• Required reading for all forum users!!!

    Welcome!
    Register to access the full functionality of the GSResources forum. Until you register and activate your account you will not have full forum access, nor will you be able to post or reply to messages.

    A note to new registrants...
    All new forum registrations must be activated via email before you have full access to the forum.

    A Special Note about Email accounts!
    DO NOT SIGN UP USING hotmail, outlook, gmx, sbcglobal, att, bellsouth or email.com. They delete our forum signup emails.

    A note to old forum members...
    I receive numerous requests from people who can no longer log in because their accounts were deleted. As mentioned in the forum FAQ, user accounts are deleted if you haven't logged in for the past 6 months. If you can't log in, then create a new forum account. If you don't get an error message, then check your email account for an activation message. If you get a message stating that the email address is already in use, then your account still exists so follow the instructions in the forum FAQ for resetting your password.

    Have you forgotten your password or have a new email address? Then read the forum FAQ for details on how to reset it.

    Any email requests for "can't log in anymore" problems or "lost my password" problems will be deleted. Read the forum FAQ and follow the instructions there - that's what we have one for...

  • Returning Visitors

    If you are a returning visitor who never received your confirmation email, then odds are your email provider is blockinig emails from our server. The only thing that can be done to get around this is you will have to try creating another forum account using an email address from another domain.

    If you are a returning visitor to the forum and can't log in using your old forum name and password but used to be able to then chances are your account is deleted. Purges of the databases are done regularly. You will have to create a new forum account and you should be all set.

Pods--Float level critical for cruising and transition.

glib

glib

Forum Mentor
Past Site Supporter
I read http://www.factorypro.com/tech_tuning_procedures/tuning_carbtune,CV,high_rpm_engines.html a couple days ago and realized that I had missed a tuning component that was exactly what my bike needed. When I bought my 700ES, it had pods but no "kit." Just a big main jet. I put a stage 3 DynoJet kit in and voila, it ran to redline with power--after previously not being able to run over 5k rpm. I didn't ride it much for the next two years but have been on it more recently and realized that not only did the mileage stink--38 at best--but it also bogged off the line and only had good power in the upper rpm range and WOT. I thought it might be rich so I lowered the needles a notch just to see if I could notice any difference. The mileage didn't change but I thought I could feel and hear a less severe "bog." (I always thought that the pods were just extra noisy but I found out that a lot of that was unnecessary bogging sound). The article has been shared numerous times but I just found it after changing my needle settings. It outlines in detail which changes affect specific areas of performance and I realized that I may have never checked my float height. Yes, I know it's on the list of things to do but perfection eludes me and it made sense that the shop that sold it without getting it running right may have tried making adjustments that failed. (They had huge Mikuni 130 main jets installed). So I pulled the carbs once again and found that the floats were set 2mm low in an effort to richen the mixture. I just put them back to stock and it purrs like a mean kitten. Very different tone in transition. And the mileage came up to 42mpg.
 
Last edited:
Yep, lots of people neglect float height. I've never found this to be set correctly when I first encounter a set of carbs.

And it is important. Half a mm makes a perceptible difference. It's well worth taking the time to get this right and consistent.

I've also found that a lot of people can't read instructions -- on GS carbs with the "stepped" floats you measure the height at the notch, not at the top.
 
I have read that guide and have a question or three about it. :-k

It suggests that the first thing you do is to tune the main jet by finding the one that pulls the hardest at high RPM. My question is : just how do you get to the place where you can test the pull in high RPM if you can't run at low and medium RPM to get to the test site? I feel that you need to at least have a decent-running bike so you can get to the test site, so why not just tune the low end correctly first?

There may be a valid reason for his tuning sequence that I am not understanding, but I don't tune race bikes, so I simply don't know it all. :oops:

.
 
Agreed -- you have to be reasonably close on the low/mid stuff to get the bike to start and to run safely. But the main jet also affects these settings as well.

I think the thing that sort of gets glossed over in those instructions is that you will iterate through the steps several times to get things really sorted out.
 
Last edited:
As I get more acquainted with various systems on the bikes in the garage, I also become more in tune with those systems when they are in operation. After this experience with the floats and other carb tuning, I paid some extra attention during my ride today and I believe that the loud "waaa" sound (with pods--I don't hear it with the airbox) must be the pistons raising to lift the needles. The tone is more related to the strain of the motor than the throttle position. Also, if that is the case, even riding fairly aggressively when possible, I did get on the needles quite a bit but I very rarely ever tested the accuracy of the main jet--except to the extent that it may affect the low and midrange mixtures. I'll bet I used all eighty some horsepower only two or three times in over four hrs riding. However the now well-tuned low end was much appreciated.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top