could the larger fuel line be a part of my problem?
Dunno but I doubt it.

3. How many and what size holes are people running in the airbox lid?
I had two ~1 inch holes in mine.  I left the snorkel in.

4.  Which jet kits are people using? I'm thinking of going pods/slip on/factory pro config 30 kit
I had the FP stage 1 (97 mains) then bumped up to I think 102.5s with the airbox holes and then IIRC, 110s with the race exhaust.  

5. I know the elevation difference from Guam to North Idaho will make it run rich.
Dunno

6. Could it be just the fact the rings aren't seated yet?
I'll let one of the engine builders respond

[tomacGTi]

-Rings not seating would be more oil consumption as well as blow-by. Check your oil level as well as the color of the oil.

-Recent fill-up and on it pretty hard with mods documented in the exhaust cam post: about 40 (since I used some of the fuel in the tank for a carb sync). I'm using a 105MJ. If you're only getting 16, something is very wrong.

-Altitude will affect jetting and economy just by the sheer fact that thinner air has less oxygen for combustion. 2500 feet though is about the border that I've ever noticed.

-Fuel hose should not matter as the bowls technically will determine fuel delivery into the carbs.

You may want to page BrianM on this as he just jetted for altitude. Sounds like he can help you out the most since most of us are at sea level.

[SRwitt]

tomac, my oil level hasn't changed, and I'm not getting blue smoke out of my exhaust, so I don't appear to be burning or losing oil. I changed the oil after the first 100 miles with the new rings, I'm sitting a little over 150 more at this point, I will probably be changing it again at the end of this week. Just figuring since the rings are a little tight I'm losing some mpg until they seat fully.

 It does start to blow a little smoke after sitting at idle for a couple of minutes once its warm not all the time though, as soon as I get moving the exhaust clears, this smoke appears to be more black though.

[Banditmax]

That smoke you talk of more likely to be its running rich/ the floats leaking maybe?

[gsxr400 racer]

Now i have re rung my stock motor severally times with no avail you absolutely must get a qualified mechanic to spec out the bore measurements for out of roundness and if they are slightly oblong they need bored or your just beating your meat if anyone takes there motor apart and the cylinder bores are shinny you will have to de-glaze  if in spec put new rings on fire it up blip the throttle immediately with varied revs up to 10 grand eventually you will visually see the oil smoke go away letting you know the rings are seated.

[GooseMan]

I get about 250kms on a tank of gas (around 14L). Seems pretty normal.

[Thief400]

Cruising on the Hwy @ 100 to 110 kph I get 225 to 240km before i hit reserve. Which is about 14L of fuel burnt.
Playing in the twisties where the tach is between 10000 and 14000 I get 165km before reserve and my speeds are between 185 and 225kph

I'm at 660 above sea level and running 125 mains
As for your rings they should be broken in in about 15 minutes of first start up but as Jay said if you rering oval bores your just pissing in the wind, the oil rings will seal but you will not get full compression.
As for what i have done to the bike look at my past post for mods

[GooseMan]

youre going 185-225 in the twisties? DAMN!    wheres this? I'm coming over!  

[Thief400]

youre going 185-225 in the twisties? DAMN!    wheres this? I'm coming over!  

It's our version of the Tail of the Dragon, It's a 25 mile twisty road that runs from one end of Sibley peninsula to the other. We have a core group of 10 guys who go out on Sunday morning, run the road and have breakfast at the end. We use to take new comers but have stopped because every time someone new came along they would try to keep up to us even though we tell them not to and we would end up digging them out of a moose swap and waiting for the air ambulance to show up.  Pretty much takes the wind out of a great day.

[SRwitt]

Thanks for your responses guys, well some more symptoms, on just about all starts it seems really rich, I never have to use the choke.  Just today on my ride home from work, I stopped to cool off for a few minutes, and when I went to restart it would start and then would only run if I kept the throttle  open by hand a little bit, I would have to work the throttle to try and get the thing to rev, once it revved she would pipe up and settle back to a steady idle of about 2500.  Until that point though if I let off the throttle she would stall.

I think I'm going to have to give her a break for a day and drive the cage so I can dissassemble the carbs and go over all of the settings.  My first point I will be looking at will be the floats, those are the only things that I have remotely touched and that was just during dissassembly, didn't touch the tounge that controls their height.

She seems to run alot better in the cool morning air.

Jay I invested in some tools for measuring the bores, I had to have measured each cylinder at least 2 dozen times in various positions at different clocking in each cylinder
(more than just the forward to back and side to side at the three different heights in the manual), they were pretty damn round, within a couple thousandths of an inch all around the cylinders and within stock specs.  After honing of course.  My unknowing mistake that I was told I shouldn't do was do a comp check after she was reassembled but before the rings were seated, she has good compression ~170-180psi on all 4 after a 2-3 seconds of cranking.

Thanks again for bearing with me guys, this is my first foray into the internals of the I.C.E., I have learned a lot.

[gsxr400 racer]

cool glad thats good now do a compression just for referance when it is hot and post that i like to compare lol no hurry tho. sounds like the typical carb problems orings, float needles , float height, emulsion tubes , fouled spark plugs.

[SRwitt]

Well I think I found my problem, I took today off work and have been working on the bike for a whopping 15 minutes.  I unscrewed all of the float bowls, and what do I see missing from the #4 carb, the main jet.  What do I see laying in the bowl, the main jet.  So I'm off to the hardware store to pick up some allen head screws for the float bowls and coming back to set all the adjustments to factory specs, and hopefully I'm off and running.

[pmackie]

laying in the bowl, the main jet

Well, that would certainly cause it too run a little funny. I don't think any of us would have diagnosed that!  

[gsxr400 racer]