Topic: Cb550f 069's and pods experience

[kerryb]

spend a little time on detail,those emulsion tubes,chamfer the bleed holes a little,do it to the slow jets bleed holes aswell,

Lots of fine detail to attend to while waiting for the storm to blow over, plug caps, index the timing marks, but what caught my eye was "chamfering the bleed holes".  I understood that the bleed holes helped atomize the fuel droplets into smaller, finer, droplets.  The sharp-edged holes should help do that,  but if we chamfer the edges of those holes we are creating the beginnings of a bellmouth, which would smooth out the flow and allow bigger gas droplets to slip through unbroken, right? 
Is my reasoning backwards, am I missing the big picture,?  Fine tuning is all about getting the little details to all work together, for an improved end result... a fine mist of just the right proportions of fuel and air, ready for a flame front to rip through it as quick as possible, all started by a healthy blue spark at just the right instant.
Chamfering those holes seems like a step in the wrong direction, where is my confusion coming from?

On another note...when I was pulling the plugs after yesterdays choke debacle, I recall there were two that had a nice light-brown color to the porcelain tip (surrounded by fluffy black deposits on the threads).  I'll take that as a step in the right direction.  My only real concern right now is running too lean and doing serious damage...that would take all the fun out of it.

Dave, that video is good proof that getting the ignition working well is paramount to good performance.  I'll have to see if I can learn to post a video for comparison.

way better than watching tv...

[dave500]

i wound the idle down delta its pretty good,i had a set of keyster #78 jets i drilled to 102,it also has keyster #40 slow jets,havent ridden it yet its running on a little auxillary tank im still cleaning the filthy tank out.

[kerryb]

Thanks dave, I got my timing light fixed enough to find the timing was a little off.  Adjusted it spot on, synched the carbs..again..and we are ready for the next round of test rides.  In the garage with the fan going it seems much improved, but only a road test will tell for sure.

[dave500]

yeah mine might free rev ok but once its loaded ill see what its like,its a 550 in a 500 frame still using the 34 tooth 500 rear sprocket,itll have a pretty tall 1st gear,i got an old 37 i might swap on later?im flipping this bike so i want it to test ride pretty good,its got pods to put back on.

[kerryb]

Image test

[kerryb]

Okay!... road test went very well, every issue is better than before!  Idle is much smoother and lower, pulling away from a stop sign is smooth and easy, wot still seems great, and off-idle stumble was gone untill about 10 miles of mixed riding, them I could sense it coming back.
I can live with the stumble, but my big fear is running too lean and burning a piston.  So...which plug chop should I do to be sure that won't happen.  Most of my riding here is low-speed, 20-30mph and 1/3 throttle at 4-5k rpm.  Bike runs so good that I'm never at wot for more than several seconds

I'm pretty much done with carb stuff, I'll live with the pod issues till a later date, I just don't want to break it before it gets really good.

[dave500]

low speed riding might be fouling plugs because the pods dont let the carbs meter correctly?,you wont burn a piston with 100/40 jets,try and stay in a lower gear at 20/30 mph,dont cruise it like you would a car.

[seanbarney41]

I don't know if you can hole a piston by running it lean with these...seems like if it gets lean enough, it will just misfire, at which time a normal person instinctively backs off the throttle to a position where it doesn't misfire.  Also, never seen or heard of a holed piston from any cause with these bikes really.  I know this is super easy to do with 2 strokes.

[kerryb]

Update;  these are pics of my plugs after 95 miles of mixed riding.  90% at 45-70 mph and 4 - 6k on the tach 10% at 10-20mph in 2nd to 3rd gear.  Warmup is brief, hesitation at small changes is very minimal.  Idle is smooth around 1100-1200rpm and tendency to hang at 2k is minimal. One plug (#3)is a little fouled but I think that may be a spark plug wire issue because wire is worn/loose at the cap.  Opened up the air screw 1/4 turn to see if there is any improvement.  Trying not to cut the wire back because it just fits nice now.
Edit:  power seems real good in all areas, especially at WOT.  yes, I know all these issues including more power will be improved with a real airbox and I won't miss the huge sucking noise upon opening the throttle.
Thanks for all your responses.

[dave500]

just out of interest heres a brand new d7ea after 170 kays through the twisties,old ones were 3 years old or more,i put new ones in my bike and used the old ones in a 550 ive brought back to life,it has pods 100/40 and 4/1,its only been revved in the shed and ridden around the yard once or twice but look how these have gone already,they were a nice grey

[kerryb]

Thanks for the comparisons dave, I've been happy with plugs 1,2,&4 but #3 kept fouling.  After some further digging I find the plug cap at 17k ohms, 9+ for the others.  2 steps forward, 1 step back.  Waiting for new resistor caps, and my timing light died again...drat! 

[kerryb]

New ngk resistor caps installed...carbon fouling is cured, idle is much better,  throttle response at low openings is improved (but not totally cured).

Trust dave500, get the ignition right!

[dave500]

ive always stressed to get the ignition spot on first before any carb tinkering,too many guys in too many threads have pulled carbs over and again for no result,then as the thread stretches out the ignition is finally addressed,if your not a purist and not to offend any points lovers seriously anybody consider an electronic ignition,youll gain easier starts,nicer idle and throttle response,you wont gain 10 horses but you will notice a pleasant smoother engine,i can set points up with the best of em and i have a few good sets of TEC but truely electronic is my choice every time.