Ah, the joys of a tune-up....

If it's broken or just needs tweaked

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kc13661
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Location: Tyne & Wear England

Carb Balancer

Postby kc13661 » Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:07 am

Thanks for the link to E Bay and the Balancer.....I have just recieved mine, what a simple tool and no worries about exspensive gadgets laying around..... now looking forward to some dry weather to be able to get out and use the thing.

Current E Bay link:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-Motorcycle-Ca ... dZViewItem

Copy and paste into your browser
Stay Safe Stay Upright

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Ibsen
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Postby Ibsen » Wed Aug 02, 2006 6:17 pm

I synch (or at least check) the carbs as a part of the regulare tune up once every 6000 km. I have a Morgan Carbtune that I'm very pleased with.

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DammitDan
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Postby DammitDan » Mon Aug 07, 2006 12:55 am

I have Motion Pro mercury carb stix, which so far I haven't had a problem with (although I don't like the idea of storing mercury in my apartment...)

There are two things I don't like about that Ebay tuner you linked... For one, is there any safeguard against sucking the metal balls into your engine? At least with mercury there's no chance of damaging the engine if you accidentally rev it and it sucks the mercury in, since it's instantly vaporized. Course, that vapor is lethally toxic. So I guess it's better to rebuild your engine after a ball bearing is sucked into it than to deal with a slow and painful death as your lungs shut down. :shock:

And the fact that you can only tune 2 carbs at a time is REALLY a pain in the ass for these old 4-carb bikes. It would be fine if once you tuned one carb it would stay that way... Unfortunately, adjusting #1 affects #3 and #4, while adjusting #4 affects #3 and vice-versa. Screwing in and screwing out those adaptors over and over again just doesn't seem appealing.

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nickjtc
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eBay carb adjuster thingy

Postby nickjtc » Mon Aug 07, 2006 1:01 am

DammitDan wrote:And the fact that you can only tune 2 carbs at a time is REALLY a pain in the ass for these old 4-carb bikes. It would be fine if once you tuned one carb it would stay that way... Unfortunately, adjusting #1 affects #3 and #4, while adjusting #4 affects #3 and vice-versa. Screwing in and screwing out those adaptors over and over again just doesn't seem appealing.


I hear your concerns. So far I have not seen any reason why the balls should get sucked into the motor.... yes you can only balance one carb at a time. And in the instructions for the unit it does say to go back and recheck your work when you are done, just to be sure.

I've used mine three times so far, the last time for the sheer hell of it and have found that the adjustment has stayed accurate for all carbs. Yes, not being able to do all at once could be a pain, but a) you cannot beat the price and 2) it only takes a minute or two to do the check, so what the hey....
Last edited by nickjtc on Mon Aug 07, 2006 10:57 am, edited 1 time in total.
.....to be myself, a pattern for others.

1979 CB650
1971 Norton Commando
1968 CB175

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DammitDan
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Postby DammitDan » Mon Aug 07, 2006 8:50 am

It's actually only about $15 less than the mercury, and if you rev the engine up fast the vacuum increases exponentially and it will suck whatever you have connected to the vacuum ports right into the engine.

That's why I wanted to know if there are any safeguards (like a catch built into the tube somewhere to prevent passage).

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nickjtc
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Carb sync-er

Postby nickjtc » Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:00 am

DammitDan wrote:It's actually only about $15 less than the mercury, and if you rev the engine up fast the vacuum increases exponentially and it will suck whatever you have connected to the vacuum ports right into the engine.
That's why I wanted to know if there are any safeguards (like a catch built into the tube somewhere to prevent passage).


Hmmm....I didn't know about the increase in 'suck' as you rev the motor. I balance at fast tickover and don't rev thr motor, so for me it's moot.

There are no safeguards though, so you are right, a ball could disappear into the motor if revved enough!
.....to be myself, a pattern for others.



1979 CB650

1971 Norton Commando

1968 CB175

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Ibsen
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Postby Ibsen » Mon Aug 07, 2006 5:34 pm

The intake vacum do increase when you open the trottle, so if you rev the engine with the carb balancer connected to the vacum ports, something can be sucked through the these ports. I don't think a ball could get through the opening in the vacum port though. The size of the opening is approx the same as a pilot jet size. But mercury, or another fluid used, can pass the opening and be sucked into the engine.

And as a sidenote; mercury is by now banned by law in several US states. One of them is California, http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/HHW/Info/, where Motion Pro, http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/too ... arb_tuner/ , have their residens. And the result is that Motion Pro is still selling their mercury sticks, but they don't supply mercury for them anymore.
As I see it, and if you can afford it, the best alternative is the Morgan Carbtune: http://www.carbtune.com/
I have had mine for 3 years now, and I'm very pleased with it.

Guest

Postby Guest » Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:53 pm

Ibsen wrote:I don't think a ball could get through the opening in the vacum port though. The size of the opening is approx the same as a pilot jet size.


When you think about it, that is obvious! Thanks for pointing that out. Silly me.

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nickjtc
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Postby nickjtc » Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:38 am

Anonymous wrote:
Ibsen wrote:I don't think a ball could get through the opening in the vacum port though. The size of the opening is approx the same as a pilot jet size.


When you think about it, that is obvious! Thanks for pointing that out. Silly me.


That was me!
.....to be myself, a pattern for others.



1979 CB650

1971 Norton Commando

1968 CB175

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Ibsen
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Postby Ibsen » Tue Aug 08, 2006 1:30 pm

nickjtc wrote:
That was me!


:lol: :D


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