I'm back - carbs out - humor and a question

[11Rider]

Hi guys, I took your advise and got the carbs out. I'm using the Clymer manual and it seems pretty good, but it said to pull the carbs out to the left - I could only get them out on the right. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot. Here's a funny quote right out of the manual regarding NOT disassembling the airbox "it is very time consuming and frustrating to reassemble these little monsters so leave them alone". Is that hilarious or what? Some guy writing the manual must have had first hand experience and wrote that before he cooled off

OK, first question. I think I found what you guys call the "Octy". Its a bunch of vacum and fuel lines attached to a small aluminum box and the carbs. I'm assuming it has something to do with the vacum activated petcocks -am I right? If so, could I get set-up with just two fuel lines coming out of the bottom of the carbs and going right to the petcocks? I would assume if I could I'd have to get new petcocks that are not vacum operated right? Thank you so much for your help so far!

[natemoen]

I will assume you have a special since you have the octy and I will further assume you still have a special tank on there as well.

If you still have the special tank then yes you can just run the lines from the back nipple on the petcocks and just plug the front nipple on the petcocks. The front nipple is prime and the rear nipple is on and reserve.

[11Rider]

Wow, thank you Nate. I hope I don't end up getting your your collective nerves. I love bikes, but I'm not the greatest wrench and prefer to ask/research before doing anything.

I apologize that you had to guess on my set-up. I'm going to put this in my tag line.

Also, I read a big thread on removing the octy. It seems like it's a common practice to have the right petcock operate the two left carbs and vice-versa. Any reason for this?

[11Rider]

Oh, and bye-bye octy. What a mess that thing is. I like simplicity. My other bike has manual petcocks too so I won't forget to turn them off. Plus, by-by airbox - another behemoth. Mikex XS pods on the way and proper jetting to boot. My mind is made up! Don't try to change it!

[natemoen]

It is better to ask and know than to assume (wait that is what I did...) and regret it after you find out.

[DGXSER]

As to fuel line routing, the common practice of routing left petcock to righ carbs and vice-cersa is to get plenty of line to add in-line fuel filters, and slack for lifitng th tank for service.

If you have read amny of those threads you probably read that I do not follow the pack on that method, I go straight out of left petcokc down to the left carbs and vice-versa, and yes I have in-line fuel filters in there, they easily slide between the air intake boots with my stock air box, but since your giving that the boot, yours will be even simpler to make that work.

[Rasputin]

I can not think of one single good reason for tossing the octy!. If for nothing else than the fact it provides one more measure to keep fuel from flowing when not running. It hurts nothing to be on there and offers some protection. Takes almost nothing to maintain it. The fact that it does require more lines and it is a bit confusing to deal with is no big problem. How often do you really have to learn where the lines go or how it works. A few minutes spent researching and all could save an engine from gas in the oil. How bad can that be?
Anyone can lose their temper and toss it but why? Does it make life simpler to feel that turning off the petcocks manually is better than having the extra protection of the octy? You do what you like but I will be keeping mine on all my bikes. JMHO

[11Rider]

I can not think of one single good reason for tossing the octy!. If for nothing else than the fact it provides one more measure to keep fuel from flowing when not running. It hurts nothing to be on there and offers some protection. Takes almost nothing to maintain it. The fact that it does require more lines and it is a bit confusing to deal with is no big problem. How often do you really have to learn where the lines go or how it works. A few minutes spent researching and all could save an engine from gas in the oil. How bad can that be?
Anyone can lose their temper and toss it but why? Does it make life simpler to feel that turning off the petcocks manually is better than having the extra protection of the octy? You do what you like but I will be keeping mine on all my bikes. JMHO

Now didn't I say to not talk me out of it?? Seriously, I completely agree that it serves a good function and it is a good safeguard. And you're right, it wouldn't be that often you'd have to mess with it. Nonetheless, I'm leaning toward getting rid of it because I like a simple, minimalistic approach. Having said that, when I wreck my engine from gas in the oil I give you complete permission to give me the "I told you so's"

[11Rider]

Figures, just when I go to order Mikes XS 54mm pods - he' out of stock

[natemoen]

Could always keep the octy in your toolbox so you could use it later if you so choose.

[11Rider]

Me and you think alike Nate, I'm going to keep all the OEM parts just in case.

[LoHo]

Lot's of guys have blown-off asking one question and done things that led to dozens of questions.

The cool thing about this list is that one gets almost real-time replies. One can post a question, go drink a beer, and come back to several answers.

Another good idea: skip past my suggestions to someone who knows what he's talking about....

[cywelchjr]

I'd say if you can't get the pods, don't bother cause the others aren't worth bothering with. There are several threads that cover ways to make it really easy to get the carbs in and out with the airbox in place, and it's really easier to tune it with the airbox, and I have read enough stuff out there to be really nervous about the filtering ability of pods based on the filter material type. I've read some of the studies of the particulate levels stopped by gauze type filters, and with the lack of top end parts (things like pistons and rings) I'm more worried about as much filtering as I can get (I have a uni filter in the stock box on mine) rather than looks or sound, I want my engine to last a long time, that includes good filtration on the oil, and I'm thinking about trying synthetic oil for the lower wear characteristics. And I don't buy cheap filters anymore, I pay a bit more for the premium filters, more filter area, generally tighter filtering and more filter area meaning longer engine life.

There are a couple of somewhat recently found mods to the airbox that are supposed to allow it to be moved further back and allow the carbs to be taken in and out much easier, and adding the easier tuning AND having the extra support for the carbs (the airbox is 1/2 the carb mounting and support, and if you take them out, you are doubling the load on the carb boot rubbers, increasing the chance of failure of them) which if you're hitting any rough roads you really want to have, if you take the airbox out, you need to supply an alternate support for the back of the carb rack to replace the half of the carb mounting you removed.

[11Rider]

Hmm, now that's something I hadn't thought of - support for the rear of the carbs. I found K&N pods that are virtually identical to Mikes XS pods, only the best price I could find was about 110 bucks. I'll have to give this more thought.

[natemoen]

There are double carb pods. I think they were around 40 a piece.