Really cool tool

[dbeardslee]

I've been looking at this thing for the longest time and finally bit the bullet and bought a Motion Pro Pilot Screw Adjusting Tool. I thought about it for a long time 'cause it takes a long time to spend $30 on a screwdriver! I'm very glad I did. I can now adjust the mixture and synch my carbs without moving the tank. It has a cool little adjustment at the tip that allows you to change how much of the driver protrudes and a little lip that catches the screw head so the tip doesn't wander off. There's a locking wheel at the rear to hold your adjustment, and graduated marks near the handle that show you in 1/4 turn increments how much you are turning the screws. Really works good on both the mixture screws and the synch screws, although that middle one requires a flashlight . If you fiddle with your carbs, this tool makes the job a LOT easier.

[randy]

Invaluable tool for synching, I use the one my dad gave me, from Snap-on. It's a bit diffrent in that the tip is a 1/4 drive socket driver, and it came with seven diffrent tips for pretty much any carb. It was also more $, like $75.

[oldyam80sg]

What are the chances of stripping the screw head?

[GARTHXS]

me too

Ive got one too and it is the bomb , lets me sync without taking the tank off

[randy]

What are the chances of stripping the screw head?

If your synch screws are that tight, you've got bigger problems.

[bikerphil]

tool

Got one too! Had it for years. This tool (JCW Motion Pro), I don't think would provide enough torque to snap off the Idle mixture screw. I wouldn't recommend trying it though, duh.

[dbeardslee]

It's a bit diffrent in that the tip is a 1/4 drive socket driver

Randy - also a very cool tool. I looked at 'em but it just wasn't in the budget I have an affinity for snap on tools. Great tools. Didn't Billy Jean King pick them up as a sponsor after she came out of the closet?

Oldyam - I think you would have a hard time stripping a screwhead with it - It's not designed for a lot of torque. I'm not sure, but I think it has a spring or a cable inside it that turns the bit. My adjusters are brass for the mixture and steel for the synch. I have seen 'em with plastic nobs for mixture adjustment, but I don't know if they're slotted for a screwdriver. If they are I'm sure it would work, although the mixture screws aren't as big a pain to get to as the synch screws.

[randy]

The great thing about the Snap-on is that it doesn't have a 90 degree head, it's a 45, makes it a bit easier to angle it around obstacles and still get a good bite. Also,it came with two straight tips with hoods,so they don't slip off the screw head and two long straights for older carbed motors, like the V-8's, two phillips and one oval internal head, haven't seen a carb with those, but who knows?

Not to mention, ANY 1/4 drive socket will fit it, so it makes a nice long nut driver, too.

[oldyam80sg]

I'm sold then -where did you get yours?

[randy]

Where?I don't know I inherited it from my father. I suppose he got it from the Snap-on guy at the shop. I'm sure they're available on Ebay or try direct at Snap-on.

I checked, it now sells for $83

Snap-on

[dbeardslee]

Oldyam - The motion pro stuff you can get at many motorcycle dealerships. The Motion Pro website has a dealer locator. They also have a 90 degree hex drive similar to what Randy is talking about, but with different angle on the head. $89.90 from Motion Pro. You can see by the design that you can put a lot more torque down with this kind. They say max 50 inch pounds, 4.16 foot pounds. Still doesn't sound like it's enough to strip out a screw head, though. Replaceable gears, too, which is nice.

[randy]

Here's the difference with the snap-on. Notice the hood over the straight sockets, no slipping off the screw head! 1/4 turn detents allow you to count turns while watching the business end, instead of the handle end.

[raqumup]

i made one of those out of the 90 deg. gears out of car headlight assembly. the ones for the headlight adjustment. had to make a bracket to hold the gears in place and i used a foot long piece of transmission cooler line as a tube for the steel rod to attach to the horizontal gear and then because the adjuster uses a 6mm allen to adjust the headlight i was able to jam a flat head screwdriver bit into it. i bent the steel rod 90 deg. at the other end so i had a handle to turn it. it does not work very smooth because i am turning the gear that was designed to the driven gear so it is a little notchey, but it gets the job done and that is all that counts. and it did not cost me anything but about 30 min. of time.

[dbeardslee]

Randy - Thanks for the pics. I looked at the link to the snap on site, but couldn't make out any detail. I thought those screw driver sockets were regular sockets. NOW I see. I like the detents - what a nice touch. Leave it to snap on - they've always made a great product. Got any pics of the handle?

Raqumup - Canibalize a headlight adjusting gear for a carb adjusting tool - brilliant. (I feel kind of like a Guinness commercial )

However you get there, having the proper tool to adjust your carbs without taking half the bike apart can only make it more likely that the synchin' and the adjustin' gets done. I synched mine yesterday, just to try the tool out. Worked so good today I'm going to colortune again, and resynch. Been putting off the colortuning as I've had that stupid gas tank off about 30 times this summer and the accumulation of punches was getting to me