Bike Is Going To The Shop This Week . . .

[IanDMacDonald]

Well, I've invested thousands of dollars into my bike, and countless hours of labor, and it's getting cumbersome. I have two well-paying jobs, and a beautiful girlfriend that I enjoy spending my free time with. My bike is at the end of it's Winter refurb. I completed the R6 caliper conversion, with various other tidbits added. I have a mechanic in Flint that knows my bike like the back of his hand. Used him many times before with great success. Nope, he's not cheap, but with the nice weather coming, I want to ride. What all needs to be done to justify an expensive service call? Just a simple carb tune. Yup, I don't want to mess with it. He can tune the carbs great, and have the bike screaming. I know, I know. I hear you all. But, I experience no joy anymore messing with this bike. Expect cost is somewhere around $400-$600. Could be more or less. I'll keep you updated.

[Radioguylogs]

While she's away....

So your triple(s) can get some exercise now!

[DiverRay]

If you have the right person, YES, IT'S WORTH IT! I know, I've done the same with the BMW. I could spend a weekend repairing it, or a few hundred to have someone else do it while I'm at work. I don't make that much, so I can't hand it over often. When I do, I am happy with what is done.
Special Ed had a mechanic in Santa Cruz that worked on his machine, and he was happy with the job that was done. I DO have a very local, old time mechanic who has a shop at his house. He works on air cooled bugs and old bikes ONLY. Does a good job, so I do have someone if or when I need it.

[IanDMacDonald]

So your triple(s) can get some exercise now!

Oh, I'm not done wrenching, lol. I'm starting a rebuild on a little '72 Honda 350F. I took my Hayabusa out for a ride yesterday.

[IanDMacDonald]

Well, called my mechanic, and his service work is pretty far behind, so I might just try to find the time and get it done myself.

[MarkD]

Ian- if you decide o tear the carbs apart and sync them up, I think you'll do just fine. Not sure if you've posted about this procedure before, but it is do-able, esp. with your wrenching experience. I was intimidated by doing carb procedures, but after doing it myself a coupla times, I have a lot of confidence. This is a video that was helpful to me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95nlrP-yn2I

and it was a good road map.
I used a Motion-Pro sync unit after bench syncing the carbs, and now my bike is doing great. Be sure to clean the crap out of the orifices- I needed to reclean the enrichener circuits 2x, on account of incomplete cleaning the first time. As you know, these guys on the forum will answer any questions that you might have. Enjoy! This Michigan weather is looking better by the day!

[IanDMacDonald]

Oh, I've done it a gazillion times Mark! I was just being lazy. I will knock it out tonight after the rain. No carb cleaning, etc. necessary. Just a simple sync., and mixture adjustment, after dropping down a main jet size, and an increase in Pilot size. Four valves had the shims decreased by a size, so obviously the sync. changes. Hopefully the nice weather sticks around, and we're on two wheels till Fall.

[madmax-im]

while I had been going back to the same dealer that I bought my XJ from...for many years...one day back in 2006 my longtime service manager there told me they could no longer work on these at the shop...he reccommended I go to a small bikeshop that specializes in vintage bikes...they wont even work on the newer models. I went and became friends with their head mechanic...he was 100% into vintage rides and was/is a very capable hands on guy...and his rates were reasonable...and I could get him at his home on his own time...theres no finer feeling than knowing someone's got your back...the amount of money i spent paled in comparison to the satisfaction and peace of mind in knowing that a job was done right...the first time...priceless