Topic: BLUESTREAK flatslide carbs: info wanted

[paulages]

my cb550 (590 kit) racebike was originally fitted with BLUESTREAK flatslide carbs, which were removed and the VM29s that are on it now were installed. speaking with the original racer, he told me that they pulled them because they couldn't find different needles for them. i can't find ANY info on them, but they are available for me to use if i can sort out the slide needle situation.

has anyone heard of these or have any information on them?

[MRieck]

The first generation Lectrons had blue bodies Paul but Lectrons really aren't streetable (but anything is possible)

[paulages]

The first generation Lectrons had blue bodies Paul but Lectrons really aren't streetable (but anything is possible)

i'm told these were called "bluestreaks", but have found no information on them. maybe there was a memory loss over the years. i'll know when i have them. they are for the race bike, so "streetable" shouldn't matter. parts of the bike (shocks, disks...) were painted blue to match the carbs.

[Don R]

If they are Lectrons call "Fast by Gast". They are quite adjustable with different taper needles, mine had the high speed jet also, that helped a little with lower rpm fuel mix. Mine were alky race carbs though.

[mlinder]

Mebbe there will be some casting marks somewhere that will help identify them. I didn't find a damned thing about bluestreak carbs, cept for something done in Canada about 60 years ago.

[simon#42]

all lectrons had bare alloy bodies , they are basically a copy of the gardener carb [ although no doubt they would dispute that ] there are no jets in the carb at all and all the mixture control is done on the needle . they work really well and once you are used to them are pretty easy to get working . we use them for post classic racing as they are the only legal period flat slide carb . in the mid 80s there was a split at lectron and someone went out on there own [ sorry this is a bit vague but im working from memory ]  they formed a company called EI , they made a lectron clone carb that was bright blue , this maybe what you are talking about . if you can post a pic i will tell you for sure

[Sam Green Racing]

Didn't you have to run a remote float bowl with that type of carb Simon, sorta like the GP carbs ?

Sam.

[simon#42]

you did with the gardener sam but the lectrons had the float bowl built in , it was even transparent so you could see if your float hights where right at a glance!

[paulages]

thanks simon. good info. i don't have the carbs in my possession yet, but i'll will post pics as soon as i do. i need to speak with the original builder too, as he apparently was all about these when they were new.

[Don R]

The lectron plastic float bowl was a hoot, you couldn't believe how much the fuel foamed at rpm. They put a little foam baffle around the inlet to control the aeration of the gas. I bet we would be amazed if we could see into our carbs while they are working.

[kos]

Blue Magnum was the name that Sparky Edmonson , the inventor named them,  then he did Quicksilver...then his kid sold him and his name down the river!

Sparky Edmondson was the "S" in S&W valve spring company. The "W" was Tim Witham.



Posi carb was another name in the day, built buy who???

KOS

[754]

Posi was built in Cali I think, maybe Azuza, they were black.

Lake Injectors were  natural colour and built in WA state

Wal Phillips fuel injectors, were built in Britain.

 now my age is showing..

[Sam Green Racing]

Wal Phillips fuel injectors, were built in Britain.

But by who Frank, apart from Wal ?

Sam.

[paulages]

thanks KOS! blue magnum it is! the original owner of the race bike remembered the name wrong. i found this description on another site:

"History Behind the AFT Carburetor

Since the beginning of the combustion engine, man has had a natural desire to get as much power out of the wide variety of motors manufactured for work and play. For the past 37 years, William “Red” Edmonston has chosen the motorcycle as his passion for power and speed.

Red started racing Triumph motorcycles in the 1940’s and after 13 years of racing and breaking bones, he decided to move to California and work with Triumph as a road manager as well as open a Honda dealership to provide for his young family. During the 1960’s, Red continually became frustrated with the fuel delivery systems for the motorcycle industry. Most of the carburetors being manufactured and sold on motorcycles were complex to tune, and required a constant effort to keep tuned for proper operation of the motor. This was primarily because of the multiple and overlapping circuits (different jets for the differing throttle positions) that caused the air fuel mixture to be very rich at different throttle positions. These early carburetors could not adapt for altitude changes either, which added to the constantly differing air-to-fuel ratios and tuning problems. Besides the frustrations that many had with keeping their motorcycles running at optimum, these crude fuel delivery systems also cause the motor to run very inefficiently and with significant harmful emissions.

In the late 196o’s, after many years of racing, managing race teams, and selling motorcycles, Red began his long career of inventing, designing, and manufacturing carburetors for the motorcycle industry. In short, Red has had a significant impact on the motorcycle industry over the past 40 years. Red has held nearly 100 patents and has invented and manufactured nine different carburetors, each of which has shared some similarities while each subsequent model continually added improvements in functionality and performance. The history of the Red Edmonston’ carburetors spans many years and a great deal of experience and improvements:

· 1968-1969: The Lake Injector prototype and final production model carburetor.
· 1970-1971: The Pos-A-Fuel prototype and final production model carburetor.
· 1971: The Pos-A-Fuel with remote float bowl production model carburetor.
· 1973-1974: The Lectron prototype and final production model carburetor.
· 1976-1977: The E.I. Prototype and final production model carburetor.
· 1978: The Blue Magnum production model carburetor.
· 1980: The Bank of Four Blue Magnum model carburetor.
· 1981-1982: The Qwik Silver prototype and production model carburetor.
· 1982: The Qwik Silver Bank of Four carburetor wins Daytona super-bike race.
· 1993: The Qwik Silver II production model carburetor (sold to Edelbrock)./size]

mine appear to be the ones in bold above, and i can see why finding needles for them will be difficult.

[simon#42]

possibly not , i think these are the EI carbs i was thinking of , if so lectron needles may fit . as DON R said in a previous post fast by gast still sell all the parts .  i have bloody hundreds of lectron needles if you need to compare one [ although mine are mostly the earlier type which where shorter ]

[paulages]

possibly not , i think these are the EI carbs i was thinking of , if so lectron needles may fit . as DON R said in a previous post fast by gast still sell all the parts .  i have bloody hundreds of lectron needles if you need to compare one [ although mine are mostly the earlier type which where shorter ]

nice. i'll update when i actually have the carbs in hand.

[Don R]

We used to record the distance from the slide to the end of the metering rod with a dial caliper and tune by turning the rod in and out to adjust where the taper hit the orifice. Also counted the turns. We had an EGT gauge to watch the heat change as we tuned. There were different taper rods available too. If I had 4 of them today I'd give it a whirl. We were burning methanol, I bet they would work well with E85 too.

[B.O.X.N.I.F.E.]

Paul, you had to have known someone would stumble on this and resurect it.

We wanna see that rack of 4 bright blue carbs!

[Doctor_D]

We wanna see that rack of 4 bright blue carbs!

It's a color you might have to let grow on you.