75 Carb Dual Cables-converting to 1 cable

[Mad Dawg]

Hello guys,

I've searched quite a few sites and not been able to come up with an answer, so I'm sorry if this has been asked before.

I have a 1975 xs 650 with stock carbs on it. The guy I bought it from told me I'd probably want to change the carbs from the dual cable throttle cable to a later year set of carbs with the single throttle cable. He stated that the dual throttle carbs were notoriously finicky. I am a noob motorcycle mechanic, though I have done quite a bit of reading on carbs the last few weeks. Before I purchase anything, I wanted to ask the opinion of fellow xs650 owners.

1. Has anyone converted the dual throttle cables into a single throttle cable? If so, how did you like it? I was told keeping the cables in sync were the main problem with the stock 75 setup.

2. If a new carbs are the best route, which should I look for? I would much rather have a set that is reliable and as easy as possible to work on over a high performance part. I have looked into the 2 into 1 conversion threads here and on other forums and would prefer NOT to do this... the reason is simple... I find them ugly as hell (not trying to offend anyone with this setup).

3. At the moment I have pod filters and open exhaust pipes, however I have two Emgo Shorty Mufflers on the way.

On a final note, I am not against keeping my current carbs if the info I received was wrong. But if the stock carbs on the 75 will be a constant headache as I was told, I'd rather change them now, than later.

Just wanted to get a few opinions before I started spending my hard earned dollars.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[GreasyC]

If the carbs you have are in good shape I'd just run them and see how you feel about it down the road. Is one cable easier? Sure. But is two cables really such a big deal? Not in my opinion. I've had the double cable BS38s on my XS and double cable setups with round slide carbs on other bikes. It might not be ideal but it works well enough that I've done thousands of miles without messing with them. The main thing is if you pull the carbs for some reason you have to re-balance them when you put them back on. With them racked together you can get away with skipping that step.

 

[XSLeo]

I wouldn't swap carbs just to get a single cable. Now if you needed carbs then getting the single cable carbs isn't a bad idea. On the BS38's I like the 76-77 sets. Seem to run really well.
On the BS34's the 80 and 81 Had the pull knob for the enrichener. The 82 up had the lever on the bottom of the left switch housing and uses a cable to the enrichener.
From my experence the BS34 carbs have a bit better throttle responce and don't pull quite as hard at WOT.
Leo

 

[angus67]

the prevoius owner probably took the slack out of the cables, making them 'finicky' or twitchy. you cant have them tight. they have to have some slack for low speed manuevering. once they are set, they will stay set.

 

[gggGary]

Yes I'm with the run what cha' got crowd. To get the "single cable" you need to change carbs and carb holders. And THEN get the "new" carbs properly dialed in. Of note is that any "new" or aftermarket carbs are all of the "two cable" design. If you have a decent or readily rebuildable set of carbs, it's simpler to go through what you have and ensure it is working as designed. Not that hard to do and as others stated a lot of bikes have put on millions of miles on two cable set ups. One fairly simple possibility is a "Y type" throttle cable. Not sure if anyone has a one built for the XS or not. If the current carb set is junk then I would be tempted to move up to a joined throttle shaft set. They will bolt right in BUT you cannot use the stock air filters and the intake height is different because the spigots are angled so they will not align properly with the cut out on the front of the side covers. It's those little gotchas that will drive you nuts.