Carb spacers

[koolaid_kid]

What happens if I just leave them off?

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.

[razooki]

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.

OK, thank you, I'll try prying them off and hope the PO did not use JB Weld or something crazy like that.

[razooki]

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?

[SqDancerLynn1]

I wouldn't get in too much of a rush Those don't look like stock intake boots

[razooki]

I wouldn't get in too much of a rush Those don't look like stock intake boots

You mean 'intake pipes'? 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.

[koolaid_kid]

I would be concerned that I can see the threads of the bolts. That indicates they are not fully sealing. And the front of that spacer does look like it is JB welded to the head.
So that was Z!'s solution?

[razooki]

I would be concerned that I can see the threads of the bolts. That indicates they are not fully sealing. And the front of that spacer does look like it is JB welded to the head.
So that was Z!'s solution?

I went back and forth with Z1 about what bike I had and the type of carbs and that is what they suggested - to enlarge the holes of inlet pipes they sent me and they would fit.

Anyway, the good news is that the spacers came out quite easily. They were held on just by some gasket material. I have cleaned the surfaces on the block really well. I have also taken some measurements since I really don't know what the proper intake pipes for this bike are. I'm hoping these measurements will help in finding the right ones.

Head Intake Port Diameter :38mm (1.5")
Intake Pipe Bolt Distance :78mm (3.07")
Carbs outlet (to intake pipe) :42mm (1.65")
Carbs inlet (air filter side) :53mm (2.08")

Based on the above measurements can someone tell me which intake pipes I need? What model and year?

Thank you,

[koolaid_kid]

Please post a pic of one of the carbs, we can tell you whether it is a VM or a CV. The presence of those spacers does indicate that something was cobbled together. Personally, having owned a 78 750E with the VMs, and now my 1100 with the CVs, I would never, never go back.
And congrats that it was only gasket material. Worst case you can reinstall them with new gaskets. And the dimensions are excellent data points.
Does your bike have a kickstarter? Only the 79 had a kickstarter and VM carbs. All following years had no kickstarter and CV carbs (from the factory).

[razooki]

Please post a pic of one of the carbs, we can tell you whether it is a VM or a CV

They are definitely VM29s ( I went through the carb identification process on this board when I first got the bike two years ago.

. The presence of those spacers does indicate that something was cobbled together. Personally, having owned a 78 750E with the VMs, and now my 1100 with the CVs, I would never, never go back.
And congrats that it was only gasket material. Worst case you can reinstall them with new gaskets. And the dimensions are excellent data points.
Does your bike have a kickstarter? Only the 79 had a kickstarter and VM carbs. All following years had no kickstarter and CV carbs (from the factory).

This too I went through two years ago. There was some confusion then too as to what year it was. The engine SN (GS850-119135) and the fact that is has no kickstarter would indicate that it's an '80 but when I got it it definitely came with the VM29s. The general consensus back then was that it being a canadian model it was possible that it came with VM carbs even though it was a '80 model.

[koolaid_kid]

This too I went through two years ago. There was some confusion then too as to what year it was. The engine SN (GS850-119135) and the fact that is has no kickstarter would indicate that it's an '80 but when I got it it definitely came with the VM29s. The general consensus back then was that it being a canadian model it was possible that it came with VM carbs even though it was a '80 model.

I guess that it possible, but those spacers are most certainly not stock. Which would indicate that the carbs, which require the spacers in order to fit, are also not stock.
And yes, the lack of a kickstarter is a clear sign that it is at least an 80 model.
No matter what, the procedure is the same AFA the gaskets. You need the spacers, you need the gaskets. I wish someone would respond with the correct intake pipe for that configuration, though. I also wonder about using a gasket on the side where the o-ring resides. Seems like double jepeoardy to me. Or two ways to cause a leak.

[razooki]

Everything is back together. I re bench synched the carbs and re-used the carb spacers - without them the carbs won't fit. I've been doing some internet searching and it seems that there are no intake pipes that would fit my application - '80 head with VM29 carbs. I think my only solution is to buy the proper intake pipes and then maybe use a rubber insert that would shrink the opening to properly fit the carbs.

[koolaid_kid]

As long as you have good sealing, you will be fine. As a former racer, the only thing I would have been concerned about after that is disturbances in the air flow, but unless you are going for times a well sealed system will be just fine.

[Don-lo]

Yes, post a pic of your carbs. My 29 smoothbores came with sleeves that allowed them to be run in big port heads. The sleeve is held on by a small allen key.

[razooki]

Yes, post a pic of your carbs. My 29 smoothbores came with sleeves that allowed them to be run in big port heads. The sleeve is held on by a small allen key.

They are back on the bike now so no pics but I'd be interested in hearing about your sleeves. Are they metal sleeves that just go over the outlet ports of the carbs? I was actually thinking of getting some sort of rubber inserts for the inlet pipes that would reduce their diameter to fit the carbs better.