Hello, I have a 400 at last

[tom400f]

Agree they look leant back to me but the airbox is the right way up, at least. The air filter connection is off-centre so it would be tricky to it wrong.

Welcome. Nice bike!

[Trigger]

Me too, I think the air inlet box might be on upside down. Might be worth a quick check. Welcome to the forum!

Good spot 

[Johndoc]

Thanks Bitsa and Pday, yes it is possible, I am going to take the carbs off to set the float heights anyway. Can anyone tell me if this is as straight forward as it seems?

[Johndoc]

Thanks Bitsa and Pday, yes it is possible that they are not sitting right, was going to take the carbs off anyway to check/set the float heights. Is this as straight forward as it seems?

[Lobo]

I'm with Tom.... the Airbox inlet is off centre... surely it'd be impossible to line it up if upside-down?

Either the airbox is not fitted or a modified one has been added?
A mystery Johndoc... put us out of our miseries!

[tom400f]

Johndoc, you will get used to us 400F owners being very precise about everything. There's nothing wrong with this behaviour I must stress. Nothing wrong at all.

[Lobo]

Tom... meant to ask... is it 2.5 or 3.5 turns on the clutch adjuster.. it's just doing my head in. Oh, and the Parakeet... mine's 40 parts yellow to 3 parts cream.... should it be 41 parts yellow / 2 cream. And the decals... they're 1/2 cm too short.

Aaargh...

[Nurse Julie]

Thanks Bitsa and Pday, yes it is possible that they are not sitting right, was going to take the carbs off anyway to check/set the float heights. Is this as straight forward as it seems?

Hi and welcome.
I have had the carbs off my 400 recently and fitted all new jets etc and had to re set float heights, it was simple enough to do with carbs standing 'end on'. As advised by this lovely lot on here, I checked the heights about 10 times before putting carbs back together. Started her up 2 days ago, 2nd push of the button. No leaks from bowls and only minor adjustments needed on mixture screws. I was well impressed with myself 

[Nurse Julie]

Johndoc, you will get used to us 400F owners being very precise about everything. There's nothing wrong with this behaviour I must stress. Nothing wrong at all.

Tom, as a trained Nurse I feel there is a lot wrong with this type of behaviour, but hey, as long as us 400 owner have fun, who cares 

[Trigger]

Thanks Bitsa and Pday, yes it is possible that they are not sitting right, was going to take the carbs off anyway to check/set the float heights. Is this as straight forward as it seems?

Hi and welcome.
I have had the carbs off my 400 recently and fitted all new jets etc and had to re set float heights, it was simple enough to do with carbs standing 'end on'. As advised by this lovely lot on here, I checked the heights about 10 times before putting carbs back together. Started her up 2 days ago, 2nd push of the button. No leaks from bowls and only minor adjustments needed on mixture screws. I was well impressed with myself 

Only 10 times 

[Nurse Julie]

  OK, 20 times but i did not want to appear too obsessive 

[tom400f]

What do you mean, obsessive??

Great result on the carbs 

[Johndoc]

Thanks guys, really good to know you are there and I can check things through with you. An electrician friend checked the coils, both are actually ok, cylinder 1 and 2 is not firing, it looks like it is the HT leads that are dodgy, they have the old trick of silicon around the joints and they feel quite brittle. I assume the airbox if fitted as there is an air filter visible from the cover? The guy who owned this bike had it in his front room for 20 years! He treated it like a giant airfix kit, saving up for the next part. (I have a folder full of DS receipts) He done a fantastic job of the cosmetics but admitted himself that he was not so hot at tuning (could not really start the engine three floors up in his flat anyway!) and he was not keen on riding the bike either. I am thinking, do the coils, set up the carbs and then assess things from there.

[tom400f]

So the 400F went into the lift then?? 

The airbox under the seat, yes. Remove the plastic cover and the filter is inside, held against the oval into the manifold by a "spring" which you just pull out.

Carb attitude on your bike is a mystery.

Cylinders 1 and 2 don't share ignition components: 1,4; 2,3

Always interesting to see a new bike and how it gets worked on

[Johndoc]

I will take some more photos of the carbs tomorrow and see if it makes any more sense to anyone. I know all the inlet rubbers etc were changed, could it be they are just not lined up correctly? Yes he brought it down in the lift, I have no idea how he done that, I saw the bike in the communal garage area. Also DS don't seem to have the headlight bolts, was wondering if these could be made in lathe or if there is another source for them. Oh just a though, a photograph of how they look would be appreciated as they might even be among the spares I have in those three boxes!
Thanks again