Tools of the trade

[satchmo]

Alright I hope this should go here and not in the GD ...

I'm looking to do a carb sync, timing, psi check on my 1977 gs550e and what I want to know is what tools of the trade should I be using.

As in the carb synching tool, timing light etc. Does anyone one know some economical decent brands and where to buy them? online? in Vancouver? I'm sick of spending $60/hr labour at the shop for stuff I should be able to do myself, and heck I just can't afford the shop time, but I can afford the time to do it myself, even if it takes a few go's.

Satch

[Anonymous]

Satch i was thinking that if a person really wanted to do a sync economically he could do it with just one vacume guage. it might be a bit of a pain but ill bet it can be done accurately. My guess it that a cheap timing light will do it also.

[earlfor]

Re: Tools of the trade

A 1977 550 would have a points ignition system, so all you would really need to set points and timing is a feeler guage and a continuity light.
A timing light (for dynamic timing) is only needed if you want to fine tune the max advance alignment. If you do the static timing carefully, normally the max advance settings will be correct. You can get a feeler guage and a continuity light at any auto parts store, hardware store or even Wal Mart or K mart. Feeler guages ......maybe $5...continuity light....about $3
I also have a timing light I bought at Sears some years ago. It was the cheapest model and is all you need for a motorcycle. Mine was $20, but its been awhile.

A compression tester is infrequently used and while not particularly expensive, I would not consider it a priority item. Any auto parts store
sometimes even Walmart. $15 to $40

A set of mercury carb stix can be had from J C Whitney for about $25 U S.
They are a must have if you want to synch carbs. It is not possible to synch carbs accurately by measurement of slide height, or listening for sound or rpm.

If you want to shim and set your own valves, there is a special depressor tool available that makes getting the shims out of the buckets MUCH easier and less risky than trying to pry things out with screwdrivers. I bought mine from cyclerecycle for $28 (if I remember correctly) Let me know if you want to get one and I'll look up the exact addy and price for you.


Earl

Alright I hope this should go here and not in the GD ...

I'm looking to do a carb sync, timing, psi check on my 1977 gs550e and what I want to know is what tools of the trade should I be using.

As in the carb synching tool, timing light etc. Does anyone one know some economical decent brands and where to buy them? online? in Vancouver? I'm sick of spending $60/hr labour at the shop for stuff I should be able to do myself, and heck I just can't afford the shop time, but I can afford the time to do it myself, even if it takes a few go's.

Satch

[earlfor]

Scotty, when setting vacuum, I normally am setting a specific vacuum value at a set rpm. Whenever an adjustment is made on one carb, it will also change the vacuum draw on the other three and that will change the rpm.
the proceedure is to always adjust the farthest out of spec carb, so there is no set sequence or amount of adjustment as you work from carb to carb.
Also, with each adjustment, you may have to reset the baseline rpm so as to keep within specs. It is essential to know what the vacuum is on all four carbs because without knowing that, you have no way of knowing which one to adjust next or by how much.

Earl

Satch i was thinking that if a person really wanted to do a sync economically he could do it with just one vacume guage. it might be a bit of a pain but ill bet it can be done accurately. My guess it that a cheap timing light will do it also.

[argonsagas]

Valid points, Earl, and there can be no question that having all carbs displaying their respective draw levels at the same time is a great benefit, but what about all we poor souls who graduated from the distant past, (when some of these machines were new) and have left-over Uni-Syn devices?

They allow for a measurement on each carb, one carb at a time.

You do have to record the measurements, and it does take a while, as Scotty suggested, but you get them all done.

[earlfor]

Sure Ron, by writing down the values, mnaking one adjustment and the writing all carb values again, one adjustment, everything again, etc etc.
I know you could get it done. I dont think its worthwhile to do it that way for a cost savings though. A single vacuum guage is going to cost you about 20 dollars. A four guage mercury stix with adapters is only going to be 25 dollars.

Earl

Valid points, Earl, and there can be no question that having all carbs displaying their respective draw levels at the same time is a great benefit, but what about all we poor souls who graduated from the distant past, (when some of these machines were new) and have left-over Uni-Syn devices?

They allow for a measurement on each carb, one carb at a time.

You do have to record the measurements, and it does take a while, as Scotty suggested, but you get them all done.

[Anonymous]

Scotty, when setting vacuum, I normally am setting a specific vacuum value at a set rpm. Whenever an adjustment is made on one carb, it will also change the vacuum draw on the other three and that will change the rpm.
the proceedure is to always adjust the farthest out of spec carb, so there is no set sequence or amount of adjustment as you work from carb to carb.
Also, with each adjustment, you may have to reset the baseline rpm so as to keep within specs. It is essential to know what the vacuum is on all four carbs because without knowing that, you have no way of knowing which one to adjust next or by how much.

Earl
I hope you didnt think i was saying that you would leave the vacume guage on one carb only to take the measurements.

Satch i was thinking that if a person really wanted to do a sync economically he could do it with just one vacume guage. it might be a bit of a pain but ill bet it can be done accurately. My guess it that a cheap timing light will do it also.

[earlfor]

Nah, Scotty. I KNOW you havent fallen over in the driveway that many times. :-) :-)

Earl


[quote="slopoke"]
Earl
I hope you didnt think i was saying that you would leave the vacume guage on one carb only to take the measurements.