Pilot jet plug? 82 550L

[Guest]

Cleaning out carbs on my 82 550L trike project, Do I need the rubber plug covering the pilot jets? or can I take them out. Is it just for emissions?

[distraction628]

You need them....if you don't put them in the pilot circut will pull more fuel ......you talking about the ones inside the float bowl,,,correct?

[Tarbash 27]

this thing, yes or no?

http://www.thegsresources.com/images/carbs/043_Pilot%20jet%20plug%20pointed%20out.jpg

[distraction628]

Yes you need them

[Tarbash 27]

whats the purpose of them? what differences would there be without them?

[distraction628]

You will pull more fuel through the pilot circut and it will flow over into the main and air circuts.....you wont get a good idle and you will run rich past idle......I could go into great detail, but there are many sites on the web that will show pictures of what happens and so onnnnnnnnnnn ....hope that helps
Kevin

[Tarbash 27]

ok thanks for the info

[8trackmind]

It all depends on who you ask.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=99727

[Nightmare]

It would make sense to leave it as the pilot ciruit is fed by the main jet, so if you remove that plug you will screw up the fuel metering of the pilot circuit... Sure you COULD remove it, change your pilot fuel jet, pilot air jet, and adjust the hell out of it and it might run properly, but why?

[bradleymaynar]

Replace them with new. When I rebuilt my carbs the plugs were hard and wouldn't stay put. I think it cost me less than $5 for all four.

Brad bt

[Tarbash 27]

Ok, I read everyones response and am still wondering. Whats the reason for this setup with the rubber plug? why do they make it different than vm carbs. I totally understand my vm26's but why the extra hassle with the pilot jet on cv's. Whats the purpose of fuel first going through the main than pilot? It makes more sense to me on the vm carbs.

[rphillips]

Thanks distraction628. This has come up before, and most said they weren't needed. I distinctly remember when at our local shop, one of the mechanics cleaned the carbs on an "80" GS 1000, that had been sitting for a year or so. After the cleaning, the bike started, reved, & ran fine, while in the parking lot. But as soon as the owner started pulling out in traffic, the bike died deader than 4 o"clock. We pushed him back in the shop, & the mechanic said dammm & pointed at the 4 little plugs laying on the edge of the work bench. Put the plugs in, fired it up, & all was well. Some, here said the mechanic did something else, besides replacing those plugs, that they won't affect anything by not being in place. I looked up this mechanic, who I hadn't seen in appx. 20 yrs., with the computer, & found him apprx. 100 mi from here. I called to see if he could remember this incidend, to verify what I remembered, but he couldn't remember it at all. Oh well, It was good to talk wiht him again after all this time. But thanks distraction628, now there are more than 1 of me, that think they've got to be in place.

[chef1366]

If you follow the fuel flow for the pilot circuit it comes from the main jet through small passages. If you don't have the cap it will also suck through where the cap goes and you will run rich.

[KEITH KRAUSE]

It's still being metered by the pilot jet. Same vacuum, same flow. Doesn't matter where the fuel comes from or what path it takes. The illustration makes it easy to see. If anything, it could run leaner because the pilot jet is a little higher than the main jet. That could explain the previous story where the bike ran fine in the parking lot but when they tried to take off down the street, it starved for fuel. Bike runs fine while revving in neutral, stalls under load. Classic fuel starvation, not a rich condition. I still think if the float level "range" is correct, no fuel starvation would be noticable if the pilot circuit fuel originated at the unplugged pilot jet passage. But as I said, if anything, it could run lean. Funny how everyone has such different stories to tell how the plugs/no plugs effected performance. If plug related, every single bike would be effected the same way. Instead, we get feedback how it ran fine, or didn't. My experience? Ran fine. Only reason we didn't replace the worn plugs was the owner said he didn't want to order the plugs and he wanted to get the carbs back on that day.
I don't know why there's such a debate, seeing that the plugs cost so little. Just buy them and put them in if you worry about it.

[Tarbash 27]

What I want to know is why they didnt make the pilot jets work like they did in VM carbs? The pilots are just sticking out into the bowl, there not buried in a hole with a rubber cap and a secret tunnel from the mains.