84 Yamaha Virago

I recently bought an 84 yamaha virago. I've heard that there is a
chronic problem in these bikes regaurding the starter, and i'm
noticing how it applies to my bike. Whenever i turn it over, the
starter keeps churning and drags to a stop long after i've released
it. What can i do about this? Also my rear carb has been running
very rich, what are a few possible causes for this? If you have any
input, i'd love to hear it. THanks a lot!
Mike

 >From: hobbes17 RemoveThis @mail.com (Michael)

 >I've heard that there is a chronic problem in these bikes regaurding the
starter,

Do you know how sun gears and planetary gears work in an automatic
transmission? I was told that there is a planetary gear reduction system built
into the starter and that certain spotwelds would break loose and cause
problems...

Online parts diagrams that show the planetary gear starter that Yamaha used
don't go into detail on the guts of the planetary gears, but Virago owners
lists online will probably point you toward answers to fix that common starter
problem I described.

 >Whenever i turn it over, the starter keeps churning and drags to a stop long
after i've released it.

Does the motor start and the starter keep grinding while the engine's running?
That's bad news. Maybe your starter solenoid hangs up?

I talked to a guy who said that his FJ-1100 starter solenoid would hang up. He
thought that he could make the starter disengage if he twisted the throttle. He
was wrong. Japanese motorcycles have a centrifugal clutch that is supposed to
automatically disengage when the engine starts, and re-engage when the engine
stops.

Whether it was the solenoid or the Frankenstein-designed centrifugal starter
clutch at fault, it broke the starter drive chain and he had to pay $900 to
have the engine removed and the cases split to fix that broken starter chain...

 >Also my rear carb has been running very rich, what are a few possible causes
for this?

Stuck "choke" valve? Japanese carbs don't really have a choke plate like the
older bikes. They have a tiny carburetor built into each main carb. It has a
small valve that is opened when you push the "choke" lever or pull the "choke"
knob (or whatever). Then the tiny carb sucks
gasoline right out of the float bowl...

Idle mixture screws set wrong? You can tweak them with a screwdriver and see
what happens.

Fuel shutoff needle valve leaks? You might have to pull the floatbowl off and
clean the gum aand varnish off the
needle valve and reset the float level...

Mainjet fell out and is sitting in the bottom of the float bowl? I had that
happen on an old Honda 250cc Dream...

Previous owner thought that he had to install radically oversize mainjets to
compensate for his loud aftermarket
exhaust pipe, but had no idea what the numbers on the jets really meant?<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->