Need Mikuni float bowls

[Roto36]

Need to replace float bowls-

Picked up a bike with Mikuni carbs that have Glass float bowls. My guess is maybe they were used as some sort of dealer show and tell thing. Anyway the float guide post that is a molded part of the float bowl are bent. This does not allow the floats to move up and down and therefore won't perform as intended. Since the bowl is glass I don't see any method of getting the slides perfectly straight again.

The bowls are rather cool to have as show and tell but function is more important at this point.

So I'm in the the market for 2 float bowls. It appears Mikes XS has the float bowls I need http://www.mikesxs.net/product/48-8034.html The problem is that he wants an exuberant amount of money for just bowls with no gaskets or floats

So I'm asking if anyone here has any other resources for carburetor parts. If so could you please share a link. I've been on ebay the last few days with minimal results, I'm only able to compare photos as the ebay descriptions are not carb specific but instead tell you what various type of implement the carbs came off of.

Through some research I believe my carbs are Mikuni VM34-168 spigot type. (best guess)

Any help appreciated.

 

[scabber]

If it is glass you might be able to heat it and bend it. Glass blowers do it all the time.

 

[deadchef]

are they really made out of glass? looks like plastic. pretty cool though!

 

[Roto36]

Well it's hard to tell really. They're pretty dense sounding when you tap them lightly. If they were a polymer/plastic material I would think it would give off a dull thud sound.

@ scabber, it may well be worth asking if a glass person could tweak them, but I have doubts that if the required high heat were applied it may also distort the rest of the bowl.

 

[xjwmx]

Well it's hard to tell really.

If you can scratch them with your knife, they're plastic, otherwise, glass. I would salvage them somehow unless I could get clear replacements. They're pretty cool. Could come in very handy for troubleshooting too. I would buy clear BS34 bowls if somebody was making them. But it's tremendously expensive to set up a mold. At least in the U.S.

 

[jd750ace]

http://www.jetsrus.com/carburetor/carb_mikuni_VM_series.html

 

[Roto36]

Thanks for the link jd750ace, looks like the float bowls at jetsRus are a bit more than Mikes XS

 

[jd750ace]

It's a good "everything" site. Good for research, and you can get dang near anything there. you can get different slide cuts and stuff as well.
JetsRus is factory parts too. Genuine Mikuni for your money. Noticed Mikes did not say it was actually a Mikuni part. I'd ask before I buy, just me.

 

[Roto36]

Emailed jetsRus, will post findings when they respond.

Unless I'm reading it wrong MikesXS descriptions does say "genuine Mukini" carbs. Are they not true Mikuni carbs and parts?

 

[jd750ace]

I was pointing out that the page linked above with the float bowls says it's a VM34 Mikuni float bowl, but it does not say it's a genuine mikuni part. The VM series is often cloned. Not trying to piss off anyone, just that there are Mikuni parts, and then there's parts for Mikuni, that's all. A friend with a bike shop has problems with this frequently, and he finally settled on JetsRus and 2 more sites that guarantee the parts to be genuine Mikuni (or Kehin, in that instance)

Might try this site as well.

http://www.motorcyclecarbs.com/

 

[5twins]

My dealer stopped using aftermarket float needles and seats because too many leaked. He only installs genuine Mikuni ones now.

 

[XSLeo]

I don't think any of Mike's parts are genuine anything. They may be made by the companies that made parts for Yamaha and made to original specs but can not be called OEM parts.
Leo