How many miles before I'll see a color change in plugs?

[Anonymous]

I'm still fighting with these *&%$ carbs. The thing (82 GS850GLZ) runs great and I'm tempted not to monkey with it any more and just ride it,but the plugs I put in about 150 miles ago are barely an off-white color on the ceramics. I would love to achieve that perfect tan color from the NGK website (found courtesy of an old post). I am concerned this is still too lean. My carb set up has only an adjustable float level- which is dead-on, and the pilot (air)screw on the intake side of the top of the carb. Set at about 2 turns each. There seem to be two schools of thought on these settings. Prior posts conflict and show both "IN" for lean and "out" for lean--so far "out" seems to be the way to lean this carb.

So, how many miles should I be able to run before I see a difference. I have adjusted these from about 1/2 out (which ran really poorly and put a lot of raw gas out the back) to almost 3 turns out (which ran even better than the two, but I wanted to richen a little more) and each time I ran about 15 or 20 miles. Never saw a difference in the plugs. Do I need to just go on a weekend road trip and put a few hundred miles on the things?

Also, on these types engines, can you pull the plugs when the engine is still hot or should it be cool (I have been waiting for it to cool just to make sure).

I've turned a lot of wrenches before, but am new to the two-wheeled mechanicals. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Billy Ricks]

I believe you need to raise the needles a bit with some thin washers under the e-clips. The pilot screws don't have much effect once you get above 1/4 throttle. It only takes 15 minutes or so of riding to see a difference in your plugs.

[Anonymous]

Thanks Billy, I'll give that a try.

[lhanscom]

Wouldn't putting washers under the e-clip only make the spring tension higher? Instead don't you need to replace the plastic washer on top of the clip with a thinner washer? Or get adjustable needles.

[Billy Ricks]

It's been so long since I had the CVs on my bike I couldn't remember the order of everything. If I remember right isn't there a thick plastic washer and a thinner metal one above the clip? If so, try just removing the thinner one. If not then as Luke said, stack thinner washers so they end up less thick than what's there now.

[Anonymous]

Both good thoughts, however, after putting my brain in gear, I realized "What are e-clips and where on these carbs (Miks BS32SS) will I find them? I looked back at the carb rebuild post and didn't see them there. Thx

[HiSPL]

They are refering to the carb slide needles. when you look into the end of the carb and raise the slide with your finger you'll see them.

[cbxchris]

I used to go get racing fuel(leaded) so I could tell whats going on. At times the burn rate would throw ya off but it colored the plugs so much quicker. The object is to raise the needles....I just has a set of CV`s apart...there is a spring that keeps pressure on the needle. A little different than a standard carb. For the money K&N has the stage 1 and 3 kit now for around 35 bucks....can`t go wrong getting one.

[Anonymous]

i have plugs on the white side too, i raised the needles 1 notch and fouled the plugs which left me broke down in noon traffic, i worked the starter to much the battery went way down, i looked like a mad man kicking the kicker trying to get it started 8O ended up pushing it a good 50 yards :?

[Don Lobacz]

Glenn, If it runs great and the plugs are staying white, don't mess with major changes (ie, shimming needles). White or tan plugs mean the same thing: it's not too rich. If your plugs show a bright blue tip then you're running lean enough become concerned. The performance will tell you how close you are to spot-on jetting: smooth acceleration without surging or dead-spots is what you want (ask some of the guys that don't have that). The needle on the top/front of your carbs is a fuel mixture screw and screwing it out will richen your mixture. Turning it in too far will result in black plugs because the motor draws idle mixture from alternative / improper passages. Take the mixture screws back out to 3 or 3 1/2 to achieve the best running. Check the plugs after a few miles and if they still look good, quit messing with it.

[Anonymous]

Wouldn't putting washers under the e-clip only make the spring tension higher? Instead don't you need to replace the plastic washer on top of the clip with a thinner washer? Or get adjustable needles.

Luke my carb adjustments to the needle are as Billy suggested and seem to work just fine. I was wondeing what negative effect you are implying will occur by shimming the needle around the spring area. I have found that you can only move the needle so far with washers and would eventually have to modify the plastic spacer. But if that much adjustment is needed then perhaps the problem could lie elsewhere.

Comments please.

[lhanscom]

In CV carbs, the height of the needle is determined by the plastic stopper that presses down on top of the washer(s) sitting on top of the needle. This is a fixed point, by putting washers under the clip the spring will be compressed more, but the needle will have the same position. If however you take the thick plastic washer on the top of the needle, and remove it with a thinner washer or stack of washers it will change the distance between the plastic stopper and the clip, and thus change the needle position. This is only if you need to make the needle richer, if you want to make it leaner, you can simply add a washer on top of the clip, and you're done. This is why having adjustable needles is so much easier, just change the clip position and you're done.