interesting.. I am contemplating getting a 96, this sounds like major fun... WHY DID THEY CHANGE IT??? grrr.. what was wrong with having the little **** on the carbs (I know.. that was just TOO EASY)

 

Okay, I just finished doing the carb sync. I'm going to do a little write up about it, while the bike is cooling down, and it's all fresh in my head.
Also while I cool dowm because when I was putting the bike up on the center stand, my foot slipped off the stand peg, and I tipped it over on it's right side. [:@][][sm=headbang.gif][sm=oopssign.gif][sm=smiley19.gif]
Two scratches on the upper fairing and a ding in the tank, that is hardly visable. I am fecking pissed right now......

 

doh, trust me, i've done that before.. once I had the kickstand down while I went ot put it on the center stand, and I didn't quite get it up the first try, so as the weight settled back down, it cam down on the kickstand and sent it leaning away form me.. PLOP onto it's right side.. i've learnt to put the kickstand up now before I put it on the center stand.. i can't remember, but it could lso have happened taking it down from the center stand one, sitting on it wtih the kickstand down, and the same thing could have happened as well

 

Okay, I've got the carb sync write up done. It's actually not really too hard, but not as simple as it is on other bikes. For anyone that is interested, it's available here.
Let me know if you have any questions.

 

nice writeup... if you had spare nipples, wouldn't it be possible to just leave them in and cap them? would make future sychs a little easier.. you could go as far as leaving a length of vacuum tubing attatched to them, capped off..

 

Does syncing the carbs only affect idle and low throttle or does it affect the bike performance as a whole?

 

I was thinking of that. Leaving a bit of hose hanging with a nipple on the end to attach the gauges too. Now that I've done it once it won;t be nearly as hard the next time. Really it probably only needs to be done once, or maybe twice a year if you are really so inclined.


MarkR,
It affects mostly the idle curcuit, but since even going down the road at even throttle, much of the time you are still on or close to the idle curcuit (that is the throttle plates are nearly closed) so it will affect throttle transition from closed to open. Makes getting on the throttle smoother, and helps with the "on/off switch" type throttle response. More progressive.

 

I'm just noticing my Katana has VERY poor engine brakes, could syching the carbs be a part of the problem here? IE, one throttle plate further open, causing one cylinder to never acually brake???

 

I don't think that a carb sync would effect engine braking much at all. Possibly a valve adjustment would. You might also want to do a compression test to see if there is something else going on there. Actually engine braking can be evil. That's why slipper clutches are popular with the sportbikes. No engine braking and lockup of the rear tire if you happen to chop the throttle mid corner.

 

I like engine braking.. since by using the engine brakes, yes, your rear wheel may skid alittle, but it will always still be moving, witht he brake itself, you can actually lock it, which is worse IMHO, I'm quite used to the engine braking on the hurricane now, and I love it.. currently doing a sych on the katana to get it to idle better