New Member and New 81 XS1100 Project

[crazy steve]

It's possible to move a number three carb to the number one position, but you'll have to completely disassemble both (including the hard-to-get-out throttle plates) and tap a couple of holes (they're already there, just need to be tapped), drill one for the choke linkage. They used the same carb body casting for all positions, but there's minor differences in how they're machined. There was some recent posts on how to get the throttle plates out with the least pain, but I couldn't find them....

[Elwood]

Alrighty, thanks alot for the advice guys, going to to go slow and steady, ill take some pictures of my adventures, any recommendations on if I should clean all my jets or if I should order them jet by jet or should i invest in a total carb rebuild kit from K&L or someother name brand, all my gaskets and such are pretty trashed, both racks sat for a long time. Once again really appreciate all the response and help guys, keep em coming haha

Elwood

[DGXSER]

I have some parts carbs laying around and was just looking to see if I could get one decent body to send you, but alas, none will be fit for use. I had to drill out all of the mixture screws and my ability to drill by hand did not match the ability required. So the tapped threads are not straight enough for the screw to hit the hole in the bottom correctly.

Anyway, I did also see that each body is the same with the exception of #2 which has the vac port for the vac advance. What is different is the throttle linkage, so as Steve suggested, you will need to pull the butterfly out of the shaft and swap the shafts as well as the other parts. Hint, the butterfly only fits out of the shaft pushing it out the bell end, it does not go out by pushing toward the carb throat. DAMHIKIJK.

[Elwood]

ah okay i will be mindful of the vacuum port

[crazy steve]

Carbs two and three can be used to replace one and four, but you can't go the other way. Only carb two has the vacuum port, and three is drilled/tapped for the idle speed adjustment. It would very tough to drill/tap that hole to get the idle screw aligned right....

[Elwood]

So it will be just a straight swap to put carb 3 (looks the best off my new "used" rack) to put it in the #1 carb position (starting on the left)? Will i have to plug off any holes? Or drill any new ones?

[crazy steve]

Not quite a straight swap. You'll need to swap the throttle shaft so the throttle linkage works, and the number three carb isn't set up as-is for the choke linkage. For the latter, you'll need to tap two existing holes for the choke lever mount, and drill a 1/8" hole where the choke actuating rod goes through the carb body for the detent ball/spring. If you look at the two bodies and compare them carefully, you'll see these differences. Internally they're identical except for the emulsion tubes; make sure you swap those too. For the two choke mount screws, I've used 'standard' 6-32 screws so finding a tap won't be an issue. You'll have to drill the screw holes in the mount out slightly for the #6 screws.

I'm assuming that both carb racks are the same type; you cannot mix types.

[Elwood]

sounds good, got my plan of attack, thanks again for all your info, cant believe how knowledgeable you guys are haha