$10 Carb Sync

I know there is already another "cheap carb sync" thread but I had a little time at work today to make a .pdf and I'm sure there are some here that don't know that there is an option.

The Carbtune is still an easier way but if you like to tinker and would rather spend the money you save on something else then this is the way to go. And I like this style better than the yardstick and tubing style because there is no chance of sucking any liquid into the engine.

$10 dollar carb sync

Dumb question...why not use 4 bottles and eliminate moving the 2 of them from one set of carbs to the other, etc??

wouldnt a person have to have 4 bottles hooked all together to get right bank and left bank even as well as front to back even?

maybe drill 3 holes in two of the rubber stoppers and hook the 4 bottles together with the copper tube into the water that way?

I thought about more bottles but then it starts getting too bulky. You could still use two bottles and split the hoses with "t"'s. Just hook up all the hoses and clamp off or unclamp as you go. I still prefer it as is. Takes 10 seconds to move the hoses.

Well, it's certainly a better way that a single vacuum gauge LOL

I thought of using a single vacuum guage and one of those selectable ported aquarium manifolds. But I ended up buying one of the mercury ones.

I looked all over Lowe's, and could not find those rubber stoppers. I think he got 'em somewhere else. I did buy the tubing there though.

Gonna look at WallyWorld next.

I found the stoppers at a local Ace hardware dealer called Revell Hardware. Your best bet is an old fashioned "hardware store" rather than any of the big chain stores.

This was cool. Bought 2 bottles of Snapple (on sale - $2), got 2 rubber stoppers at Lowes (needed size 6 - they didn't have it, took size seven and ground it down to fit - couple $'s), bought 10 feet of 1/4 inch copper refrigerator ice maker tubing at Menards for about $5 (couldn't find any lesser amount for less money), bought 10 feet of clear hose for about $4 at Menards, and used green food coloring in the water.

First time to try to sync carbs and had a great time learning. Found out why my #1 cylinder was probably running rich, it was totally out of sync with #2 (snapple jars swapped water in a hurry.) Also found out that the adjustments are very sensitive and require very little movement of the screws to make a big difference in the manometer readings. In addition, found out that you need to wait for the bottles to settle before making additional adjustments. Make adjustments before you get a true reading and you screw things up pretty fast.

Next time I will probably use clean motor oil - the water at idle is pretty turbulent and you have to kinda read between the ripples to find the level. Crack the throttle and it is clear as a bell - no ripples. Oil would probably react much better.

Might also put a tee in the 2 lines from the bottles and create 2 other lines for cylinder #3 and 4. Then just clamp off lines as needed to get the readings without moving the bottles or shutting off the bike.

It will be interesting to see how close I am to being in sync against someone's professional measuring tool. The bike sounds much better and starts much easier. Found that carb syncing is similar to running a twin screw boat. When you sync the props at cruise and on plane, the harmonics of the engines just come into such a sweet sound, everything stops vibrating, and you just hear the power transfer.

Anyway, thanks BigBoy for the information. It was worth the overspending by $3.

Greetings...

I live by Henry David Thoreau's advise - Simplify, simplify, simplify!!

Clever but Complicated. Requires thought and work, has more than 5 parts (I try to not have to count higher than that) and skill with a dangerous electrical appliance (which can be fun don't get me wrong!).

Besides that - I'm lazy...

I just use 30 feet of clear tubing taped to an old bed slat and some 80w gear oil. I think it took all of 5 minutes to assemble - wrestling with that tape and all. Hung it up on the fence next to the bike in the sun, and made lunch. By then the oil had settled to the bottom of the tubing and leveled off...

Sure - you have to manually switch the hoses and replace the caps and such - and you might get burned on the engine a few times if you aren't careful because you didn't take off the fairing, but - It's $3.50, lasts forever, is easily replaced, cheaper than a pack of cigarettes and still only takes 15 minutes.

No special parts, no drilling, no potentially broken bottles, just a tube, some tape, some gear oil (who doesn't have a bottle hanging around from last year getting hydro-saturated?) and a bed slat...

I think the problem that most people have with the simpler home made kit is that they don't use enough tube or enough oil so they get bubbles, froth, annoyed, discouraged etc. the longer the line and the more and the heavier the medium you are moving - the slower it moves and the more time you have to make your adjustments - even IF your carbs are way out of sync, because really - ALL you are looking for is a delta - a change. Yeah, little black marks on the board are handy - but - if the oil is moving one way or the other - it's usually pretty obvious, even to my old eyes...

And even IF you suck a little oil in the engine - It ain't gunna hurt anything - the worst being you MIGHT have to change the plugs - but you were probably going to do that next anyway right?

This was cool. Bought 2 bottles of Snapple (on sale - $2), got 2 rubber stoppers at Lowes (needed size 6 - they didn't have it, took size seven and ground it down to fit - couple $'s), bought 10 feet of 1/4 inch copper refrigerator ice maker tubing at Menards for about $5 (couldn't find any lesser amount for less money), bought 10 feet of clear hose for about $4 at Menards, and used green food coloring in the water.

 

First time to try to sync carbs and had a great time learning. Found out why my #1 cylinder was probably running rich, it was totally out of sync with #2 (snapple jars swapped water in a hurry.) Also found out that the adjustments are very sensitive and require very little movement of the screws to make a big difference in the manometer readings. In addition, found out that you need to wait for the bottles to settle before making additional adjustments. Make adjustments before you get a true reading and you screw things up pretty fast.

 

Next time I will probably use clean motor oil - the water at idle is pretty turbulent and you have to kinda read between the ripples to find the level. Crack the throttle and it is clear as a bell - no ripples. Oil would probably react much better.

 

Might also put a tee in the 2 lines from the bottles and create 2 other lines for cylinder #3 and 4. Then just clamp off lines as needed to get the readings without moving the bottles or shutting off the bike.

 

It will be interesting to see how close I am to being in sync against someone's professional measuring tool. The bike sounds much better and starts much easier. Found that carb syncing is similar to running a twin screw boat. When you sync the props at cruise and on plane, the harmonics of the engines just come into such a sweet sound, everything stops vibrating, and you just hear the power transfer.

 

Anyway, thanks BigBoy for the information. It was worth the overspending by $3.

 

Well heck, yer right down the road from me. If ya want to test that gizmo out on a 1st gen, i'd be happy to bring bring the beer and the bike. (now that I finally got it running again!)

Dumb question...why not use 4 bottles and eliminate moving the 2 of them from one set of carbs to the other, etc??

dumb answer to your dumb question......

WOULD DOUBLE THE COST !!

Two lengths clear vinal tubing that fit the vacum ports. Two beebes that fit into the tubing. A couple of air restrictors to act as a filter on the vacum, and gravity. Coil each tubing into about a 4" diamator so both are identical size. Each tube of vinal has one beeb. Hang the two coils of vinal such the beebes fall to the bottom while hanging from the handle bar. One coil is static and the beeb settles to the bottom of the coil due to gravity. The other coils beeb resides between each air restricter. With both coils hanging, say from the handle bar, each beeb will rest at the bottom of the each coil. Attach the second vinal tubing to each vacum port on cylinders 1 & 2. Run the engine and balance the two carbs so the static beeb and the beeb which has each cylinder vacum sucking are equal at the bottom of the coils. Repeat again on cylinders 3 & 4. Now match the two bank of cylinders by conneting the vacum lines to vacum ports of cylinders 2 & 3.

I found this peace of test equipment more acurate then a 4 port stick.

If interested I can provide a picture of the hardware (vinal tubing).

A couple of air restrictors to act as a filter on the vacum, and gravity.

Where can I find those air restrictors? Could use a couple of those.

Take and checkout this location:

http://www.coastpneumatics.com/products/restrictors/inline.php#specs

For restrictors just go to the craft store and buy a bead that is the size of the tubing. Rod

I'll give it a shot. Waiting for some jet block gaskets to show up before I put her back together again. Thanks guys.

For restrictors just go to the craft store and buy a bead that is the size of the tubing. Rod

You still need air flow. I would think a bead the size of the ID will plug up the works!

I'm thinking the beads would work very well. Remember, they have a hole in them for passing the thread through to string them up. The holes in the restrictors on mine are tiny. The beads would probably work great.

Two lengths clear vinal tubing that fit the vacum ports. Two beebes that fit into the tubing. A couple of air restrictors to act as a filter on the vacum, and gravity. Coil each tubing into about a 4" diamator so both are identical size. Each tube of vinal has one beeb. Hang the two coils of vinal such the beebes fall to the bottom while hanging from the handle bar. One coil is static and the beeb settles to the bottom of the coil due to gravity. The other coils beeb resides between each air restricter. With both coils hanging, say from the handle bar, each beeb will rest at the bottom of the each coil. Attach the second vinal tubing to each vacum port on cylinders 1 & 2. Run the engine and balance the two carbs so the static beeb and the beeb which has each cylinder vacum sucking are equal at the bottom of the coils. Repeat again on cylinders 3 & 4. Now match the two bank of cylinders by conneting the vacum lines to vacum ports of cylinders 2 & 3.

 

I found this peace of test equipment more acurate then a 4 port stick.

If interested I can provide a picture of the hardware (vinal tubing).

There it is...I've been looking for this post. I cobbled up a synch tool using this one as a benchmark. It worked fabulously. I plan on making a couple of modifications but otherwise, my first synch attempt went perfectly.

I've attached a couple of shots of my unit. I merely kinked the hoses to restrict the airflow and stop the bead from taking off too far. The vinyl hose was a bit big for the carb port so I added a bit of smaller rubber hose to the ends.

I, too, have made a homemade Carb Sync.. Even with the vacuum restrictors, the fluid (transmission fluid..) still flows pretty freely..

Would having a larger "tank" for the fluid help with that? In other words, where the fluid sits at the bottom, should that hold more fluid than just what the 3/16" tubing can hold?

I try to sync the carbs a little bit without starting the bike and just blipping the starter.. but i still have a hard time with it.

Actually, after yesterday, I'm fairly convinced that my home made sync won't work, at least at this stage of the gane.. I think they are so far out of wack it's becoming very difficult to sync them properly. I need to sync them with the right tool first, then I think my home made sync will be easier to use for future syncs.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but I really like the bebe idea. No risk of sucking anything into your engine, which I like. I bought a 300 pack of bebe's for $1.50. If anyone needs 298 bebes let me know : )

I will, hopefully, repost on my success later.

The link to the plans on my original post is working again... just in case anyone is looking.

Actually, after yesterday, I'm fairly convinced that my home made sync won't work, at least at this stage of the gane.. I think they are so far out of wack it's becoming very difficult to sync them properly. I need to sync them with the right tool first, then I think my home made sync will be easier to use for future syncs.

I'm wondering if you are using the instructions from the factory manual. They are wrong and will totally mess things up.

Here's a link to the corrected ones, just in case you don't already have them. http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=258