Reinstalling pilot screw in carbs question

[Black 550 L]

I know the air screws get set 1.5 turns from lightly seated but, I was reading the carb oem spec that is in the sticky and it says the pilot screw is 3.5 turns back does this mean screw it all the way in then back it off? Does anything else get turned in the back out? I'm asking a lot of questions but I haven't ever did this all help is really appreciated Thanks

[GQROD]

Are you talking about the mixture screws or the Pilot Jets???

The bsw30ss carbs have only one set of screws one for each cyl. ( 4 total ) that control fuel and air mixture together, called the pre-mix.

Mixture screws should be 1 1/2 out from lightly seated to get the bike to run then adjust from there according to how the plugs look.

So you would screw them all in until lighted seated then turn them out to the left 1 1/2 turns out.

Nothing else is adjustable other than the float heights on these carbs, since there is only one clip unlike other gs's where there are four notches or four available clip positions for the needle heights.

Don't forget to sync your carbs it will help, and a valve adjustment if not done yet. Also check your choke cable adjustment just in case you are doing an overall tune up or having starting or running issues.

Download the free manual from basscliff's site,it will help.

Hope this helps

[rapidray]

Also, to set the mixture screws CORRECTLY, you need to warm up the bike & adjust each screw in or out till it idles the fastest on each screw. If it speeds way up while you are doing this, turn the idle down & continue to the next one. This is how the motor "tells" you what it wants from the mixture screws. After you are done you will probably be surprised to find that it takes little to NO choke to start the bike from then on. Good luck, you will love the difference! Ray.

[Texas]

pilot screw

Then what does the shop Manuel specifications page mean when they say item : pilot screw (P. S.). Specification : 3. 1/2 turns back ?

[Steve]

One critical thing is missing here ... what year bike are we talking about???

Not sure if there were any 550Ls with VM carbs, but knowing what year the bike is would help A LOT.

The VM series and BS series carbs have different mixture adjustments. If you have BS carbs ('80 and newer bikes), all the jets inside the carb will be tightened up snugly. The only one that will not be snug is the idle mixture adjustment screw which will be set to somewhere between 2 and 3 1/2 turns out from lightly seated. I have to emphasize the 'lightly seated' part because there are a couple of active threads on the board right now concerning stuck and/or broken tips on those screws.

.

[TheCafeKid]

One critical thing is missing here ... what year bike are we talking about???

Not sure if there were any 550Ls with VM carbs, but knowing what year the bike is would help A LOT.

The VM series and BS series carbs have different mixture adjustments. If you have BS carbs ('80 and newer bikes), all the jets inside the carb will be tightened up snugly. The only one that will not be snug is the idle mixture adjustment screw which will be set to somewhere between 2 and 3 1/2 turns out from lightly seated. I have to emphasize the 'lightly seated' part because there are a couple of active threads on the board right now concerning stuck and/or broken tips on those screws.

.

Sure there were...you WORKED on one goofy! KParkFan's was an L with VM carbs on it...

[lucabond]

Are you talking about the mixture screws or the Pilot Jets???

The bsw30ss carbs have only one set of screws one for each cyl. ( 4 total ) that control fuel and air mixture together, called the pre-mix.

Mixture screws should be 1 1/2 out from lightly seated to get the bike to run then adjust from there according to how the plugs look.

So you would screw them all in until lighted seated then turn them out to the left 1 1/2 turns out.

Nothing else is adjustable other than the float heights on these carbs, since there is only one clip unlike other gs's where there are four notches or four available clip positions for the needle heights.

Don't forget to sync your carbs it will help, and a valve adjustment if not done yet. Also check your choke cable adjustment just in case you are doing an overall tune up or having starting or running issues.

Download the free manual from basscliff's site,it will help.

Hope this helps

In my case the best setting for the screws was about one half turn out.
If I set them to 1.5 to 2 turns all I got was sooty plugs from being to rich. At that setting i didn't need the choke to start. Now at 1/2 turn I need a little choke to start but the plugs are clean and the motor is awesome, gas mileage is up. I just have to read the plugs and adjust for the right color now.

[GQROD]

Screw settings are different for each bike primarily because of wear and/or the size of the pilot jets, and most importanly on the bsw30ss carbs the pilot "AIR " jet size.

Little is ever discussed about the pilot air jet sizes and how they relate to pre-mix in conjunction with the pilot jet sizes but it made a big difference on my bike.

Matching the correct sizes of pilot air jet and pilot jet is very importat or it cannot be adjusted properly.

If you get dry and sooty from one setting then you are in the correct range of adjustment for the size pilots you have.

In the case of my 83 GS550E the stock pilot jets were too small and i could not get the right color, my pre-mix screws were out of the range to make a difference.

So i went one size up and this solved my idle problems and my screws are 1 1/2 to 2 with a light grey to tan.

It's a starting point at least that helped me a lot.

[Steve]

Sure there were...you WORKED on one goofy! KParkFan's was an L with VM carbs on it...

OK, so I was there.

I just didn't remember that it was an L.

The other early 550 I have worked on is an E, so I was not sure about the L issue.

.