I've just got back from a 100mile trip and its been running perfectly so I'm now hoping I don't have to take the carbs off again before the winter. I used one strand of picture hanging wire for the orifice - similar to a wire brush strand. Can't begin to imagine what you mean by a small round thing for syncing. Oh, I see , maybe a drill bit. I get the impression the sync might be just slightly off still , but it's not bad enough to warrant taking the carbs off again right now . Now that she's running again it's given me the urge to do a bit more on her. I've changed the rear brake pads and I'll be doing an oil and filter change over the weekend. I might even buy a set of pressure gauges - then I could do a dynamic sync. I'll also be looking into coating the inside of the tank in due course as there's a bit of a rust issue in there. I'm relying on a newly installed fuel filter to keep any rust out of the carbs.

 

I have a '94 and when doing an oil & filter change, I do it w/o removing plastic.
I slip a filter wrench like this one in between the slot in the plastic and position it on the filter.
Working from the right side of the bike, I turn the handle bars to the right and attach a midsize extension to the filter wrench and loosen the filter.
Tipping the filter up, it can be removed out through the space between the plastic and the engine and the down pipes.

 

Hi TBT - Thanks for the tip. I vaguely remember last time I changed the oil filter (more than 12 years but only 5000 miles ago) that I found a way to wriggle the filter out without removing the plastic. Whilst I'm on here, and now that I've been on the road a bit I'm keen to "tune out" one minor ****le I've noticed. When in neutral (or with the clutch pulled in) and I blip the throttle, the response is a split second slow. It's not the end of the world but must be a symptom of something. Have you come across this and what might be the cause. I'm thinking it's carb related (again) and either sync (yes I know you've already told me lol) or mixture??? I might not get around to sorting it immediately as I'm enjoying being back on the road, but if I can find some indicator as to what might be the cause I could be tempted to sort it (after I've changed the oil&filter). Also (sorry to drain on) I found an old-ish thread a few days ago where somebody (it might well have been you) mentioned shimming the needles in the carb up one to improve mid-range performance. I can't find the thread again now, but if you know anything about it then I'd like to hear about it too. You can see from the way I'm rattling on that now the bike's going again it's rejuvenated my enthusiasm for something that's been stuck in the garage over here in France for 10 years due primarily to power limitation laws which have now been lifted! She may be 27 years old but you'd never guess it from her condition.

 

From what I have learned, here in this forum, the power limitation is done by choking down the ID of the rubber boots between the carbs and engine. If you replace them with regular boots and go with 129 main and 42 pilot jets you will be in for a big surprise.

I have a K&N air filter and run with 135 mains and 54 pilots. She runs great. I went up with the jets due to the ethanol but run non-ethanol premium with very good results.
Also, I have done the stick coil mod and that smoothed things out even better.