Gas Dumping out of airbox...

[joebus]

Change of plans

I have access to one of the trucks from my work so tonight I will be building a very much needed work bench tonight and not working on the bike. 3x8 work top should be more then enough space right? Very excited about having a proper place to work on the bike in the future

I will attempt to post some pics of the bike and the bench later.

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - About the gauges you mentioned. They'll work, but why pay $58 from an ebay seller when you can get the exact same gauge set at http://www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=2727 for $49.99? Ok, so they're out of stock right now (I looked again). I built my own set using four of these gauges http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93547 and some needle valves from ACE hardware for dampening. Northern Tool sells vacuum gauges for about $6 ea. if you really want to do it on the cheap.

[joebus]

Thanks for pointing out that z1 sells one. I need to get some stuff from there for my other bike so that will work great. Anyone wanna give me some pointers on how to use the thing

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - All your doing when you synch your carbs is adjusting the butterflies so that the draw is equal across all four carbs. You adjust the mixture with the mixture screws, and you adjust the volume of that mixture when you synch. Synch should be done with the engine warmed up, and it is recommended that you place a fan so that it is blowing on the engine during the process so it doesn't overheat.

There are three synch adjusters located in between the carbs. When you synch carbs you first connect your gauge set to the taps on the carb boots. As you will be using the tap that supplies vacuum to your octopus you will need to set your petcocks to the prime position. If you have the right screwdriver and small hands you may be able to reach the adjusters without moving the tank. If you can't, you need to get the tank out of the way. A lot of people disconnect the tank, turn it around backwards (so it's sitting where the seat normally lives) and reconnect the lines.

With the bike running at idle first synchronize carbs 1&2 so the reading on the gauges is the same. Don't push down on the adjuster when you do this - just turn the screw, and give it a few seconds after making an adjustment for your gauges to catch up. Next synch 3&4. When you have 1&2 the same, and 3&4 the same, adjust the center screw to adjust 1&2 in relation to 3&4. Repeat the process starting with 1&2 again, until all gauges are reading the same. Don't get too anal about getting them all exactly on the same reading - when you get to the point that you are only cracking the screws a little on each adjustment (going one way and then the other), you're done.

P.S. I see your located in Indianoplace I'm just over hear in Cincinnasty, so if you get in real deep trouble let me know - I'm not that far away.

[joebus]

This should be interesting. The octopus is not being used anymore due to the new fuel line setup. Not sure how this will change things. I just moved from the old nati about 3 months ago. It is time to drop some money on some tools

[egleaves]

It seems like a lot of people have opted to bypass the octy to simplify things. Mine still works, most of the time, but I still use my petcocks religiously. If your octy is non-functional I'd recommend making sure you have a good manual fuel shut-off.

[joebus]

Yup, that is why while I have everything taken apart it is time to rebuild those petcocks. I really dont want this to happen again!

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - I rebuilt my petcocks about 8-10 months ago, and they worked great for a while. Then they started acting up again. 30 year old oxidized metal just ain't what it used to be. Finally just s-canned 'em and bought new partsnmore manual petcocks. Costs a little more than a rebuild kit - $75 for both with the base plates, delivered to your door - but you've got brand new petcocks that actually work.

[joebus]

I was checking out the petcocks on partsnmore and that seems like a solid option. Does the bolt pattern match with the petcock that come on the bike and also what do you have to do to get it to get the fuel going to the right places because it only has one outlet.

[dbeardslee]

Joebus - The small base plates fit the specials. The petcocks themselves have an NPT thread that mates with the base plates. Several wraps of teflon tape on the threads will insure no leaks. I would also wrap the threads on the nipples where the fuel lines attach. When you get rid of the octopus, you only need one fuel line from each petcock. They run to the lower 'T' connections on the carbs, and the fuel lines cross under the tank, such that the left petcock feeds carbs 3&4, and the right petcock feeds 1&2. As you will have some short pieces of fuel line after you disassemble your current setup, I recommend putting inline filters between the petcocks and the carbs. This should allow you to reuse your fuel lines, as well as giving a little extra filtration. Z1 has some nice little high-volume fuel filters (1/4") that work nicely.

I was counting-up the number of times my fuel is filtered before it enters the carbs - there's a screen over the tubes inside the gas tank, another one inside the petcocks behind the nipples, line filters on each fuel line, and the little screen that covers the bottom of the seats inside the carb. You can't have too many fuel filters, says I.

Before assembling your petcocks, mount the base plates lightly to the tank without the gaskets. Take a sharpie and mark the tank around the inside of the plates. Remove the plates and using a dremel tool or a round file, remove the sharpie marks, and only the sharpie marks. It's very little material to remove, but has to be done for the petcocks to fit properly. You may get some filings inside the tank, but sticking a vacuum hose up to the port will get 'em out. Then you can assemble the petcocks and mount. It's a good idea to keep track of which side each base plate was on when you marked the tank, so that you can put them back in the same location to insure a perfect fit. Keep in mind these are manual petcocks - gotta turn 'em on when you go, and off when you're through going.

[tarzan]

I ditched the octy earlier this year.I also had rebuilt my petcocks.They work like new.I guess I might just be lucky.I always forget to turn them off.I had gas in the airbox a few months back also.It turned out I had a float twisted so the level was high on one side. Straightened the float and readjusted all 4 of them and no more leak.Just a little more food for thought.

[joebus]

carbs are off

The floats move freely and the gaskets are not in the way. There was a little dirt in the bottom of the float bowl so i will be tossing on some fuel filters on the gas lines. I took apart the faulty petcock and the rubber washer that goes around the shut off was dried and broken in about ten places. I am going to get that rebuilt as soon as i get one from ebay. overall the carbs look good outside of some discoloration. I will tear into them more this weekend.

[joebus]

I rebuilt my Petcocks and i know someone said that i can lube these. what do i use so it turns better?

[egleaves]

When I rebuilt mine they were hard as hell to turn. You can take some tension off of that spring loaded washer in there, that helps a little, but It has taken some time for mine to "break in", if you will. Now they're a bit stiff, but nothing like they were.

[bikerphil]

lube

Just spray some WD-40 around the inside of the chrome ring and work 'em back and forth a few times. This should help them turn nice 'n easy.