Peer Review - New Carb Rebuild Tutorial

[Nessism]

Ed, just noticed something that I had to recheck in the manual. The picture of the float height adjustment in the manual actually shows the measurement to the center of the float bowl rim and the manual I looked at also did not specify measuring without the gasket to the top if the rim adjacent to that picture.
This could be very confusing to a first timer I think.
The picture may be confusing due to the lip not showing.

I agree with you Andre about the float measurement not being clear, particularly that factory photo I stole. I'll add some clarification about measuring to the gasket surface. I'm not sure what lip you are referring to though. Please explain further.

[Matchless]

I agree with you Andre about the float measurement not being clear, particularly that factory photo I stole. I'll add some clarification about measuring to the gasket surface. I'm not sure what lip you are referring to though. Please explain further.

Ed,
Edit: Just went out and checked my GS1000, which has an outer lip on the float gasket mating surface of the carb body. The measurement must not be done from the outer lip but from the mating service without the gasket, is what I think I wanted to say. That is what the picture in the manual is trying to show with the lower line in the center as seen from the outside.

I have just made a note to myself to not try to do things like this late at night!
Keep well.

[BassCliff]

Hey Ed!

Great job buddy! The pictures are outstanding as is the procedure. The captions give all the necessary information without being verbose. You've stayed within the scope of the tutorial, which is the proper procedure for cleaning the carbs. As far as listing all the part numbers and tools, some of those parts (like the idle mixture screw O-rings) don't have part numbers. That's why we get the right stuff form Robert Barr (http://cycleorings.com). I know trying to document everything is virtually impossible. Just look at the factory service manuals. As big as those are, they still don't cover everything to everyone's satisfaction.

I have a few suggestions. The file size is a little large. I've found that when creating the PDF you can set the jpeg compression to 30% or 40% and the pictures still look just fine and the file size will be much more download friendly.

You might want to mention in slide #24 that the fuel inlet "T" is between carbs #2 and #3, to stay consistent with the other fuel tubes you mentioned.

Yes, the caption contrast on many slides makes it difficult to read. Perhaps use a little darker highlight, especially on the white backgrounds, or a different font color. These are the slides in particular that I thought needed more contrast on the captions; 6, 26, 30, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 44, 48, 50, 51, 52, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 62, 63, 67, and 68.

I really liked how you addressed the different choke assemblies between the earlier and later models. I also liked the float height adjustment procedures you documented. You touched on all the necessary related material without getting sidetracked. It is a very thorough document.

I recognized those little serving bowls in slide #41. My wife has a set in the cupboard and serves desserts in them. I should probably not use them to clean my carbs.

Thank you for all your hard work. I apologize if any of the above is redundant.


All the best to you and yours,

Cliff

[bccap]

Regarding your pdf size. I just opened it in in acrobat 9, chose the reduce document size option and saved it in My Documents. Got a 9.76 mb file and no apparent reduction in picture quality.

[scott]

Great information in there!

In addition to what's been said:

* maybe a note about inspecting the slide diaphragms in the light to look for holes / tears and a note about testing the slides for proper damping

* a note about replacing the pilot jet plugs, the fuel bowl gaskets, the fuel bowl drain gaskets, etc. (stuff not in the Robert Barr kit)

* Slide 57: I didn't know about dissassembling the slide needle. Does the note about "This step is not necessary unless your carbs run lean in the midrange" apply to Slide 57 as well? Is there any reason to dissassemble this if you're not trying to address that problem?

* Is there any reason to note your jet sizes? I didn't do it when I did my carbs but if it is useful, a note about that.

[jwhelan65]

Thanks Ed, just saved to PC

[cowboyup3371]

Yea, I saved it last night and will read through it this weekend if that's okay with you.

[Nessism]

Have a new version with (most of) the suggested improvements. Compressed it a little too.

Will post the new link as soon as the new file is uploaded.

EDIT: deleted the old file and uploaded the new one... (see above)

Please keep the suggestions coming.

[Dogma]

Nearing perfection. I only saw two items.

Units are inconsistent. Some places you give inch dimensions, other places millimeters. I would vote to abandon the archaic inches.

On slide 2: .385" thick or .0385"? About 3/8" in either direction seems too large.

[Matchless]

Ed it looks good and reads very well now.
Some final comments:

1. The float level setting is much clearer now. I edited my reply after looking at my GS1000 carbs again this morning. Sorry about my confusion there.
2. Your picture on #9 with comments may be a bit confusing. Sitting on the bike, the carbs count from left to right. With the carbs sitting on the engine it is as shown in your picture. Maybe add another picture for visual info or just change the picture to show from airbox side.
3. This task requires removing the carbs and reinstalling them. All advice is to replace the intake o-rings at the same time. The manual does not show that there are left and right intake boots and which marking to use for "up" when replacing them.
4. The airbox boots can also give one a hard time if they are not aligned with the rubber nub on the airbox itself. Many people do not know this.

I have a list of the S/S cap screws sizes and also the o-ring sizes if you want to include those, just let me know and I will dig them out.

Keep well and excellent work done with very clear pictures!

[tthayer]

This is fantastic! Should be a great resource for any bike using Mikuni BS CV carbs, too. I hope it gets spread around.

[bccap]

Awesome Job !! Just a couple of noob questions. you haven't included a circlip tool size. So i assume I can buy one that will do both my carbs and fork seal clips ? Also I don.t see anything in my manual to drill out pilot screw.
[ 1983 gs750e ] bs332s ? And I notice you recommend jis screwdrivers. Are they different then ours ?
I also reduced your file size to 10.9 mb. I then test emailed it to myself. No problems. PM me if you would like me to email you a copy. Thanx for your extensive work, making life a little easier for us noob's.

[Nessism]

Ed it looks good and reads very well now.
Some final comments:

1. The float level setting is much clearer now. I edited my reply after looking at my GS1000 carbs again this morning. Sorry about my confusion there.
2. Your picture on #9 with comments may be a bit confusing. Sitting on the bike, the carbs count from left to right. With the carbs sitting on the engine it is as shown in your picture. Maybe add another picture for visual info or just change the picture to show from airbox side.
3. This task requires removing the carbs and reinstalling them. All advice is to replace the intake o-rings at the same time. The manual does not show that there are left and right intake boots and which marking to use for "up" when replacing them.
4. The airbox boots can also give one a hard time if they are not aligned with the rubber nub on the airbox itself. Many people do not know this.

I have a list of the S/S cap screws sizes and also the o-ring sizes if you want to include those, just let me know and I will dig them out.

Keep well and excellent work done with very clear pictures!

Thanks Andre. I'll add another slide showing how the carbs number as they sit on the bike. Will also ad some information about the carb boots, O-rings, and hardware.

What O-ring information do you have? I have developed cross-reference info for many of the carb and intake boot O-rings but not all. Please send me what you have and I'll incorporate it.

[Matchless]

Ed this is what I have:

[karllmt]

Hello, I just started to read through (on page 28 now), and I am in the middle of rebuilding mine now. (stuck idle mixture screw thread) I have 3 sets of carbs, one original to the bike and 2 I obtained for parts.
What hit me, causing this reply, is that some one has painted your carbs black. I have never seen this before, and it might confuse a newbie. Also the top caps have an odd divot. Where did these carbs come from?
Also, a related comment and/or question. Is there a way to identify the different similar models of carbs? As I said I have 3 in my possession, and they are each slightly different. If possible it might be helpful to include this information, if not in this tutorial some where else.

PS for some reason, when I posted my reply the carb o-ring and cap screw sizes.pdf downloaded