Carb diagnosis question on my 96

[JetdocX]

Sorry, maybe have do the carb work yourself?  Seems like someone knackered the job the first time?  Maybe?

[Dr. Mordo]

I read somewhere that the needle jets in the Mikunis will wear out, and that one of the symptoms is the bike running very rich (as in blowing smoke rich).    

But it's true that I don't know the history of the bike.  I've met two of the three owners, but the one in the middle when the bike broke is MIA.  So exactly why he gave up on it is a mystery.  I had assumed it was the sprag clutch that broke his will to fix it, but it may have been the sprag compounded by carb problems.

[pit0rz]

You know guys, they have a fix for all of your Steamer woes...

      :icon_salut   :lol:    

[Mustang]

do you put mascara on those eyebrows  
at least it wasn't a snot green one

:twisted:

[JetdocX]

I've ridden the Girly (even that color).  The ergos are wrong for me.  I'd hate it after about an hour.

Then there's the whole "testicular shrinkage" thing that come with riding one of those "pretty bikes". :P

[pit0rz]

...Then there's the whole "testicular shrinkage" thing that come with riding one of those "pretty bikes". :P

Not a problem for those of us secure in our manhood!  

You know I'm just funnin' yas!  

[Dr. Mordo]

I love the Steamer, but I'd own a Girly in a second if the price and color were right.  Mine would have to be silver or black.

Whatever the new Tigers are called (Electrics?), Triumph can keep 'em.  They do nothing for me.

Ok, I'm off to work on my bike.

[Dr. Mordo]

Well, I'm 90% certain the needle jet is the problem.  With rough tweaking of the float and pilot screw I have gotten the bike running fairly well with needle dropped a notch.  I ordered a skew-driver to really dial it in.  Early on Mustang said needle, but I, not knowing much about carbs, thought he meant the needle attached to the float.  So, Mustang was right all along, I just wasn't smart enough to know it.

You guys kick ass.  When I finally ride it around I'll up some pics.

Hopefully I won't have any more questions for a while.

[JetdocX]

I like to see progress! :D

Keep at it and you may find your problem.  Please let us know what it is.

[Mudhen]

I read somewhere that the needle jets in the Mikunis will wear out, and that one of the symptoms is the bike running very rich (as in blowing smoke rich).    

I replaced mine...got me back about 5mpg - and that was just the emulsion tubes, I didn't go through them to dial them in after...still need to do that.

Supposedly they can wear out in only 5k miles...of course, this news is brought to you by the same people trying to sell them to you...

http://www.factorypro.com/

[Mudhen]

One question for you carb tinkerers...how the heck do you know they're running rich/lean?  Just running it for awhile and looking at the plugs?  I can't imagine doing that on a Steamer...

[Dr. Mordo]

Well, I am obviously no expert, but if you open the throttle from idle, and the bike bogs that is an indication of a problem.  If when it bogs you see black smoke, that means it's running rich.  If it bogs and you don't see any smoke but hear some light popping (which is actually a small backfire) that means it's lean.  

Also, if anytime you are riding you let off the throttle and it drops down to idle with some popping, that popping is indicative of a lean running bike.  Often abike (or car,too) runs lean because of leaks letting air into the system - i.e. cracks in the rubber intake manifolds or a vacuum line left off.

With my bike, I fired it up and it started to run like crap after 10-15 mins, and when I pulled the plugs one of them was no longer firing because it had so much black gunk on it from running extremely rich.  So, yes I have been pulling the plug every time I test it to see if I am making progress with my tinkering.  And yes it is a PITA, but not as much as pulling and draining the carbs to make an adjustment!

[nightrunner]

On tuning, you can also start with a set up (pilot/main/needle position/mixture screw position/any airbox mods/exhaust) that someone else is using and has dialed in about right, and just copy that.  It still may need some minor tweeking from there but at least you'll be close.  Can also have a dyno shop do the fine tuning.  There are several threads here about carb tuning.   But yes, its tough to do without some sort of feedback like measuring exhaust carbon monoxide or O2.

[Mudhen]

I had mine done at a dyno shop ($ouch.00)...and brought in a printout of someone else's settings.  Funny...after all the bitching and ranting the guy did about, 'you can't trust everything you read on the Interweb, every bike is different, blah, blah, blah...' the solution he arrived at was strangely similar to what I gave him...

[Mustang]

Funny...after all the bitching and ranting the guy did about, 'you can't trust everything you read on the Interweb, every bike is different, blah, blah, blah...' the solution he arrived at was strangely similar to what I gave him...

Imagine that !  :shock: