Not yet completed, but I'm working on it.

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Trouble shooting

I took this from "Reparaturanleitung Honda XL600V", No.5095/5096 by Bucheli Verlag, Zug (CH), with some items modified or added according to my experience, respectively.
  1. Lubricating system

    1. Oil level too low, high oil consumption
    2. Oil soiled
    3. Oil pressure too low
      • oil level too low
      • overpressure valve open or jammed
      • oil strainer tight
      • oil pump worn out
      • oil runs out
    4. Oil pressure too high
      • overpressure valve closed or jammed
      • oil filter plugged
      • oil too thick-flowing
    5. No oil pressure
      • oil level too low
      • chain or sprocket of the oil pump drive broken
      • oil pump faulty
      • internal oil leakage

    6. Fuel system

      1. engine cranks, but does not run
        • No fuel
        • fuel does not reach the carbs
          • fuel hose plugged
          • fuel filter plugged
        • cylinder flooded with fuel (understandable?)
        • no sparks
        • air filter plugged
        • choke operation not correct
      2. Engine hardly starts up or stops immediately
      3. Bad idle speed
      4. Misfires while accelerating
      5. Backfire
      6. Bad performance and high fuel consumption
        • fuel system plugged (tubes, filters, jets)
        • ignition faulty
        • air filter soiled
      7. Bad performance below engine speed of 3000 rpm
      8. Gas-air-mixture too poor
        • jets plugged
        • carburetor vacuum slide jammed
        • float valve leaking
        • float misadjusted
        • tank cap airing plugged
        • fuel tube trapped
        • airing tube plugged
        • Ansaugen von Nebenluft (????)
      9. Gas-air-mixture too rich
        • air jets plugged
        • float valve faulty
        • float misadjusted
        • choke operated while engine is still warm
        • air cut off valve jammed or closed
        • air filter soiled

    7. Cylinder head, valves, cylinder

      1. Compression too low or uneven
        • Ok, after some oil has been put into the cylinder (through the sparkplug hole)
          • cylinder or pistons rings worn out
        • No change, after some oil has been put into the cylinder (through the sparkplug hole)
          • valve gap clearance not correctly adjusted (too small)
          • valves burnt or bended
          • wrong valve timing
          • valve spring broken
          • cylinder head gasket is blown
      2. Noise (to interpret the reason of noise correctly, you'll need a lot of experience. If you're not sure, better ask your mechanic)
        • valve gap clearance not correctly adjusted (too big)
        • valve spring broken
        • camshaft or rocker damaged or worn out
        • camshaft timing chain or camshaft timing chain tensioner worn
        • teeth of the camshaft sprocket worn out
        • piston or cylinder worn out
      3. Smoke
        • smoke is blue (oil is burned)
          • cylinder or piston worn out
          • piston rings not correctly mounted
          • scratches in the cylinder wall
          • valve seals worn out
        • smoke is dark grey
          • gas-air-mixture too rich
        • smoke is white (steam)
          • cylinder head seal damaged
      4. Engine too hot
        • oil coal deposit in the cylinder
        • gas-air-mixture too poor
        • cooling system faulty

    8. Clutch, gearshift

      1. Clutch skids
        • no play
        • springs tired
        • linings worn out
      2. Clutch doesn't separate
        • too much play
        • disks bended
        • pushing mechanism damaged
      3. Operation too hard
        • clutch cable not properly routed, damaged or soiled. Attention! Don't lubricate the OEM clutch cable! It's teflon coated, and the oil would destroy the teflon, and the cable is damaged.
        • pushing mechanism damaged
      4. Rough operation
      5. hard gear operation
      6. Gears jump out
        • Schaltklauen verschlissen oder verbogen
        • Schaltwelle verbogen
        • Schaltwalzenanschlag gerissen

    9. Crankshaft

      1. Noise
        • main bearing journal or bearing worn out (rumbling noise)
        • connecting rod bearing worn out (knocking noise)

    10. Front

      1. Steering too hard
        • steering head bearing nut too tight
        • steering head bearing worn out or damaged (jack up the bike and move the handlebar from one side to the other. Do you feel a click in the middle position? Yes? Ok, bearing worn out.)
      2. Bike moves to either side
        • oil stand not even in both fork tubes
        • fork tube bended
        • axle bended
        • front and rear wheel not in straight line
      3. Front wheel wobbles
        • rim bended
        • axle bearing worn out
        • tire not properly mounted, not properly balanced or damaged
        • axle nut not correct tightened
      4. Suspension too soft
      5. Suspension too hard
      6. Noise

    11. Front brake

      1. Bad braking
        You see, I have some hard problems translating some terms...Think I'm gonna get me a technical dictionary at last...
        To be continued
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