Floats, Clear Tube Method

Before you guys start using higher concentrations of different alcohols (or anything else for that matter) you should understand the compatibility ratings. Assuming that everything in the carbs is Buna-N... A reading from the Book of Parker:

Ethanol is rated as "3 - Doubtful (sometimes OK for static seal)"
Isopropyl alcohol is rated as "2 - Fair (usually OK for static seal)"
Methanol is rated as "4 - Unsatisfactory"

Water and Gasoline are both rated as "1 - Satisfactory"

In other words, isopropyl in lower concentrations is no problem, but tequila probably isn't a good idea. :lol:

So with all the discussion of bowl level I thought it might be prudent to check mine before I pulled my carbs apart. All four of them were pretty much the same, and this is gasoline, not tequila:

 

HAH! Stock screws

I got my giant allen head stainless screws in yesterday.

The only way to describe them.. is.. PIMP! lol

 

Great picture of the proper way to check using the clear tube method......tube brought around to the side of the carb body, about centered front-to-rear.

 

Now heres a question then. Should the Fuel line you use be a certain size ID? Assuming a standard 3/16?
And Rice, thats an awesome pic I think I'ma go check mine on the bike in a few as well, so if they're off, i can fix it when my new jets come. Courtesy of Chacal.
Probably gonna new new drain screws after this one
-SLK

 

Awww man... That's rough! They're not just stock, they're "classic"!! I've even got the O-rings on mine!! That one in the pic is the worst of the four. The other three have very little chew on them.

I'm going to try my hand at making Allen head replacements for mine like what chacal has, but I wanted to try to put an O-ring on them as well. Might not be possible, but I'm going to give it a try.

Hey SLK, For the Minuni's the ID of the tubing really doesn't matter. As a matter of fact, the OD is more important than the OD. You see, the OD needs to be a decent fit to seal into the hole in the carb bowl in order to keep it from leaking gas where the tube goes into the hole. It doesn't have to be a real snug "cram it in there" kind of fit, but it can't be so loose that it falls out by itself.

IIRC, Yamaha has a special tool with O-rings on it that you push into the hole. I was gonna make a tool like that, but then I realized :idea: I could just get tubing of the right OD and push it in instead.

I don't know anything about the Hitachi's but I think I saw a pic somewhere on here and they have a male nipple sticking off the carb bowl. If that's the case, then the ID is important for the Hitachi's, but for the Mikuni's it doesn't matter.

Not really sure if I'm making sense with that, but hope that helps...

Burnarr

 

Thanks chacal, Right after I took this pic I ripped the carbs off the bike and tore into them. I'm making my shopping list...

So what about the bowl level in my pic, they're a little low, right? I understand that all bets will be off with the rebuild, but just curious. :?:

 

Well, the proper fuel level for the 550's is 2mm +/- 1mm, so anywhere from 1-3 mm below the edge of the carb body is okay, and it's really hard to tell from the picture without a scale, but if you held a gun to my head and made me guess, then yes, I'd say a little low........

 

Hitachis - Inside diameter must fit around male nipple. OD N/A
Mikunis - Outside diameter must be snug in female hole. ID N/A

All this talk of male nipples and female holes... my kickstands stickin out!

 

LOL! Nice!! :lol:

 

only doug... lol

 

DUDE. I have seen what you have on your cell. Only me? BS!

Ahem, 9 volt?

Yep. Not yet... but... you know.

 

haha, we won't go there.