It got worse right about the time Miguel's VFR.D went down. I lost all that valuable knowledge at my fingertips. No disrespect intended for the substitutes, Facebook VFRD People, VFR World, Adventure Rider, etc. They are all great places, but nothing compared to VFR.D when it came to the extensive knowledge base of the forum. I hope this VFR.D Phoenix rises from the ashes and becomes the go-to site again.
Note, I posted this on VFR World, but I'm posting here with some updates. With what little knowledge I could remember from VFR.D and from reading the other sites, I looked first at the VFR's problematic electrical system and also the starter valves while I was in there. I pulled every connector I could get to and inspected them. Wires were good, nothing burned and connectors were clean inside. I gave them all a shot of DeOxit and reassembled. I did a starter valve synch as well. I didn't find any vacuum leaks, but I replaced the old vacuum hoses with some silicone lines while I was in there. I'm not pulling the assembly to get to the boots until I have to. Yes, I did eventually get to those last couple of vacuum lines and replaced them. I should have taken another pic afterwards but I didn't. I got a good sync on the starter valves and buttoned it up. I did a few short test rides with cold and hot starts and found that it started ok, but cold high idle was non-existent. In fact, It started at about 900 to 1000 rpm and warmed up to 1200.
I read up on the wax unit and everywhere, people said not to adjust the factory set adjustment nut. Then why is it adjustable?
. With the VFR.D crash, I didn't have the luxury of checking the wealth of info there. I couldn't really make things worse than a non-working wax unit, so I went out on a cool 68 degree rainy early morning and tore back into it. The linkage was free, but the wax unit plunger was floppy loose. It should be tight and pulling the starter valves when cold. I started the bike and adjusted it to about 1500 rpm. I let it warm up and it settled back down to 1200 rpm where it was supposed to be. I shut it off, threw a fan over the top of it to help cool everything off quicker, and worked on other stuff for a couple hours. I came back and gave it another start, popping right up to 1500 rpm and warming up to a nice 1200 rpm idle. I figure I may have to adjust it again this winter when the engine is cold soaked down around 40 degrees where the wax will be shrunk up a little more. The thing may end up running too fast at startup. I will cross that sh!tty bridge when I come to it. Kanadian Ken, Dude, etal, will recognize that reference!The battery that I put on a couple months ago does seem weak, so I think the combination of the battery, not really noticeable but weak contacts on connectors, and out of synch starter valves have all contributed to the issue. I've ridden it on a dozen or so short rides of less than an hour and it has started good every time, but the voltage does drop more on startup than with the other bike. I may switch batteries on them to see how fast the thing spins up with the other battery.
I did look at more wiring and connectors than what was photographed, but they were buried and I wasn't able to get good pics. Yes, I have brown recluses, so ignore the whispy little webs in the pics.