Topic: Carb sync

[mrbreeze]

Ditto on the $110 carbtune.....from Britain to California real quick.I also found it easier to work than the gauges....less fluttering than the needles.Who knows? Maybe I had #$%*ty dampners on those cheap ass gauges I used to use.

[DaveInTexas]

youse guys that are making the homemade vac gauge set ups..
how are you making the part that screws into the carb??
Also are you making some kind of dampener or is it a restrictor that the commercial tuning kits come with??

[mrbreeze]

You gauge or homemade guys waste more $ & time trying to make it work than buying the "ULTIMATE CARB SYNCHING TOOL"......the Mogan Carb Tune.I could #$%* less how you synch your carbs but if my opinion is worth beans......pay the man and get on with ridin'!!!!!!

[Patrick]

If you wait a while, Harbor Freight has good sales. I picked up four vacuum gauges like those cited above for $8.99. I have been very pleased. I've had to use them twice in the last week (new surprise exhaust. Sometimes anniversaries aren't just for chicks). I already had the flanges from some mercury sticks I had. I hate those. The last I saw of my mercury was when it was being propleed at a very fast velocity from my tailpipes, probably misting over a pretty good area along the road by my house. We'll probably will have some real stupid coyotes running around here next fall. To dampen the gauges and make them readable, I put clamps on each of the hoses. It you tighten them just right you can keep the needles very steady but very responsive. My bike idles and runs very well. Total investment was less than $40.

Patrick

[mrbreeze]

What ev!!!!!!!!!

[eldar]

Dont know breeze, takes me about 15 minutes with mercury sticks. If mercury is still used to measure barometric pressure, it is good enough for our bikes. It is actually extremely accurate when done properly. The carbtune is just easier and more of a no-brainer.

[tsp37]

I haven't synced my carbs yet, but I hope that both the bike I survive long enough that that will be a necessary evil.  Having said that, I like to think that the mercury tubes would be more reliable than gauges.

My cheap idea is to buy enough clear tubing to form a loop from the reference carb, over something near the ceiling in the garage, to the floor, back to the ceiling, and then back to the carb to be adjusted.  The mid point of the tube is near the ground, and has a couple of feet of water inside (better yet, colored and heavier manometer fluid).  When carb no. 1 balances w/ the ref. carb, the water height is the same in both the rising and falling section of the tube.  Now pull the tube off of #1 and attempt to go to #3 while the engine sucks all the water into the ref. carb.  Cuss and throw things.  Enjoy the money saved from not buying mercury sticks.

This, my friends, is genius at work.

[bryanj]

Back in the 70's Yamaha had the idea of one gauge in a steel box with a rotary switch and four hoses. This was the biggest piece of #$%* i ever used and i NEVER got an engine set right with it. When you adjust one the others move so for me its the four seperat dials!

[mrbreeze]

Right on the mark bryanj....now all we gotta do is get that through to these guys that want to give it a go with one gauge.I don't care if its merc. sticks,rods, gauges, homemade manos or whatever!!!! What ever you use.....use 4 of em!!!! I can't imagine the frustration of only one.Crazy like a screen door on a submarine...

[RyanLilly]

You mean a screen door on a battleship, right?

Sorry, a little "Back to the Future" joke.

[Klark Kent]

i am one of those poor souls runnin a little ragged for lack of a set of sticks- actually just the adapters as i know two people who have sticks but no way to adapt.  I was relating my troubles to a friend who is a mechanic earlier this evening- over cocktails mind you- and he burst out- "i synch 12 cylinder ferraris with a single gauge, what the #$%* are you up to that you cant synch your bike with a simple vacuum gauge?

i thought about it.  i dont know what i amup to.  what ARE we up to?

would love a morgan, but feel like i'd have to sell an organ first.

synch is for sissies.
-KK

[mrbreeze]

Yeah...this Ferrari guy sounds like he is "KING #$%* OF THE PLANET EARTH"!!!!!!!! I don't give a flyin' #$%* if he tunes 94 cylinder Ferrari's with a paper clip and a rusty chisel!!!! I'd like to watch him tune our bikes without four sticks!!!!

[super pasty white guy]

Ok, thanks to a good deal on a set of mercury sticks (Thanks Gabe!)  I did my carb sync. 

Man, what a nightmare that would have been with a single gauge.

Discovered yet more evidence that the PO's reassurance that he'd done a full tune up last year was, how shall I say this, a bit optimistic.

But it's running so much smoother and quieter now.  Can't believe what a difference it made.

dave

[liaudio]

What do I need to get the bike ready to sync?  Do i need to have the idle air adjusted perfectly first? How hard is it to sync them anyway?  What RPM should it be set at?

[MikeDeB]

What do I need to get the bike ready to sync?  Do i need to have the idle air adjusted perfectly first? How hard is it to sync them anyway?  What RPM should it be set at?

Well, you need to make sure the valves are set, camchain set, points gap and ignition timing set.  The idle air screws should be set the same for all four carbs.  The engine should be warmed up to normal running temperature, off choke and about 1100 rpm.  For synchronizing you will need a carb synch tool (manometer).  I use a Morgan CarbTune.  Then you adjust the carbs until all are pulling the same vacuum.  With the Morgan you can rev it up a few times to see if the carbs stay in synch (not sure if you can do that with mercury sticks).  Hope this helps.

[flatblack]

The only thing I needed to synch carbs was the Morgan CarbTune <http://www.carbtune.com> and a couple of small items from the toolbox. If you don't have one of these little gems, my advice would be to order one today and wait until it arrives...

I've used it on two of my bikes, so far, and I can't imagine doing this chore without it.

My $0.02...

fb

[Ernest]

I don't think anyone has mentioned that after you do all the above mentioned you need to run a fan pointed towards the front of your motor when syncing.

I have a murcury manometer that works just fine but I would much rather have the carbtune that others are mentioning.  You have to be careful not to rev your engine with the murcury kind, it will suck the murcury right up into the carbs.  As long as your careful though the $50 dollar murcury manometer vs. the $100 plus dollar carbtune works fine IMO.

It also helps to make a little nitch with a dremel disc into the copper pipes that thread into the vacuum holes.  This helps so you are able to fit a flat screw driver into the nitch and screw them in or out.

[Serge]

I found an interesting link for DIY carb synchronizer

http://www.powerchutes.com/manometer.asp

I guess it should work for 4 cylinders also just hooking up carbs one by one vs. non regulated one?

[OldSchool_IsCool]

Serge,

Here's another thread where I describe a homemade 4-cylinder carb sync tool I'm tinkering with.

http://www.sohc4.us/forums/index.php?topic=13855.0