A use for those rubber plugs

[fredintoon]

The ones that come in the carb rebuild kit with the float bowl gasket and float needle & seat? The ones that the book sez to shove up the hole for the slow speed jet and if you do that on a Special it blocks off the slow speed jet fuel supply?
Well rather than toss the stupid things I found they also fit in the hole the top front of the carb where the idle jet goes. Once you (or one of the bike's many POs) have removed the EPA adjustment barriers to get a decent idle setting or even just to clean the carbs properly those holes can fill with stuff and those freebie plugs will keep it out. BTW, does anyone have a good thought on how many turns out is a good start for resetting the idle screws after a full carburettor teardown & soak clean?
(XS11SG)
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[TopCatGr58]

Re: A use for those rubber plugs

Originally posted by fredintoon
BTW, does anyone have a good thought on how many turns out is a good start for resetting the idle screws after a full carburettor teardown & soak clean?
(XS11SG)
Fred Hill, S'toon.

Good point for those plugs, thanks!

But, say it isn't so....you didn't actually SOAK your carb bodies in harsh carb cleaner? You may have destroyed your butterfly shaft seals?

But if you just soaked the metal parts, jets and floats, then you should be okay.

Standard preliminary setting for Pilot Jet Screws is 1.5 turns out from gentle seat!
T.C.

[midnight1980]

Re: Re: A use for those rubber plugs

those rubber??

Originally posted by TopCatGr58

you didn't actually SOAK the carb HARD bodies in a cleaner

yes i did topcatGr58, sorry but i like them very clean before inspection..
; )

[fredintoon]

Time in the soaking tub

Hi TC,
Thanks for that initial setting number.
Yeah, I stripped off all the rubber bits, pulled all the jets and soaked the bare bodies. 4 hours does it. Any longer and the jollop may start to swell the butterfly seals. (rubber stuff will swell in some cleaners but only over time; modern synthetic rubber is also less susceptable than the old stuff, plus it tends to recover over time) Any shorter and the crud in the passages may only be partially dissolved.
Then I washed the bodies in warm water (my particular jollop must be a soluble solvent, the water went all milky as the jollop washed away) Finally I blew out all the passages with an air line. I must say the cleaning job converted no start to instant start. I only ran the machine for a short time, not long enough to warm up enough to run with the choke fully closed but it did pop & bang a bit.
Doubtless my over-large throttle stop setting and the 2-1/4 turn pilot screw setting are not helping, I will reset & try a longer run tomorrow.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[fredintoon]

Soaking technique

Hi Midnight,
those four bodies ain't never gonna be clean enough for inspection. How can the warm cleansing fluid get to all those inner passages if you soak 'em with the wrappers still on?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[midnight1980]

Re: Soaking technique

Originally posted by fredintoon
How can the warm cleansing fluid get to all those inner passages if you soak 'em with the wrappers still on?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

humm yes the wrappers can be removed with care before proceeding.



then one has to have a special BAR/ tool to get in to those passages to clear them out then they become lubricated enough to take further steps..

[fredintoon]

100 uses for a Butterfingers bar

Hi Midnight,
or 101 if you are actually going to eat the thing?
Best we stop this foolishness now before the envigilators get nasty, right?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[fredintoon]

Seriously now,

My new float needle seats came without the little strainer domes that were on the old ones. I carefully salvaged the old domes and snapped them onto the new seats before installing them. Do those little screens actually do any good or am I just fooling myself?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[prometheus578]

"Good "N" Plenty"

Or plenty of good...
Think of the rust particles that will travel down the fuel line should the petcock screen towers come off, as they do on occasion.
Speaking of fuel line... think of the chunks of rubber that flake offa 25 year old fuel line as it deteriorates.
Sediment will pass through and pass the needle, but larger pieces will jam, causing flooded carbs. I've seen rust, rubber bits, and once, the leg of a beetle lodged between needle and seat.
Keep the screens on.

[skids]

Re: "Good "N" Plenty"

I find it a most illogical place to put a filter screen. Lets see...if they don't catch particles because you took 'em off, you tear out the carbs; if you leave them in and they catch particles, you tear out the carbs. Dumb. if If you use inline filters and keep the fuel lines fresh between the carbs and the inlines, it seems to be better for maintenance. More accessible.

[xssiveone]

I dunno Sid, I run tower filters in the tank, inline filters, and the screens in the carbs and I STILL get small particulate collecting in the bottom of the float bowls.

Brian

[Crazcnuk]

I have those 4 plugs left over as well. In my book it also says to put them in the pilot jet hole, I assume that is the one next to the main jet hole?

I actually thought they were for the idle screw holes, so I didn't put them in. WIll this cause problems?

Ther were no plugs on my pilot jet holes, and my manual actually shows a slotted screw type plug?!?!?

[skids]

If I am understanding you, you are talking about rubber plugs supplied with a carb kit? And by "left over" you mean that you have extrra parts that you are not sure what to do with? If your carbs didn't have plugs to begin with, why would you put some in that came with the kit?

Originally posted by Crazcnuk
I have those 4 plugs left over as well. In my book it also says to put them in the pilot jet hole, I assume that is the one next to the main jet hole?

I actually thought they were for the idle screw holes, so I didn't put them in. WIll this cause problems?

Ther were no plugs on my pilot jet holes, and my manual actually shows a slotted screw type plug?!?!?

[prometheus578]

Carb kits are made to suit several applications.
Our early carbs had screws that covered the pilot jet hole 'cause the fuel supply for that circuit came from a passage to the main jet tower. Later carbs had the pilot jet holes open, as they drew their own fuel supply.
Your plugs are just extra.
Early carbs had #137.5 main jets, as the fuel supply for the idle circuit was also drawn through them.
Later carbs, with the open pilot jet tower, had smaller main jets(#110, etc) as the pilot jet was then fed separately.

[Crazcnuk]

Awesome, then, for an 80, they really ARE idle mixture screw covers!