[Carb needle shims]

I want to shim the carb neeldes on my 2006 venture. Question is, when you add a shim to the needle, does it go under the c-clip on top of the teflon ring or do you slide it up the needle under the teflon piece?

 

Thanks,

 

Ok, I just did my 05 RSTD. When I pulled my needle it was set up from top to bottom:

Washer (shim)

C-clip

Teflon thing

then a washer under it.

 

I took the Washer that was on top of the c-clip and put it under the c-clip. On top of the teflon thing.

 

This Shimmed the neddle with one washer.

 

My bike is stock except the rear baffles have several holes drilled.

 

It does make a difference with throttle response. Almost got a ticket testing it out Thanks Mr. Police man.

[If your carbs are out of sync, what symptoms?]

The main symptom is poor throttle response off idle. Also (as mentioned)--irratic idle / racing or stalling. I have a "Motion Pro" Mercury Tool that I've had for over 20 years. I paid $40 for it, but I think they are like $100 now. You definately want a tool that allows you to see all cylinders at once. One tip I could add is to shut the bike off and open the throttle wide a few times (then "drop" it closed) to properly seat the adjusters. I usually do this a few times during a sync. If you do this with the engine running you will get bubbles in the mercury tubes and will have to shut the engine off anyway.

 

I made a homemade sync tool for my V-star 650, but it was just for two carbs. So my next thought was that I will make a 4 carb set-up for my RSTD. But I started reading the directions in this forum and realized that the proceedure is for balancing Carb 1-2 and then 3-4 and the final proceedure was 2-3 (this is to sync right to left).

 

So I gave it a try with my homemade job and it improved the way the bike was running (much smoother than the bike has ever been). I bought this bike about 2,500 miles ago and thought it was always just a little off.

 

It did take longer (extra 10 mins max) to move the hoses, but it seems to work.

 

It was really out of balance left to right. I'm glad I did not wait till I could get the extra time or money to get a 4 carb balancer.

 

It sure would be nice to have all 4 of them hooked up at once and I will likely make one.

 

But I guess the point is that if somone is one a tight budget or has access to a 2 carb tool then go for it.

 

It is important to note that the carbs that are not being measured need to be hooked back up .

When i went to 3-4 I forgot to hook up the vacuum line and plug on carbs 1-2. I wondered why it was idling so poorly. It was a lot easier once I hooked them back up.