I'm taking my carbs apart tomorrow, where are the carb slides and how will I know if they've been drilled? Also, what does drilling them accomplish? Thanks in advance for the help

 

The slides are the black plastic items that raise with increased engine RPM, due to the vacuum in the diaphragm they are connected to - as the slide raises in it's cavity it creates a larger venturi, allowing more air through the throat of the carburetor, and more fuel into the mix, as the jet needle is raised as well.

The items in the forefront here, are the slides and the diaphragms:



...they go into this cavity...



...like so:



Here, they are closed.



There are metering holes in the slides, that allow the change of pressure above the diaphragm to decrease, with higher revs, so that the diaphragm lifts the slide - drilling these holes out can allow the slide to raise more quickly, for improved throttle response in low to mid range.
However, it is a very touchy process, and if it is not done right, you will have a bike that won't run right in daily driving conditions - I do not recommend you even consider this, but if you do, make sure it is according to specific instructions with a jet kit, that requires/recommends such... some kits do, and some kits don't.

In short, this is a racing modification.

 

I went with the Factory Pro Jet Kit that dont require the slides to be drilled. DynoJet Kits want you to drill the slides, I didnt want to do that. I did buy the DynoJet springs as recommended by a mechanic whose brother raced and won on a F2 back in the day. Dale Walker Performance shimmed the needles and change the main jet, thats it. Dale Walker knows his stuff.

 

Yeah, slightly softer springs can kind of produce the same result, and some folks have had luck with that, but I've heard some complaints about those, where they ended up with the same instability at low reves and idle, that usually accompanies a slide-drilling gone wrong!!
I'm glad yours works fine!

 

I guess this depends on what stage kit you are buying and whether you have a 49 state model or a California model. My stage 1 dyno jet kit on 49 state model actually has me plug one of the holes with epoxy.

I would never second guess Dale, that guy rocks.