VM 33 clear tube test

I guess the third time is the charm. It wasn't running right even with the needles raised one notch. It was acting as if it was running out of fuel after hard acceleration in a mile or so. It didn't sound right at idle ether. I went through all the circuits again and noticed there is a tang on the floats that keep them from bottoming out on the bowles. (The brass ones don't have them) They had fresh marks on them. I bent them slightly so they would pass more fuel. One by one I adjusted them, put the bowls on and watched as the fuel passed through. One carb was a little sluggish so I adjusted it again. I raised the levels slightly as well. Got a late start and it was getting dark so I put them on and the tank. I fired it up without the boots hooked up but I noticed the difference. Back to being smooth, the throttle seems crisper despite the idle screws not being adjusted yet. That's another thing, all this time I was adjusting them at 1 1/4-1/2 when the Mikuni section on the 33's say 1/2-3/4. I never noticed that. :dry: It explains a lot. I'll dial them in in the morning, ride it and check the plugs.
I got these carbs in the early 90's. They were set up for a early CB 750 with a 900 kit in it,cams and carbs. I didn't know they were obsolete. The slides are 2.0 where Mik calls for 1.5 on the Kaws. Miller's brother "shark" I called him snake, thought he was a tuner like his brother. Donny let him use his jet drills, so he added 6 more holes on each emulsion tubes. They had 135 mains and 80 pilots. The bike would idle but there was a flat spot right off of it. It would run hot too. I had just got my kids so I didn't ride it much. It sat from August of 98 till Aug. of 2013. This time I went through them with a close look at the tubes. Good thing Snake was sloppy. I was able to compare them with the 28's I have. Both had 3 holes in line 90^ from each other high and low. It was easy to tell the ones he drilled so I soldered them closed. The flat spot went away but it was running rich. Experimented with different pilots and mains. Wound up with 70 pilots and 125 mains. After the valve job I went to 65's. Burning oil it ran better with 60's.
What I'm concluding out of all of this, it was stepping over the low speed circuit and depending on the needles and mains. I paid $100 for them and didn't realize what I was buying. They make the bike run great and always have munged up as they were. I think I'm getting closer.
Another story of buying used carbs and dealing with what the PO did to them. :whistle:
Steve

Dialed in the carbs and did a pass in the usual place. Much better.
Steve

Steve,
Would 33 Smoothbores work well on my 1100?
Thinking of options vs. BS34's...

They would work on it but they're notorious for being hard to tune. Mine are slightly rich or lean. Didn't help that the PO had F'ed with them. When rich it's not enough to wash out the rings and Bossie likes the extra juice. Looks like I can get the 1.5 slides but at $100+, I'd be better off with some flat slides for that kind of money. Obsolete and outdated. If I wanted something old school. I'd get a pair of Del Orto adjustable venturi carbs like what miller had. He could tune them gnats ass. For now I'm stuck with what I got. :dry:
Steve

If I never have to fight with float heights again in my life, I will be happy.

My 550 w/ tk22's seem very very sensative to float height. A little higher I noticed it rich at 3/4 throttle, a little low and she falls on her face from a stop. Its such a PITA too. I test it 5 times, record what its at (say its just a hair low), I make what seems like a minor minor adjustment, and bam, the SOB is overflowing.

If you can get new needles and seats, that SHT will stop.
Steve

I did. Fiddled with it tonight, got them dialed in, then potentially got F'D by the petcock... I just started a thread...

I had a old Honda 350 clutch cable laying around so I ground off 1" to show what I meant by grinding the cable.
Steve