Topic: Two questions: Carb balancing and Oil leak

[sonnamuso]

1.  Tried balancing my carbs (76 CB550K - with Uni Pod filters, 2x2-1 exhaust, re-jetted carbs and Dyna-S ignition) and could get them all to read the same vacuum, but it's only about 12, instead of the 16-24 that is recommended in the manual.  The question is: even with all the mods done on the bike, should I still shoot for the recommended reading, or are things fine as long as they read the same value? (should note, that before I did the balancing, I had adjusted the timing and did valve adjustments - which leads to question 2)


2.  I had a small oil leak from the valve cover at Cyl#1, so I replaced the o-ring (then adjusted valves) and I seem to still have the leak.  I am pretty sure I did things correctly, cleaning the surfaces, applying a small bit of oil to the o-ring initially, and tightened to specs, any suggestions as to what else I can do?

Thanks,
Paul.

[Ibsen]

For the carb balancing. What's imporant is to get a equal reading on all carbs.

As a sidenote, it is possible to set the idle mixture with help from the carb balancer. I don't have a Honda workshop manual for my my 650, only cCymer and Haynes, so I can't tell if the factory manual have anything written about it. But I also have a Kawasaki, and the factory manual for that bike does specify how to set the idle mixure by using the vacum gauges.

And for the valve cover, I have used a small amount of non hardening gasket sealer if the o-ring fails to seal. Just a thin layer.