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It's time to start a winter Project. The Red Bike
- Thread starter Kevin Werner
- Start date
I may have gone up on the pilot jet when I shouldn't have. Air jets were way off. And, of course, I lost one of the #20 jets. When Niche delivers I will go back to #20s.
Did you find air jets installed? If so, you'll want to remove them. But I'm pretty sure that works hand in hand with having the proper needles and needle jets installed. That's what the air jet feeds, the needle jet and main jet. If you haven't done so, you should pull one of the carbs all apart and make a note of ALL the brass installed. That includes the slide cutaway, needle, and needle jet, besides the mains and pilots of course. All these things can be changed in the VM carbs and that gives you like a bazillion options and combinations. If I was running some VM carbs, I would follow the proven 650 "recipe" or you could spend the rest of your life experimenting and trying to get them right, lol.
I went to 22.5 pilots before I realized sync and air jets were off Sync improved everything but plugs still show a slight rich condition. I made similar errs with the tracker. I am grateful this forum continues to guide me away from foolishness. Your guidance has been greatly appreciated. Thank you. This bike is a joy to ride. I don't know if it is the tires, pressures, bars(1" wider) that make it totally different from the tracker. I will source "eruo" bars to catch that magic . WHAT, again was you favorite source
I don't really have a favorite source, I just shop around for the best deal. Last time I got them from Revzilla. I prefer the Bikemaster brand (as opposed to the EMGO) because the center section where the clamps go is slightly wider.
You didn't answer the question - were there air jets installed?
You didn't answer the question - were there air jets installed?
I removed the air jets not long after you mentioned where I find them. That was an improvement. I lifted the needles (richer)with bad results so I dropped them (leaner) to very promising improvement. Tip insulator is getting lighter. The strip is still black.
This is a "new to me" welder and I found I had the feed speed set too high. The kickstand now has a solid foot 5/8 longer and a fresh coat of wrinkle finish black.
Thanks, removed them an hour after this came up.
I used @Mikey trick to release the spring on the side stand and welded on a 5/8 shoe to the bottome of the side stand, gave it a shot of "crinkle black" and reassembled. The welding was easy peasy when I figured how to roll back the wire feed speed. Neighbor Fernando (barely speaks English) said "I fill that in, you have grinder? I smooth".
Now that I am confident on the sidestand...
I was very worried about the side stand balance, it was literally "teetering"...
This bike came with a pair of BS34sin a box of parts and the round slides mounted. I had half an idea at the time to go back to the BS34s. I am glad I never let that idea germinate. There is a curiosity about these VMs. They idle very well. By that I mean a steady, even 800 rpm. One of the pleasant ramifications of that is that neutral is suddenly easy to find at a standstill.
The only issue with that low of an idle is you will have little, if any, charging going on. The bike may also just up and stall randomly at stops. The factory idle spec of 1100-1200 (hot) does sound a bit "busy" at first but the bike needs it.
I am aware of the charging issue. I rarely sit at traffic lights, 2 today in 20 miles of riding.
Same here. I put it down to the combo of the VM34s and the Boyer ignition. Rock-steady idle even when stone cold.
The VMs seem unaffected by the vacuum pulses that confuse the BS series. Steady 800 rpm idle seems so odd with my preiios experience. I am coming to grips with rolling on throttle knowing that the intake honk is probably a substandard mixture.
After sorting some issues and pulling my head out of my a$$, I ran 116 miles on 2.3 gallons and did not go on reserve. My mpg is not so much a concern as is making morning and afternoon rides on 650 Society rallies without running out of fuel. This is a "Special" tank with lower capacity. When I went on reserve after 75 miles last tank I had visions of walking down twisty roads with a gallon of gas and "dueling banjos" for a soundtrack.
With more practice and turning the feed speed down I finally got pretty good welds for the sidestand. Then my great neighbor stopped by. He said "I clean up", he speaks almost no English, and went ahead to clean and fill my amateur efforts. I am pretty sure he is illegal, has properties in girlfriends' son's name. He has lived next door for 4 years and has constantly been improving his property.
And what's wrong with dueling banjo's? BTW, you sure got a purty mouth.
Now I am pulling my hair out in frustration. 90 degrees, 90% humidity... Sweating bullets, and not because I told a lie. I have a pretty nice running combo. VMs and pods, 1.5" headpipes into Commandos. Main at #200, pilot at #20. Needle clip at one up from middle (leaner) position. The missing at 4500-5000 ish with needle clip in middle position has gone to missing 5500-6000rpm region with the clip one up, leaner. The carb .pdf says you should rejet to the next size rather than going another clip position on the needle, top or bottom position. So hey, I am stupid but I have reading comprehension. So, #200 to rich. I go to #195s this morning. Jekyl and Hyde. After a very short ride, corner and back, 2 stroking, missing, popping and generally flipping ME the bird. WTF I play air mix between 1/2 and 3 1/2. Pull out carbtune manometer and left cyclinder is DEAD at idle. No amount of adjusting makes it work. I went to a 2500 rpm sync and balanced bothe cylinders with the carb top slack adjusters. No amount of idle speed or air mix would cause the left carb to draw any vacuum at idle. Rolling the throttle on the left would pull vacuum ahead of the right and I balance the 2 at steady 2500-3000 rpm as the bike backed away from the manometer hanging on a step ladder threatening to fall over on the @Jim paint. WTF again and again and again! I verified the stamped #s on the jets in the left float bowl. Ignition? I plugged in a gonzo iggy I have for emergencies, no change. I switched plug wires and still no change. Time now for RUM, lick my wounds and prepare for another day.
