| Body: |
On Sun, 20 Jul 2008 09:08:09 -0700, S'mee wrote:
> ... far as I can tell his kit is better than OEM. He rails against
> aftermarket needles.
My bitter experience with aftermarket float valves confirms his. I
missed riding to the meet with Tim, Mark, and Andy at Road America at
Elkhart Lake, WI, because of what I believe were imperfectly
manufactured float-valve seats. I had replaced the old seats with new
aftermarket ones during a do-it-yourself carb overhaul, and I had
actually ridden the bike to work. When my shift was over in the
middle of the night, I couldn't keep the bike to running long enough
to get out of the parking lot. Closer examination by the cold light
of morning revealed fuel in the air plenum between the carbs. Tipping
the bike upright off the side stand would flood it. I got home by
constricting fuel flow with the shut-off valve.
I eyeballed the new valves and valve seats beside the old ones and
could see nothing much amiss. The valves were the same height. The
seats were the same depth. The only obvious difference was the width
of the chamfer in the seat.
The old and new valves never seemed to bottom out in the new seats.
In fact I could imagine that the very point of the valves hung up
sometimes on the edge of the chamfer. Old and new valves did seem to
pop in and out of the the old seats with a minuscule sort of adhesion.
Anyway, putting the old valves and seats back in cured the problem.
This was the final solution after trying seven or eight others over at
least ten days' time and yanking and reinstalling the carb rack each
time, which is a pain.
My advice for carb overhaulers is: Wise up and contrive a gravity feed
three or four feet high to fill the float bowls with fuel on the
kitchen counter to bench test the assembled rack. Let the carbs sit
for half an hour and check for pressure leaks and drips. I did that
on the final iteration, and it didn't prevent any failed
installations, but, if I had knuckled under earlier, it might have.
--
... Chuck Rhode, Sheboygan, WI, USA
... 1979 Honda Goldwing GL1000 (Geraldine)
... Weather: http://LacusVeris.com/WX
... 59° — Wind Calm
|
