TOPIC:

I had a set like that before, but one of the gauges got wonky. I suggest you do the following when sync'ing your carbs just to make sure the gauges are ok:

Attach them as normal and record the readings before making any carb adjustments.
Then switch the hoses so each is on a different carb. See if the readings for each carb are the same - they should be.
If you find that a carb's readings change just by switching which gauge it is hooked to the gauges are faulty.

Ed

I just completely rebuilt a set of vm26ss carbs that were painted black and have not ran for close to 40 years.
Reusing or replacing the original OEM jets and needles with used OEM stuff

20- O rings and float valve seat washers 60.00
8- top and bottom gaskets 32.00?
paint stripper 8.00
Berrymans carb dip 28.00
sonic cleaning at a bike shop 50.00
total materials 178.00

I think that W.G. charges around 450.00
That leaves 272.00 for labor and return shipping.
The local bike shop charges 85.00 per hour

It took me at least 2 full days of dicking around to rebuild the carbs, not that I'm fast and they were the first set I ever did and I had to back track a few times I was glad I did them and I now have a real good understanding of how they work but if I didn't have the time or patients I would not hesitate to use George, I think he stands behind his work.

FYI, the carbs are in the bike now and are working great even before I have had a chance to sync them and adjust the enrichers

ok guys i took the plunge and ordered a Carbtune pro !!
what i didnt tell yall is I just bought a 2003 Concours and i can tell those carb need synced
the local shop quoted me $125 to sync them . I got the tool for $119 free shipping. it was a no brainer for me .

You won't regret it. One suggestion...pick up some "T" fittings and tie all the lines to a single vacuum source before you use them on your carbs. This will verify that they are all reading the same. You can't adjust the Carbtune readings, but you can compensate your setting if you know one reads slightly higher/lower.

bluej58 wrote: I just completely rebuilt a set of vm26ss carbs that were painted black and have not ran for close to 40 years.
Reusing or replacing the original OEM jets and needles with used OEM stuff

20- O rings and float valve seat washers 60.00
8- top and bottom gaskets 32.00?
paint stripper 8.00
Berrymans carb dip 28.00
sonic cleaning at a bike shop 50.00
total materials 178.00

I think that W.G. charges around 450.00
That leaves 272.00 for labor and return shipping.
The local bike shop charges 85.00 per hour

It took me at least 2 full days of dicking around to rebuild the carbs, not that I'm fast and they were the first set I ever did and I had to back track a few times I was glad I did them and I now have a real good understanding of how they work but if I didn't have the time or patients I would not hesitate to use George, I think he stands behind his work.

FYI, the carbs are in the bike now and are working great even before I have had a chance to sync them and adjust the enrichers

Next time PM me, I know guys that will rebuild a rack of VM26's for something like $125. For this price you get all new O-rings. Bowl gaskets are something like $4 each, if you need them.

If you like to do things yourself Cycleorings sells a kit for something like $12, which has every O-ring you will need. Rebuild tutorial here...members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/i.../vm_carb_rebuild.pdf

If someone needs to rebuild some Minuni BS CV carbs the rebuild tutorial is this one...zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage/gs/Mikuni_...Rebuild_Tutorial.pdf

This stuff ain't rocket science. Just take your time and don't take shortcuts.

I ordered the carb tune too. I like the idea about the T fittings to check that everything is reading the same.

The rebuild with WG costs $399. I think the $450 price is if you are buying a refurbished set and sending in yours as a core exchange. I just decided to do the rebuild.

True, carbs aren't rocket science...but messing with them is well outside the realm of my mechanical skill-set and patience. For people like me, its worth it to pay a professional. I'd trust a specialist more than a generic shop for this kind of work.

Nessism wrote: A guy on The GS Resources posted photos of his carbs after George worked on them and lets just say the quality of the work left a lot to be desired. Add in a LONG lead time and HIGH cost.

It's a little bit sad that this forum doesn't have some members offering carb rebuild for a nominal fee. I'm quite familiar with the 750 Keihin and Mikuni VM and BS carbs, but time can be an issue. I've got a friend that can do carb rebuilds for a reasonable price. Not sure he's played around with the accelerator pumps on some of the KZ variant carbs though.

WiredGeorge (if I recall, his name wasn't actually George) got his start on this forum. If you look in the archives from about 12 years ago, he was a regular here. He was doing it for a nominal fee, but business just grew out of hand very quickly. There were some complaints on timeliness, so maybe he decided to just charge more to reduce the traffic?

JaFlo wrote: I bought these from Z1E for $65. They have worked perfectly. Once the dampers are adjusted, the gauges are easy to read.

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That is the set I bought and used them for the first time. I thought the adjustable dampeners were stupid until I used them. It's a quality set of gauges. The cool thing is you can unscrew the gauge covers and adjust them. So like MDZ1rider said you can T them all together and use a vacuum for a nice constant velocity and sync the gauges.

To calibrate vac gauges, you need the restrictors near the engine side of the hoses, and the TEE's should be on the engine side of the restrictors. Calibrate them using one cylinder of a real engine at idle. The restrictors don't need to be exactly the same restriction, but need to be as restrictive as possible and still allow air to flow, and they need to be rigid. Flimsy plastic restrictors (found on some mercury manometers) can act like valves and throw the reading off.

Little B wrote: I ordered the carb tune too. I like the idea about the T fittings to check that everything is reading the same.

The rebuild with WG costs $399. I think the $450 price is if you are buying a refurbished set and sending in yours as a core exchange. I just decided to do the rebuild.

True, carbs aren't rocket science...but messing with them is well outside the realm of my mechanical skill-set and patience. For people like me, its worth it to pay a professional. I'd trust a specialist more than a generic shop for this kind of work.

That is one way to look at it.The other is you expand your skill set be doing things outside it.Carbs scared me at one time to,not anymore..One of the first thing done with the 82 GPz750 was the carbs.A bit but what the heck.

There's a certain satisfaction in knowing what's going on in between your legs.
Steve

Little B wrote: I ordered the carb tune too. I like the idea about the T fittings to check that everything is reading the same.

The Carbtune website states the following:

Q. My dial gauges always need recalibrating, is this necessary on the Carbtune II?
A. No. The components of the Carbtune II are matched during assembly at the factory and will not need any recalibrating. They work on a different principle to dial gauges.

Having said that, anything can have a defective part or something wrong in the manufacturing process. But you can get parts for the Carbtune. And I think I saw a write up somewhere on there website which shows you how to calibrate it if necessary. Although it should not be necessary if you have a sound example from the start.