- Joined
- Nov 11, 2007
- Messages
- 4,793
- Reaction score
- 1,758
- Location
- Rendon TX
- First Name
- Mike
- Last Name
- Brewster
I need a longer ride to gain confidence, but I think I have it fixed. The short version is the manual isn't real helpful in setting the float level. This thread from Thumper Talk, particularly the post by Noble, the picture from Kelso and the last comment by BurnCycle are much better. Setting the fuel level with the carb at an angle is best, but is a little subjective. Harley Davidson gets pretty specific on what angles to use in setting the float. I wound up kinda winging the angle.
The medium length version is that the little spring on the bottom of the needle assembly has to be accounted for. From my limited experience working on motorcycle carbs, that spring is common. Most of my experience comes from automotive or aircraft carbs that do not have such a thing. The bottom line is that setting the level with the carb upside down with the float hanging under it's own weight like I did, will result in a reasonable fuel level in the bowl, but it won't allow the needle to lower enough to quickly get gas into the carb under high use conditions. It doesn't come off of the seat far enough. The difference in fuel flow through the needle the way I set the carb and the way the TT thread says to set it is significant. The way I did it would keep enough gas in the carb to putter around and lightly accelerate, but not for heavy acceleration or high speed. I ran the bike on my rack for quite some time with a tube on it so I could watch the fuel level, and without a load I couldn't get the fuel level to drop enough to cause a problem. I watched it for quite some time and revved it more than I should have. On the road under a load I could get it to act up pretty quickly.
The long version would use words that aren't welcomed here. I will say thought that the Harley manuals are way better written than the Suzuki manual. I found the Harley stuff early on and I should have taken it to heart quicker. Live and learn. I have now learned more about CV carburetors than I really wanted to know.
The medium length version is that the little spring on the bottom of the needle assembly has to be accounted for. From my limited experience working on motorcycle carbs, that spring is common. Most of my experience comes from automotive or aircraft carbs that do not have such a thing. The bottom line is that setting the level with the carb upside down with the float hanging under it's own weight like I did, will result in a reasonable fuel level in the bowl, but it won't allow the needle to lower enough to quickly get gas into the carb under high use conditions. It doesn't come off of the seat far enough. The difference in fuel flow through the needle the way I set the carb and the way the TT thread says to set it is significant. The way I did it would keep enough gas in the carb to putter around and lightly accelerate, but not for heavy acceleration or high speed. I ran the bike on my rack for quite some time with a tube on it so I could watch the fuel level, and without a load I couldn't get the fuel level to drop enough to cause a problem. I watched it for quite some time and revved it more than I should have. On the road under a load I could get it to act up pretty quickly.
The long version would use words that aren't welcomed here. I will say thought that the Harley manuals are way better written than the Suzuki manual. I found the Harley stuff early on and I should have taken it to heart quicker. Live and learn. I have now learned more about CV carburetors than I really wanted to know.
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