Been a Gear head my whole life , But I'll be damned if I can get it through
my thick head how to set these floats to Spec . I've got a diagram of how
it's done but I aint getting it. Any one got any help for the dim wit !
Thanks Runk....

On Jun 19, 4:31*pm, "Runk" <r.Irun...@mchsi.com> wrote:
> Been a Gear head my whole life , But I'll be damned if I can get it through
> my thick head how to set these floats to Spec . I've got a diagram of how
> it's done but I aint getting it. Any one got any help for the dim wit !
> Thanks * Runk....

Never worked on a wing, but on my bike, I figured out
the depth of gas I wanted in the bowl, put a mark
on the inside of the bowl and adjusted to that mark
by tweaking the tab on the float which pushed on the
needle.

I found all kinds of arcane directions about adjusting the
floats by sight. I found depth of gas to be a way better
method. Turn the tap on then off, then drop the bowl.
There should not be significant additional flow from the
line because of vacuum.

People suggest that if you've got a carb drain screws, you
can remove the drain screw and insert a hunk of plastic
looping back up in the air and use that as a sightglass.
Level of gas in the tube will match level of gas in the bowl.
Not applicable on my Bing carbs, but sounds like a good
way to do it if possible.

On Jun 20, 10:20*am, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com>
wrote:

> People suggest that if you've got a carb drain screws, *you
> can remove the drain screw and insert a hunk of plastic
> looping back up in the air and use that as a sightglass.
> Level of gas in the tube will match level of gas in the bowl.
> Not applicable on my Bing carbs, but sounds like a good
> way to do it if possible.

That should have been

"insert a hunk of plastic >>tubing<< looping back up
in the air and use that as a sightglass.

Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> On Jun 20, 10:20 am, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com>
> wrote:
>
>> People suggest that if you've got a carb drain screws, you
>> can remove the drain screw and insert a hunk of plastic
>> looping back up in the air and use that as a sightglass.
>> Level of gas in the tube will match level of gas in the bowl.
>> Not applicable on my Bing carbs, but sounds like a good
>> way to do it if possible.
>
> That should have been
>
> "insert a hunk of plastic >>tubing<< looping back up
> in the air and use that as a sightglass.

I wonder just what is the typical reason for needing to adjust floats,
apart from previous mishandling. Wear? Fatique? Mis-adjustment of
other parts?

(Sometimes I wonder if it's most often just because nearly every shop
manual gives an adjustment value and it's very easy to misinterpret
where the float should line up with the body, somebody gets it wrong and
an endless adjustment cycle ensues. Say a bike has less than 50K klics
on it, with no physical damage, are any other reason more likely?)

On Jun 20, 8:43*pm, paul c <toledobythe...@oohay.ac> wrote:
> Rob Kleinschmidt wrote:
> > On Jun 20, 10:20 am, Rob Kleinschmidt <Rkleinsch1216...@aol.com>
> > wrote:
>
> >> People suggest that if you've got a carb drain screws, *you
> >> can remove the drain screw and insert a hunk of plastic
> >> looping back up in the air and use that as a sightglass.
> >> Level of gas in the tube will match level of gas in the bowl.
> >> Not applicable on my Bing carbs, but sounds like a good
> >> way to do it if possible.
>
> > That should have been
>
> > "insert a hunk of plastic >>tubing<< looping back up
> > in the air and use that as a sightglass.
>
> I wonder just what is the typical reason for needing to adjust floats,
> apart from previous mishandling. *Wear? *Fatique? *Mis-adjustment of
> other parts?
>
> (Sometimes I wonder if it's most often just because nearly every shop
> manual gives an adjustment value and it's very easy to misinterpret
> where the float should line up with the body, somebody gets it wrong and
> an endless adjustment cycle ensues. *Say a bike has less than 50K klics
> on it, with no physical damage, are any other reason more likely?)

Plastic floats do seem to eventually loose buoyancy
and need replacement. When they're replaced, the
new floats need to be checked and maybe adjusted.
The floats may also need to be removed to remove jets.

On Jun 20, 9:43*pm, paul c <toledobythe...@oohay.ac> wrote:

> I wonder just what is the typical reason for needing to adjust floats,
> apart from previous mishandling. *Wear? *Fatique? *Mis-adjustment of
> other parts?

Floats mostly get adjusted in error, by a shade tree mechanic that
doesn't really understand how carbs work or what to do when they get
gummed up from fuel evaporation.

And, said mechanic often doesn't really understand how to achieve a
higher or lower fuel level in the float bowls, and the instructions in
the repair manuals might as well be a Tibetan mantra, for all the good
they do him.
>
> Sometimes I wonder if it's most often just because nearly every shop
> manual gives an adjustment value and it's very easy to misinterpret
> where the float should line up with the body, somebody gets it wrong and
> an endless adjustment cycle ensues.

Every manual I've ever read specified a certain dimension from the
bottom of the float to the gasket surface (not the surface of the
gasket!) of the carburetor body, while the carb is upside down on the
bench.

When the carb is upside down, the bottom of the float is uppermost, so
the dimension becomes from the top of the float to the carburetor
body.

Increasing this dimension causes the float valve to shut off the fuel
sooner, reducing the level of fuel in the float bowl. The engine will
run slightly leaner at idle.

Decreasing this dimension causes the float valve to shut off the fuel
later, increasing the level of fuel in the float bowl. The engine may
idle slightly too rich.

Say a bike has less than 50K klics
on it, with no physical damage, are any other reason more likely?

Nah! If it ain't broke, don't "fix" it. Just add a good carb cleaner
like B12 to the gas
in the springtime, and ride the carburetors clean.

On Sun, 21 Jun 2009 10:37:44 -0700 (PDT), ¿ <(E-Mail Removed)>
wrote:

>Every manual I've ever read specified a certain dimension from the
>bottom of the float to the gasket surface (not the surface of the
>gasket!) of the carburetor body, while the carb is upside down on the
>bench.

Unless the needle valve has a tiny, spring-loaded plunger that
actually makes contact with the tang on the float. In that case, the
carb should be on its side, not upside down, to measure the float
level. With the float pivot pin at the top, and the float hanging
"down," tip the carb body until the float tang BARELY contacts the tip
of the plunger, without compressing it. This can make as much as 3-4
millimeters difference in the fuel level in the bowl, affecting
performance and mileage accordingly.

In my experience, lots of carbs come from the factory with
float levels poorly set. (Ditto for ignition timing, carb sync, valve
clearance, etc.).

On Jun 22, 6:43�am, the fly <tsets...@swbell.net> wrote:

> � � � � Unless the needle valve has a tiny, spring-loaded plunger that
> actually makes contact with the tang on the float. �In that case,the
> carb should be on its side, not upside down, to measure the float
> level. �With the float pivot pin at the top, and the float hanging
> "down," tip the carb body until the float tang BARELY contacts the tip
> of the plunger, without compressing it. �This can make as much as3-4
> millimeters difference in the fuel level in the bowl, affecting
> performance and mileage accordingly.

The spring would have to be very weak, or the float very heavy for
this "problem" to occur when following the shop manual procedure.

On 22 June, 14:43, the fly <tsets...@swbell.net> wrote:

>
> * * * * In my experience, lots of carbs come from the factory with
> float levels poorly set. *(Ditto for ignition timing, carb sync, valve
> clearance, etc.).

In my experience, this is utter *******s.

Quite apart from anything else, carbs are getting rare on Jap bikes
these days, and unless you actually check(ed) carb settings and valve
clearances on brand new bikes as a matter of course, I don't see how
you can justify a statement like this.

"The factories send their bikes out with everything to cock" is what
you're saying, really.

On Jun 22, 9:06 am, Mark Olson <ols...@tiny.invalid> wrote:

> The problem doesn't occur if you follow the shop manual procedure,
> but IIRC your otherwise well thought out explanation of how to
> adjust carb floats didn't mention it. All of the Jap bike carbs I
> have been taking apart for years have the spring loaded float valves
> and they all require checking just as "the fly" explains, and many
> newbies might not realize that this is an important part of checking
> float levels unless it is explicitly mentioned. 3-4 mm might not
> sound like much but it can make the difference between a good
> idling bike and one that barely idles at all.

What really escapes me is why adjust by when the
float makes contact instead of by height of fuel in
the float bowl. I find the lattter proceedure way saner.

After having to swap some elderly floats and struggling
to adjust by point of contact, I eventually took a mototool,
scribed a couple lines on the inside of the float bowl,
and adjusted the floats, using fuel level as a guidline.
Way more satisfactory and consistent results, much more
readily obtained.

Previously, the bike had been experiencing symptoms
of fuel starvation at high speeds. I raised the fuel level
and the problem was fixed. I may go back in one more time
and fiddle a little more to see if I can get by with a lower
setting as I'd like slightly better mileage, but this method
strikes me as way easier and more repeatable than
trying to eyball the float.

Only reason I can think of for adjustment by point of contact
maybe some difficulty in removing a float bowl without spilling
fuel. Otherwise, the whole exerise seems totally silly. It also
assumes absolutely constant buoyancy, which in my opinion
may not be true over the lifetime of a plastic float exposed to
alcohol blend fuels.