I Have a NEW Bike!!! Well, Almost (Carb Sync)

[YellowJacket!]

Let me tell ya'll that Damn I was nissing something in a big sorta way.  A couple weeks ago, Lucky and I wnet on a ride.  His bike out accelerated mine every time. After the ride, I got a chance to take a short ride on his bike and the difference was considerable.  But hey, hes been wrenchin on Visions for quite a while so it goes without saying that his bike is bound to be in perfect tune.

Anyway, today I rode out to his house and he and I (mostly he, as I just held the camera and lights) synced my carbs.  We made a video which after its edited and such will be posted as an educational video for carb syncing. (goes along with extents oil change video).  So, Lucky walked through all the steps and hooked up the good manometer (the one with mercury ,not ATF) and after 30 mins of sucking up spilled mercury (don't ask) with my mity vac brake bleeder, we cranked up the bike and guess what!  The front cyl was reading 10cm and the rear was reading between 26 and 28...almost 3x the front cyl!!!  SO after a bit of adjusting the sync rod and the pilot screws (did I get that right Lucky?) we got the carbs synced to near perfection. (Don't tell him but I think he left it off just a wee bit so I couldn't outrun him ;D  ).
Now, the bike starts so much more easilly and man, does it ride good.  I'm going to have to relearn some shifting and throttling techniques.  Acceleration si silky smooth and the power band seems considerably wider.  5th gear acceleration is a piece of cake and it seems as if there is power to spare.  (I better shut up now as I thing I'm beginning to disturb some hibernating V-Gremlins)
After we finished the video and the test drive, my wife Vicki stopped by and we (I) grilled some steaks that Lucky had marinated (Note to mutt and motorplow: I DID NOT BURN THEM!!!  ;D  ;D )  We ate the steaks and sat around for a couple hours telling stories.  After a while, I got back on the bike and headed for home. Its about a 20 mile fairly twisty road and it was like riding a whole new bike.
So, a BIG THANKS goes  out to Lucky for the carb sync, the steaks and the company.  To all of you who have been holding out on syncing your carbs...DO IT!  Lucky is going to edit the tape and post it and it should help out those of you who are holding out because you are not sure exactly what to do.

Take Care All,

David

[NewVisionGuy]

I think  I need that  video.   I could definitely use help in that department.  I'd like to get my bike starting  the correct way.  Although,  I think I have a pretty good cheap security system.  It won't  start without the perfect amount of throttle, and the choke has no effect at all.     No one  would waste their time learning to start it I think.   ;)

[crackerkorean]

After all the carb problms I have been going through I know how to sync LOL
But this gives me hope!!!!!

I gotta get that exhuast leak figured out. I think I might have to do some bending of the front pipe to get everything lined up.

I hope I will be able to enjoy the bike for a little bit before I gotta do anything else.

[Night Vision]

cracker- have you tried getting the fronts of the macs in good and then working your way to the rear? I think there are posts here about similar fitment issues. they came off easy, but I never heard deck bike run either.

[crackerkorean]

Sorry to thread hijack. I was planning on working on that tomrrow.

[VisionaryDan]

Hey it's funny you should post this now. I just realized I had taken both my visions to the dealer to have the carbs synced and they never touched the pilot the pilot screws. My original Vision both pilot screws are set to 5 1/2 turns. Believe it or not I believe this has something to do with my myster knocking sound at low RPMs. I started playing with the adjustment by ear and as I turn in the screws the knocking goes away. My problem is how to get these set to the right setting and keep the carbs some what in sync.

Do you normally adjust the rod then the pilot screws or the other way around. or a tweek each of them back and forth to get it setup correctly.

Could someone give me a little advice.

Thanks,
Dan

[YellowJacket!]

After all the carb problms I have been going through I know how to sync LOL
But this gives me hope!!!!!

I gotta get that exhuast leak figured out. I think I might have to do some bending of the front pipe to get everything lined up.

I hope I will be able to enjoy the bike for a little bit before I gotta do anything else.

Hey Cracker,
In the back of my mind I was actually hoping this would gove you some hope. ;D

Visionary dan,

I'll defer that answer to Lucky.  Mine were so badly out of sync, he went back and forth between them.  I do know though that we were having some low RPM backfiring before we did the final adjustment.  Lucky and I shot a pretty good video and Lucky did a great job of narrating.  He's gonna do some editing (Ie remove my dumb questions and the 15 mins that I recorded after I THOUGHT I hit the pause button. ;D  )  He'll have a link posted shortly I'm sure

The funny thing though is before the sync, I THOUGHT the bike was runnig pretty good.  I had my routine for starting like everyone else does and I knew where the "power band" was and learned how to use it.
Now, starting is a breeze and I have power to spare...even in 5th gear.

I went on a 70+ mile pretty twisty ride out to the lake today after work and the bike was terrific.  Of course on the way home I got caught in some rain but no problems otherwise.

Ride Safe,
David

[MotorPlow]

So,... The next time we happen to have a SEROV Meet, someone is going to be looking at the settings on my carb.... RIGHT!? I have never touched the pilot screws, not even when I got the carbs back from Rick when he rebuilt them for me... 3 Years Ago. I just bolted them on. I have synced the carbs 2x since then and probably due again. I want that kind of power. Right now 5th gear at about 80-85mph is about all I get. It will go faster than 85 mph, but it takes a while to accelerate from there and I just about gotta be going down hill.

[Lucky]

Dan, Generally i adjust the pilots after synqing the carbs, but with the manometer still hooked up, in Daves case there was such a difference between the front & rear cyls, that i thought there was something wrong with my manometer or something else seriously wrong with Daves bike.  it turned out to be completely synq.

something you all should keep in mind:
Daves carbs initially were reading 10" of mercury on the front and 22" on the rear. adjusting the synq rod one direction would raise the idle but not change the synq at all.  moving it the other way would lower the idle (it wanted to stall) and i had to keep raising the idle, several full turns to keep it idling and even out the synq.  the ft carb was close, the rear was way off

--Lucky

[Lucky]

yeah Chris, we'll get you set up, np.  you know guys, there really is no mystery about this, it's easy to do, the more practice you have the more 'experience' you'll have at it & will be more able to recognise when somethings not right.

--Lucky

[YellowJacket!]

My garage is waiting.
I'll fire up the grill - Vicki will do the burgers and I think Lucky will back you up - I DID NOT mess up his Steaks, so I'll have a couple of them. ;D

David

[jasonm.]

great to hear when things are running better.  Remember syncing at idle is easy. Always check the sync at or above 3000rpm. This puts a true load on the linkage. Plus how much time do you spend idling?

[Night Vision]

Remember syncing at idle is easy. Always check the sync at or above 3000rpm. This puts a true load on the linkage. Plus how much time do you spend idling?

totally agree

[Lucky]

As much as that sounds like it makes sense, i tried it once & couldn't feel any difference, perhaps i don't spend enough time at 3k...  perhaps i should synq at 5-7K, that's where i typicly ride.  don't think i'd want the bike running on the stand like that for that amount of time though!

--Lucky

[Night Vision]

perhaps i should synq at 5-7K, that's where i typicly ride.  don't think i'd want the bike running on the stand like that for that amount of time though!

I thought you had a cameraman?  ;D

[YellowJacket!]

perhaps i should synq at 5-7K, that's where i typicly ride.  don't think i'd want the bike running on the stand like that for that amount of time though!

I thought you had a cameraman?  ;D

I put on a little weight over the last year.  I couldn't run fast enough to keep up with him. ;D

David

[don_vanecek]

I sure will be interested to see from the video if I'm doing that job correctly. As far as I know I am (and the Haynes manual has been followed). I often wondered why the mercury does not seem to stay equal when you gently (without sucking your mercury into the engine) raise the rpm from idle (mercury level equal at idle). I would guess the vacum pull can only be equalized at a point of constant rpm-and perhaps not at all as you go from idle circuit to power ciruit (take all this with a grain of salt I maynot really know what the heck I'm taking about) . My pilot screws are still factory plugged and I wonder if I even got the plugs off if I wouldn't find the screws frozen in place anyway? I do however use restrictor plates in my carbs from a very old (pre-computer ROV post-a method to get around Vision lag) and do not have the updated airbox. My V seems to start and run very well (as Joe Friday said....the Vision just hummed along) I probably shouldn't even think of messing with it, so why am I even answering this post (too much time on my hands I guess)???

[jasonm.]

you just hold it at 3000rpm for 5 seconds...that's all. But to be perfect...like me. With a big fan blowing...YES, I have held it at 6000 rpm watching my carb sync tool. The sync changes when opening and just holding the throttle. So you have to ask...perfect sync on accel or perfect sync when cruising? I have used both mercury and my "carb tune" tools. Both show the same differences.

[don_vanecek]

Humm, interesting Jason. I'm just throwing this out but I would think that we would want the mercury equal at idle as what we are really doing is tying the butterfly's solidly together so that at higher throttle settings they are both open to the same degree. But I suppose due to perhaps placement or condition of each separate carb it could be more advantagouse to have your base line at a different location (rpm).  Well enough assumptions from me, I don't really know what I'm taking about. I do know however that after I bought my manometer last year, the first time I syn the carbs I had to keep moving the idle screw. As the carbs got reset-the closer I got the mercury to match each other the more I turned the idle screw down!

[VisionaryDan]

Lucky, I would think that the pilot screws would need to be roughly where they should be before adusting the sync rod???  My pilot screws are so far off (5 1/2 turns on both) when I try to move them in to where they should be the bike stalls and floods out.

Am I right in assuming that my best bet would be to move them say, each a turn and then adjust the sync rod. Then take them in to 3 1/2 on the front and 2 1/2 on the rear and adjust the sync rod again. Then adjust the pilots to fine tune the sync???

I figuring that I have to creep up on it. Just cranking in the pilot screws doesn't seem to be the answer.

Dan