My advise is fish and chips and then the offy on the way home

Hit a Woodpigeon doing about 80 down a country lane a few years back, totally demolished my screen, spoilt my morning I can tell you!

Good luck with the MOT.

 

Well it was a FISH & CHIP supper! Passed the MOT no advisories!

I did what you suggested Hawkwind and got a bottle of Red on the way home to celebrate!

Bad news is I think shes running on 3 at low revs at times.......OK at high revs ......... Carbs off again to check the pilot jets?

I Put some redex in this morning when I filled up on the way to work so I'll give it a week or so to see what happens before I pull them.

Time to start on the flying brick now!

 

Don't ignore for too long. Lean mixture = burnt valves. Don't ask how I know (my first car was the guinea pig...poor old Ford Mustang 289. My first valve job at 16).

When cleaning the carbs, most guys don't pull the idle mixture screw, as it has the funky 'D' shaped head and most don't have the tool. It needs to get pulled, as the passages are some of the smallest on the whole carb and most likely to get clogged. Just don't lose any parts (I believe each will have a screw, a spring, a washer, and an o-ring). Count the turns when taking them out, but otherwise figure about 2 1/4 turns out from fully seated will be pretty close.

Here in the States we have Harbor Freight, where we can buy cheap Chinese tools for 1/5 the price of the good American and European stuff (and they usually work mostly OK). They sell laser non-contact thermometers for less than $25. Wonderful for finding a missing cylinder on an I4 motorbike. Point at the exhaust where it exits the head and Bob's yer uncle. You'll see the one not firing in a flash. (see what I did there?)

 

Hi EchoWars I hear your warning.

I changed the idle jet screws 15 years ago a couple of years after I first got the bike swapped out the D shape for normal Phillips end ones. they were set at 2 1/4 turns out went a little further out this time just see what difference there was this shouldnt affect it though? set at 2 1/2 turns now.

Did clean them out this time and they were full of crud thought I had got it all out but i guess some may have still been floating about in there.

2 of the pilot jets were clogged too so I'm assuming its either pilot or idle that is still blocked. Ill do a few miles this week and see..... as i say shes fine when at higher revs.

 

It would suck to have to pull them apart again, but if that's what it comes down to, what can you do?

I'd love to replace the 'D' screws with plain old Philips, but I've not seen them for the F2. Or the F3 for that matter.

The more you unscrew the screw, the richer the mixture. I'd certainly not freak out about a half-turn here or there. On cars, I go for best lean idle, but on a bike, I'd rather be a tad rich.

 

I think they cam in a stage 1 Dynojet kit as I put that on when I changed the end can for a race micron, but cant be completely sure as a lot of grey hairs have sprung since then!

Hence why I went a little bit further out on the screw...... but hey you're right lets face it i'm taking them off again at the weekend. May be a good time as i hear a big cold snap is on the way.

 

Congratulations on passing your test. Both mrals sound equally great in my book.

+1 on Echowars suggestion on the infared thermometer. They have tons of uses you never knew you couldn't live without until you have one.

Concerning the D-shaped screw heads, I've used a small fine toothed hacksaw blade to cut a groove in them. You could probably use a Dremel tool also. It doesn'ttake much, just enough to fit the screwdriver slot. There's no torque on them so no worries about stripping them.

 

Cheers Hamlin6 its always a worry when they have been standing for such a long time that MOT could be a nightmare. But all good!

Only got the spit on the finger tester myself so could be another tool to look out for in the future. Not sure how much they are over here but ill look into it.

Going to put a new plug in whichever is colder tonight and see if it helps ......... i think I'm clutching at straws though as I have that little voice telling me its the carbs...... :-(

Another step closer to the first rally .... and another step back :-)

 

Amazon.co.uk has a bunch of cheap laser thermometers. This one seems to be wildly popular:

 

Cheers for the link EchoWars i thought they would be more pricey for some reason ..... at £15 its a no brainer. New tool kit addition!

Swapped out the offending pot plug yesterday night checked spark which was good....... still not running on pot 4! warmish but i can touch it and as I said it starts to work above 6K.

Ill know I have to pull the carbs again but.

Humour a mere shed monkey and tell me what the fuel flow process is just to get it right in my head.....

Fuel supply primes all bowls
Idle screw main fuel supply for idle 1.5K?
Pilot takes fuel from bowl for low speeds ?K
Main Jet takes fuel from bowl for higher speeds ?K

Ive assumed that the bowl is priming .... this i have to check tonight.

fill in the blanks so i can the old grey matter working on it before i strip them again....