Pods on - good so far

[11Rider]

Hi guys, I got my Uni pods in today - black foam and chrome caps. Looks and sounds great. Runs a little rough below 3k rpm, but I'd attribute that to the fact that I had the carbs all apart and didn't get my synch tool in yet, nor have I adjusted the idle screws. Pulls HARD from just above idle to 7k rpm (the highest I brought it). I have the new jetting as described in my signature so I'm going to pull the plugs and see what things look like.

The Uni's DO have a lip inside but it's recessed 20mm but they can only slide onto the carbs 10mm so it appears there is no problem with that.

After oiling the filters I cleaned the inside of the rubber lip and the outside lips of the carbs with degreaser. Even with minimal tension on the hose clamps they are next to impossible to pull off so it looks like they'll stay on good. Time will tell. Overall, very happy so far.

[cywelchjr]

That still might cause the problem. The fix is to cut a notch in the lip where the air jet is so you make sure it's not masked at all. You want that air jet to see all the air pulses that are going by it, and anything masking it can interfere with that and cause trouble and cause rich running. It's not too hard to take a dremel or such to that rim and put a notch in there to make it so that jet is free and clear. Of course a lot of guys have found that some sort of velocity stack setup helps with pods anyways, something to do with smoothing the air flow going into the carbs, seems to help the CV carbs function better. Some have used the original boots from the airbox, some have used PVC pipe and rubber hose to make their own.

[11Rider]

Good tip, thank you. I just noticed a new "problem" though. The left exhaust has a good amount of smoke coming out of it -hard to tell the color. I pulled the plugs and 3 and 4 are perfect looking, 1 and 2 were black, wet and smelled like gas. I'm hoping it's just a synch problem between the two sets of carbs, but I must wait until my synch tool comes in this week to find out. I'm a little nervous now. I can't imagine there being a big problem though because my compression test showed 170, 170, 170 and 180 (I know it's high, could be the guage), and she runs like a scalded cat

[cywelchjr]

That could be that lip. Clearancing that air jet might fix that, as it might be affecting those more than the others. It's also possible that those are just coming up richer cause the float levels are a little higher? It's why some guys do the clear tube setting for the float setting religiously as it's really the only way to KNOW you have the same fuel level in all 4 carbs, otherwise you only THINK you probably do.

[11Rider]

OK, thank you for all those tips. I think I will do the dremel thing as you suggested. I'm not looking at the carbs at the moment but I believe there were several orifices around the edge of the inlets of all the carbs. Is there any specific ones I need to watch out for or should I carve out an area for all of them?

[11Rider]

Oh and thank you for the tip regarding getting the float levels right.

[Stuckinmud15]

That could be that lip. Clearancing that air jet might fix that, as it might be affecting those more than the others. It's also possible that those are just coming up richer cause the float levels are a little higher? It's why some guys do the clear tube setting for the float setting religiously as it's really the only way to KNOW you have the same fuel level in all 4 carbs, otherwise you only THINK you probably do.

Not trying to thread jack but what is the "clear tube setting" for the floats?

[cywelchjr]

Not trying to thread jack but what is the "clear tube setting" for the floats?

IIRC it's 2-3mm below the top of the bowl, but they should all be exactly the same.

[CaptonZap]

Not trying to thread jack but what is the "clear tube setting" for the floats?

On the XJ carbs, there is a little spigot on the bottom of the bowls, and a screw next to it. You put four piece of clear tubing on the spigots, run the tubes up along side each other, level the carbs side to side, turn on the petcocks, open the screws, and see how high the fuel level is in each carb. If they need adjusting, you take the bowl off, bend the tang, reinstall and check the level again.
With earlier carbs, you get tube fittings that fit the drain plug holes, and do the same thing.
Those who practice this religion use a bench stand so that any adjustments can be made without the rigmarole of taking the carbs off each time, and without having to level a 600 lb bike. CZ

[Shacknasty]

When you all put on pods, do you install a carb support or just let 'em hang free? Without the support provided by the airbox it seems like the weight of the carb rack would lead to intake leaks and possible complete carb detachment if ya hit a big bump at speed.

[11Rider]

The carbs are surprisingly sturdy even with just the support of the boots going to the engine. Even so, I plan on making some kind of bracket.

[cywelchjr]

Actually it's not a good idea to leave the back of the carbs unsupported with the pods installed, as the carb boots were not designed to support the weight of the carbs by themselves, they are only half the support system for the carbs and leaving them trying to support them by themselves will very likely shorten the life of the carb boots. I would recommend that you put together some sort of bracket to fasten the back of the carb bank to the frame of the bike to support the back part of the carbs so that the carb boots don't have to carry all that weight that they were not designed to carry.

[TomRodgers]

Not sure i agree with 'having' to make a support bracket for the carbs....my father in law has a 79 KZ 1000 that has had pods on it for YEARS and have never had a problem with them....

This could get debated, but just like human joints....the more you keep them moving, the longer they stay flexible. rubber is kinda the same way. sitting there static, with heat and such makes them brittle.

I could be way off base.....wouldnt be the first time!!! LOL

But nonetheless, the carb holders keep them in "Gootentight". Just remember how hard they go IN and how much force to pop them off (try popping them off with the clamps cinched down on them and see how that works for ya!!!)

[cywelchjr]

Remember, these parts are 30 years old, most of them cracked and Yamaha doesn't make them anymore, so I don't trust them at this age to hold that weight (yes, if they were new, no problem.) and the ones made by the other companies don't seem to be made nearly as well, many of them seem to crack within just a few years VS the 30 years these have gone before they did. So while I agree on principle, look at what happens to the objects like in your avatar. If they keep bouncing around without any support, pretty soon the sag pretty bad. I figure these to be the same way, and if I were to put pods on mine I would make a brace to fasten the back of the rack to the frame of the bike to make sure I wasn't doubling the load on those old tired carb holders, cause I know mine are old and cracked, and the ones I bought and put on my XS400 (pretty much sold by the same folks that sell ones for the 1100's) are look pretty aged only 4 years out, so I'm not feeling really good about how they are holding up, they sure aren't holding up like the originals did (did I mention I can't get the originals anymore?).