GS700E Needle Shimming - What Am I Missing?

[kirkn]

Finally got around to overhauling the carbs on my 85 GS700E project. They've been sitting on MY shelf for a year, and sat in the previous owner's garage for a year before that.

So, I'm disassembling them for cleaning and refurbing. They're not really that bad at all, so far. I think the PO drained 'em before he let 'em sit.

Anyway, this is what I find at the jet needle:

It looks as if the PO tried to "shim the needles", because there's this little washer under the C-clip. But, if I understand the system I'm looking at, that top-hat piece is retained in the throttle piston by a large snap ring, so it can't move up any. Then, the needle's C-clip is always pressed up against the spacer and thus against the top-hat piece.

So, by adding a washer under the C-clip, in this particular design, all that get's done is making a tiny bit of additional pre-load on the spring.

If you don't make the plastic spacer any thinner, you haven't raised the needle at all, have you?

Am I missing something?

I'm wondering if the PO told all his buddies about how much better it was after shimming the needles...

Or, is that all the stock setup? Maybe that washer just gives the spring something to push on...

I've never seen one like this, though.

Hmmm......

Kirk

[Do Little]

That metal washer is there to keep the spring from tangling up in the c clip, mine is the same way. Your right, you take off the plastic washer and replace it with thinner washers to raise or "shim" the needle to make it richer.

For size reference, I used M3 sized washers for the needles on my 550, so yours should be close to that size. Got mine at a hardware store for like 12 cents a piece, 2 for each needle.

[Nessism]

Got mine at a hardware store for like 12 cents a piece, 2 for each needle.

Remind me to never stop off at that hardware store.

[Steve]

Yep, that's a totally stock setup in your picture.

If you feel you need to raise the needle a LOT, you can simply swap positions of the metal washer and the nylon spacer.
Usually that's too much, only necessary if you are running pods AND a 4 into 1 pipe.

.

[kirkn]

No, no, I don't want to shim the needles at all. Stock airbox and filter, stock exhaust system.

At first, I thought the PO must've tried to shim them himself, but now I understand it's just the stock setup to keep the spring from getting tangled in the C-clip.

Thanks, guys.

Kirk