gs850-which carbs are better?

[PAULYBOY]

as i was asking, i have an 82 gs850. I've been wondering whether the earlier carbs or the current carbs would be better all around for an oc casional driver. I have absolutely no aspirations to race, hot rod, etc., just like to ride a little more this year. whats the opinions and whats involved in changeover, I'm guessing changing petcock, rubber connectors, ...........?

[Steve]

I posted a reply in your original thread, but I'll ask a question in this one, too.

Is there anything wrong with the carbs you have now? Even if they stumble a bit, it only takes a good cleaning to get them right. Certainly much easier than trying to get the bike set up for a completely different set of carbs.

With no aspirations for racing, your stock carbs will do quite well. Tuned somewhat properly and ridden sanely, we consistantly get 45 to 55 mpg on my wife's bike on group rides.


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[rphillips]

I think you carbs should be 34mm CV's. I can't imagine any better carb for just riding. Keep clean fuel in it, & don't let it sit long enough for fuel to get stale, sync carbs every few years, & ride.

[robertbarr]

For all practical purposes, you don't have a choice. There's so much that's different, you'd spend a fortune (and ages) getting VM carbs to fit that engine. I'm about 99% certain that the rack (the bracket that holds the carbs in a line) spaces the CV's differently than the VM rack, so even if you had the right diameter boots, the carb centerlines wouldn't match the boots. Then there's the angle between the head and the carbs -- different there, too. That's why the '80 and later bikes have righthand and lefthand boots, but the pre-80 don't.

Etcetera.

That said, I prefer the simplicity of the VM carbs, and the fact that my first 850 (79, of course) ran perfectly through my 53,000 miles of ownership. CV's will serve you just fine, though.

[8trackmind]

I have bikes with both, and they each have their good, and bad points.
(dons flame retardant gear)
The CV's are the better choice in overall drivability. When the airbox is well sealed, the carb boots, intake o rings are in good shape, and they're synced up, they perform really really well. Even in cold weather. Hard to beat.

The VM's have a "right now" throttle response that CV's don't...But they are not forgiving of ham fisting the throttle in the wrong gear, or at really low RPM like the CV's. When you roll it open smoothly, you are rewarded with a rush of power. Very fun to flog!
If you want to run Pods, VM's are the better way to go.

Btw, I'd keep the CV's on the 850. They are the perfect carb for that bike.

[Steve]

I think you carbs should be 34mm CV's. I can't imagine any better carb for just riding. Keep clean fuel in it, & don't let it sit long enough for fuel to get stale, sync carbs every few years, & ride.

Actually, the 850s have 32mm carbs. 8-[


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[Nessism]

As mentioned in the other thread on this topic, VM carb heads have smaller ports thus it's not possible to switch the carbs without swaping the head as well.

[rphillips]

Just wondering, Wouldn't the simplest way to go from CV to VM, install a pre "1980" 850 head & air boxes on the "82" bike. Then the VM's would bolt right on. Or was there other differences that would prevent the swap? Still rather have CV's

[mark]

That said, I prefer the simplicity of the VM carbs

I've worked on both and much prefer the VM's in terms of simplicity, messing around with needle settings etc. Can't imagine swapping for them though if I already had a good running bike with different carbs.

[bwringer]

Just wondering, Wouldn't the simplest way to go from CV to VM, install a pre "1980" 850 head & air boxes on the "82" bike. Then the VM's would bolt right on. Or was there other differences that would prevent the swap? Still rather have CV's

Yes, the '79 cylinder head would bolt right on to any year 850. The airboxes are different, so you'd need the '79 airbox as well, or if you're doing this sort of crazy swap, you'd probably use pods anyway. You'd also need the '79's push-pull throttle, but that's a minor detail.

[PAULYBOY]

thanks for your response, guys. I'm learning things every time I access the forum. As an aside ti this thread, the last bike I owned, about 15 years ago, was an 82 Yammie 920 v twin. It had been stored in a guys basement for about 8 years before I got it, so it really went inot mothballs not too long after it wasa new bike. The first summer I rode it, I took it for granted that the PO had really rebuilt the carbs. I spent more time with a sputtering bike than really enjoying the ride. The next spring, I decidedd to check the carbs and found that half the screws weren't even tightened down, and one of the carbs float bowl gasket was totally missing. After I fixed those two things, the thing ran so fast that it scared me. I had to sell it later that year to pay off some back taxes. BOO HOO........