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Carb spacers

  • Thread starter Thread starter razooki
  • Start date Start date
R

razooki

Guest
I've had this bike now for a couple of years and I just realized I have what it looks like 1" carb spacers!! I have VM29 carbs with pods that came with the bike. I have been trying to figure out this problem I have where when the bike is warm the idle sits at 1500RPM. I can't adjust it down with the idle adjustment screw since the screw is all the way out. When cold the bike idles just fine at about 1100RPM. The carbs are clean and the intake boots are new so I'm wondering if it does not have anything to do with the spacers. I don't know much about carb spacers other that it's supposed to keep carb temps low but I'm wondering if after all these years the spacers aren't leaking? I have not tried to remove them but when I took off the boots to replace them the spacers did not come off. How are these spacers put on? The PO painted the engine black so I can't see any kind of gasket between the spacers and the engine. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,

Raz
 
What bike might this be? 1980 models came with CV carbs. In any case, it sounds like you have an intake leak. There is usually an o-ring between the intake pipe (which the carb bodies slip into) and the head which hardens and needs to be replaced.
 
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koolaid_kid said:
What bike might this be? 1980 models came with CV carbs.

I went through this when I first got the bike. According to the VIN it's an '80 but mine had VM29s (probably VM26s stock). Maybe because it's a canadian model? I think the PO owner thought that too because the new boots that he had installed were too big for the VM29s - I had to buy new boots for the earlier models so that the carbs would fit properly. I should add that the boots I got from Z1 based on their advice were for a Kawi model - they had the synch ports on them too. I had to enlarge the bold holes to make them fit. Would getting some boots made for pre '80 Suzuki have the same bolt spacing but be small enough at the other end to fit the VM29s properly?

In any case, it sounds like you have an intake leak. There is usually an o-ring between the intake boot and the head which hardens and needs to be replaced.
Click to expand...

The boots and o-rings are new.
 
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If you can't wind your idle down have a look at the individual carb balancing screws. It might be that they have all been wound out fully.

That spacer looks like part of the kit you can put on to run bigger carbs with bigger hoses. Have the inlets been bored out?
 
That type of spacer requires a gasket on either side. Are the gaskets there? The correct name for the part you replaced is intake pipe. The intake boot goes between the air filter box and the carburetor. Please use the correct terms so we can provide correct information.
 
Also, that type of "spacer" is usually known as an insulator and it is supposed to keep the carbs cooler by isolating more heat from the carbs. I haven't seen those since the 70s, except for a CM200 I worked on once. It had no intake pipe, and that was all that was between the head and the carb (it only had one, with a siamesed head). However, if it is an 80 model with VM carbs the PO may have used it to adjust the distance between the carbs and the carb boots.
 
hampshirehog said:
If you can't wind your idle down have a look at the individual carb balancing screws. It might be that they have all been wound out fully.

I'll check the screws but if I remember right they are about 2 turns out.

That spacer looks like part of the kit you can put on to run bigger carbs with bigger hoses. Have the inlets been bored out?
Click to expand...

Not sure about bored out but it does look like someone took a Dremel tool to the inlet ports (is that what it's referred to as 'ported'?).
 
koolaid_kid said:
That type of spacer requires a gasket on either side. Are the gaskets there?

The gaskets t/w the spacers and the intake pipes are there but I don't know about the other side. As I said, they never came off when I removed the screws and until last night I thought they were part of the head until I started looking closer as pics on the internet.

The correct name for the part you replaced is intake pipe. The intake boot goes between the air filter box and the carburetor. Please use the correct terms so we can provide correct information.
Click to expand...

Mea culpa it's just that when someone mentions pipe I automatically think metal or plastic - something hard - not rubber.
 
I think you may have misunderstood what I meant the carb balancing screws - my fault. I mean the nut and screw arrangement that you wind in or out to synchronise your carbs. The ones under the carb tops.

If someone has been in there with a Dremel you appear to have bike that has been ported. Some guys know what they're doing and this could be a bonus. Some guys just own a Dremel and you could have a compromised bike.
 
hampshirehog said:
I think you may have misunderstood what I meant the carb balancing screws - my fault. I mean the nut and screw arrangement that you wind in or out to synchronise your carbs. The ones under the carb tops.

I bench synched them last year - I don't recall them being out all the way. I used a very thin guitar string to bench synch them. I guess I may have to remove them again although I have a trip planned in a week and I really did not feel like taking it apart in such short time.

If someone has been in there with a Dremel you appear to have bike that has been ported. Some guys know what they're doing and this could be a bonus. Some guys just own a Dremel and you could have a compromised bike.
Click to expand...

The bike runs really strong (I think). It pulls hard from 3000RPM all the way to redline. The idle is steady (whether cold at 1100 or hot at 1500RPM) with no fluttering.
 
razooki said:
Mea culpa it's just that when someone mentions pipe I automatically think metal or plastic - something hard - not rubber.
Click to expand...
A valid point. Your petcock, BTW, is called a "fuel - cock".:-k

You need to pry them off (the PO may have put gasket sealer on them) scrape everything clean, and put gaskets on both sides. I suggest going to your local auto parts and buying a roll or a sheet of gasket material and making your own, since they are not stock parts. The CM200 I worked on was leaking between the spacer and the head. Yours probably are as well.
 
koolaid_kid said:
A valid point. Your petcock, BTW, is called a "fuel - cock".:-k

You need to pry them off (the PO may have put gasket sealer on them) scrape everything clean, and put gaskets on both sides. I suggest going to your local auto parts and buying a roll or a sheet of gasket material and making your own, since they are not stock parts. The CM200 I worked on was leaking between the spacer and the head. Yours probably are as well.
Click to expand...

What happens if I just leave them off?
 
razooki said:
What happens if I just leave them off?
Click to expand...
As long as you can fit the carbs in the boots and the pipes, absolutely nothing. I have never believed the claims of heat insulation, because they end up getting hot anyway. But if it is an 80 and you do have VM carbs, the PO may have put them in there to make up the difference between the length of the carbs, since the 80 models came with CV carbs from the factory.
 
koolaid_kid said:
As long as you can fit the carbs in the boots and the pipes, absolutely nothing. I have never believed the claims of heat insulation, because they end up getting hot anyway. But if it is an 80 and you do have VM carbs, the PO may have put them in there to make up the difference between the length of the carbs, since the 80 models came with CV carbs from the factory.
Click to expand...

OK, thank you, I'll try prying them off and hope the PO did not use JB Weld or something crazy like that.
 
Here is a pic I just took. It looks like eliminating them (assuming I can remove them at all) would not give the VM29 carbs enough room to clear the chain tensioner. Any chance these were somehow permanently attached?
 
I wouldn't get in too much of a rush Those don't look like stock intake boots
 
SqDancerLynn1 said:
I wouldn't get in too much of a rush Those don't look like stock intake boots
Click to expand...

You mean 'intake pipes'?:D They are not. I mentioned above that as per the advice from Z1 I they are for a Kawasaki application. I just enlarged the bolt holes to make them fit.
 
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