Please check my Carb tune logic..........

[Steve]

My float needles are only about a year old, I did do a bench manual sync of the carbs. Almarconi what do you mean by 3/4-1 ? Does that mean 1 and 3/4 turns out for the fuel mixture ?

No, 1 and 3/4 turns would be written 1 3/4. What he meant is between 3/4 and 1 turn.

Stock setting on the fuel screw is usually between 1/2 and 5/8 turn. This was meant to run lean enough to meet the EPA regulations that were starting to appear. This was just barely enough for the bike to run, and it took forever to warm up enough to be able to turn the "choke" off. Depending on the state of tune and whether you are using stock airbox and exhaust, most have found that somewhere between 3/4 and 1 turn on the fuel screw is a good starting point. If you have pods and a pipe, you might have to add another 1/4 to 1/2 turn. Again, as a starting point, the air screw is set at about double of the fuel screw.

Note that these settings are for the VM carbs found on '79 and older bikes. The BS carbs on the newer bikes are different.

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I am leaning out and I have my pilot fuel screws set to 1 & ¼ turns. Seems like the only logical reason would be the float heights.

Did you measure from gasket bump, or gasket mating surface Tim, and how many MM did you set them to?

You think my float levels need adjusted ?? That is way different from what I was thinking. I'll check..........that's why I'm asking.

It's hard to tell because I wasn't able to watch you put the carbs back together. Did you measure the float height with a calipers when you reassembled them?

Its clear that something is screwed up because normally, when you put the carbs back on the bike it should fire up, come off the choke and settle into a nice smooth idle.

Did you also check to make sure your throttle cable was routed properly and is also adjusted? A throttle cable could cause your carbs to act weird if not adjusted.

You think my float levels need adjusted ?? That is way different from what I was thinking. I'll check..........that's why I'm asking.

Don't try to do this out in the yard, at night in the middle of a snow storm

You know me too well already haha

Make sure the air box and filter are installed on your bike and are well sealed.

3/4 or 1 turn

My float needles are only about a year old, I did do a bench manual sync of the carbs. Almarconi what do you mean by 3/4-1 ? Does that mean 1 and 3/4 turns out for the fuel mixture ?

I was told to re-check my float levels which i have yet to do, but based on my recollection that my stock float needles were a little worn, my setting at 24mm was more like 25.5 mm with the 1.5mm play in my needles. (ordered new ones, if you haven't figured this out before I finish mine I will post back)

If you really want to get the levels set right, remove the carbs, take them inside and set them in a vice. Level them side to side and front to back. Get a piece of clear tubing that will fit the drain tube on your carbs (or an adapter for your drain screw. Get a small container of gasoline (I use a radiator overflow container) and hook up your carbs. Let the gas fill the bowls. Open your drain screw and watch as gas fills up the clear tubing. Place the tubing against the side of the carb next to the gasket mating surface and measure the level of gas in the tube. If you look in your repair manual, there should be a spec for fuel height. Lets say is 5 mm +/- 1mm, you want to see the meniscus ( U shape) 5mm below the gasket surface. Do this same measurement for all the bowls. Once you know where this level is you can adjust the float height. Once you make an adjustment to the float tang, put it all back together and measure again. The whole process takes me about 3 -4 hours to get it set right depending on how out of whack the floats are.

It is a time consuming, repetitive, pain in the *ss series of measurements. When you are done you can be assured that your floats are set to the correct height. The process is way more accurate than measuring the float height with a calipers since it takes into account the condition of your needles, floats..etc.

Don't try to do this out in the yard, at night in the middle of a snow storm

Try setting the fuel screws 3/4-1 turn out and air screws 1.5 turns out. Did you bench sync them?

As the bike warms up, the rpms will rise, you should reduce the amount of choke. Once it is fully warm, the engine should idle at the whatever the baseline is for your bike.

With float height set, fuel and air screws set, and bench synced the bike should idle. Make sure you don't have any air leaks.

I'm having the same exact problem, and when i say exact, i mean same EXACT problem.

I was told to re-check my float levels which i have yet to do, but based on my recollection that my stock float needles were a little worn, my setting at 24mm was more like 25.5 mm with the 1.5mm play in my needles. (ordered new ones, if you haven't figured this out before I finish mine I will post back)

Thus, bike running too lean. Did you install new needles or leave the old ones? Curious to find out if we both made the same mistake, or if perhaps this is simply a matter of needing to re-adjust the pilot fuel / air screws.

I just did the complete carb tear down and dip, O'ring process off of Bike Cliff's website. When I fired the old girl up she would only run if I applied maximum choke and she spun about 3,000 RPM. That tells me that my mixture is too lean and needs to be a little bit more rich. Does that logic sound true ? By the way I set my fuel and air screws to one and a half turns out when re-esembled. My carbs are Mikuni VM26SS 1979 GS850GN.

Thank you for your Time