non-factory spec pilot jet and needle

[dansmith65]

First off, should I be using a single post for all questions related to my bike? I tend to like to keep unrelated discussions separate, but in this case one often impacts another. In case it helps, here's my previous posts, which may, or may not help shed light on the current situation:

hello from a new member
impact of valve clearance being too low
found wood in the air box!

I put lots of pictures, and most of the specs for the first carb on my website: http://www.dansmith65.com/blog/2018/...rburetors.html

It's been really cold here and my garage isn't heated, so I decided to work on the carbs indoors instead of put valve shims in. Since this is my first time working on carbs, I took one completely apart, cleaned, then (mostly) re-assembled. I've decided to order new butterfly valve seals and want to order other parts at the same time if needed.

My pilot jet is 45 instead of the factory-specified 42.5 and my needle is a 5GLZ18 instead of 5GL16. I'm thinking I should order some 42.5 pilot jets, but am hoping I can get by with the current needle. Does anyone have advice/input on that?

Air pilot screw, # of turns out for each carb:

1. 3-1/4
2. 2-1/8
3. 3-1/2
4. 2-1/4

Only info I could find on the needle is here: http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=18735&page=9

The bike seemed to run pretty well before I started working on it.

[motoman]

dansmith, needed are Genuine Mikuni pilot jets....42.5.
Also needed are Genuine Mikuni metering rods.....5GL16.

Above both will NOT allow motor to run correctly or tuned correctly unless Genuine Mikuni jets and metering rods are used!

Mixture screw settings are set using 'lean-drop' method'. Your settings are close, but somewhat rich. With motor warmed, from approx. 3turns out for each, start inward till a change is heard, then back out 1/8th turn and no more than a 1/4 turn out. Do other three same way.

Now, carbs need to be synced using either 4 vacuum gauges or a mercury manometer.

Idle mixtures set FIRST and sync SECONDLY.

[dansmith65]

Thanks for the input motoman.

I should have mentioned that the "# of turns out" I listed were just what the bike happened to be set at when I bought it. I haven't adjusted them yet since I wanted to clean the carbs first. But yes, I will use that method when I'm tuning after re-assembly.

Ideally, yes, I would have Genuine Mikuni 5GL16 needles (rods), but I'm not sure where to buy them and don't want to pay an arm and a leg if I happen to find them. Here are my options, as I see it:

1. leave it as-is
2. buy Mikuni 42.5 pilot jets and use my current needles
3. use K&L needles
4. use Dynojet needles
5. stalk ebay, cross my fingers, and wait for Mikuni 5GL16

Did I overlook any other options?

[motoman]

dansmith, #2 and use CORRECT 5GL16 metering rods, or it'll never run correctly, let alone actually being able to tune it correctly.

[motoman]

Also dansmith, the main jets need to be Genuine Mikuni.....110's across all four. No aftermarket jets such as RD or K&L! Their sizing, even though marked the same are not, as Mikuni uses a different flow rate referance in order to meter sizing,