Frustrated in California

[GSCafe]

I'd like to jump in here and let you know that I've felt much the same way. (and in CA, too!) I've pulled my VM carbs so many times so I'm quite familiar with them now. I'm running pods, bigger jets, and 4 into 1 pipes. I admit that I made it harder for myself. Let me run down the gotchas I encountered and maybe you'll get something out of it. 1. Assumptions - Tuning carbs seems like an art to me. I've re-written the electronic map in my car, but damn, carbs I had work on it to learn. Just when I'm so sure that it works the way I think it does, it doesn't and I have to take a step back and decide if I'm interpreting the symptoms right. 2. Throttle slide - ran much better after I double-checked what I thought were synced carbs and one was visibly off. 3. Parts - If I didn't put 'em in there, I needed to pull them out to make sure they were what they were supposed to be and installed the way I thought they were. 4. Air leaks - make sure your carb balancing screws on the engine-side boots are tight. 5. The floats - make sure of your float height and proper placement of your float bits. You probably know how to put it together, just make sure it stayed that way with all the carb pulling. 6. The mix - every part affects every other part to a certain degree. You have to have the right amount of fuel available (screw on the bottom) or no amount of turning of the pilot air screws will get you any love. You are good with the stock setting but make sure that is where it is actually set at. As mentioned, you might need to check your pilot screws, fuel and air. If they have been bottomed too hard they may not be broken off, but they may be blunted and need replacement. 7. Spark and spark order - I pulled the plug out and visibly observed the spark. Made sure of my plug gap. 8. Starting over - I had pull my carbs a few times and just go back to step one. I figured, I'm already in a hole, I should stop digging. I reset and checked everything before moving forward again. 9. The gas filter in the petcock - my screen held a lot of junk which made the flow a little anemic.

There are other gotchas for pods but that's all I've got for now without going into that. I sure hope you get it going. Maybe I'll see you out there.

[salty_monk]

Just send it to me... Your frustration will completely disappear - I guaranteed it. Don't forget to put the title under the seat

Seriously good luck with it. It's bound to be something simple.

[reoccur]

Thanks guys
The fuel screw tips are fine and I checked the tiny orifices on all the carbs before reassembly ..Okay out to the garage

[reoccur]

OK Salty whats your address ?

[reoccur]

So I finally gave up and took took the bike to a shop! They said the compression is to low For the engine to function properly.
Leak down test indicated rings as the culprit.
They recommend rebuilding the top end and as I cant afford to have them do it I will give it a go.
I see ring kits are from $40 to $250 Dollars gasket kit $60 to 150 top end only, I don't want to buy junk so whats a reliable parts source. Quality brands...

[alke46]

Just my .02 here but if it were me doing this to my bike, I would go with OEM all the way. Check with Z1 for best prices IMO.
Good luck,

Larry

[Big T]

So I finally gave up and took took the bike to a shop! They said the compression is to low For the engine to function properly.
Leak down test indicated rings as the culprit.
They recommend rebuilding the top end and as I cant afford to have them do it I will give it a go.
I see ring kits are from $40 to $250 Dollars gasket kit $60 to 150 top end only, I don't want to buy junk so whats a reliable parts source. Quality brands...

Bikes that sit for a long time often get sticky rings
The general solution for that is a bit of Marvel Mystery Oil down each spark plug hole. Rotate the engine,Let it sit for a day or so, then fire up the bike and see if things are better. It will be really smokey at 1st.

The shop, what compression numbers did they come up with? I find it hard to believe you got 120 and they think that's too low. People can make them run at 90 psi.