Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Skier wrote:

sabbath wrote:Excellent post. Any suggestions on how to get fuel to the engine safely with the fuel tank out? The whole deal sounds kind of dangerous.

You could place a longer fuel line on the tank and move it off to the side or you could use a pop/soda bottle as a temporary gas tank. To do this, you will need to make some kind of fitting that runs from the neck of the bottle to your fuel line to the carbs. An idea I just thought of is you could drill a hole in the plastic screw-on top of the container, insert a fuel line and seal it up with a gasoline-proof sealer of some kind. Then, fill the bottle with some gas, flip it upside down (so the top part with your fuel line is facing down) and poke a hole on the other end so air can get in. Hang it somewhere and away you go!

Just remember, in case of disaster, have a fire extinguisher on hand.

I should really do that next time I fiddling with my fuel system.

I've seen this idea done before with different things, but remember: Save the cap! You might not be able to use the bottle again (since it has a hole in the bottom, now) but you can always save your 'modified cap' for next time, and just find another bottle to use.

I prefer using this method over pre-made screw-on nipples (like gear lube bottles) because you can pinch off the tubing to stop the gas flow, even if it's not connected to the gas line.

Carbies? ie. More than one??

They are like Chain drives....who need em?

Bah!

as im still learning the different aspects of mechanical differences between cars and motorcycles...whats the difference on carbs? CV and slide is what ive heard..not sure if this relates, but on my carbs (theres 2) they say VB. theyre Keihin, of course. any ideas?? as far as cars, the differences are fairly minimal bear with me!

This is a great series of posts and highly imformative. The tubing and ATF is a great direction to go in any case. No harmful mercury to be exposed to. I'm sure I'd rather not ingest any ATF though so be careful.

Concerning the fuel tank removal and alternate fuel source. I've always just edged the tank to the side but it made me nervous and I can see where it could be dangerous and even impractible.

Ever see a plastic bottle after its had gasoline in it for even a brief period of time? It begins to melt. Using such a flimsy container could have adverse effects in your garage I.E> explosions if it were to release and vaporize.

I thought, what would be a better, more simple and elegant solution? Well we've all seen those tiny plastic gas cans that hold a pint or two that are meant to store gas in! Go to a hardware store and find some sort of brass valve/petcock that will fit your longer fuel line, drill a hole in the lower side of the container and attach petcock. Rubber washers and or epoxy can seal the arrangement. It'll have a an airtight arrangement with a vacumn release already built in!

While not perfect and I'm sure there are flaws in this setup (I actually haven't made this device yet) I feel the approach is a safer, more usefull permanent addition to the garage DIY'r set of tools. Out on the road or in a pinch a coke bottle is a emergency solution and perfectly fine albeit a fire hazard.

Even better, if you have access to a broken lawn trimmer or the like the plastic gas tank of perhaps 10oz capacity might be a better choice for adaptation.

Just some ideas from a man who'd rather make his own tools...

eugeart wrote:(Truthful words).

I entirely agree with you. I was going to give a ring to a lawnmower repair shop the next town over and see if I can scavenge a tank, it'd sure be safer than a pop bottle.

Hopefully this isn't off-topic, but I balanced the carbs on my cb750 last weekend for the first time with a standard mercury manometer. The fluctuations were so large that I had trouble getting an accurate reading. In my clymer manual there's a drawing of a tin can damper (to be used with their diy water manometer). Looks like just a 12 oz. can with a hole in each end to accept hose connections. Would putting this in-line to the manometer level out the readings? Is there a better cheap option? Are those fluctuations just par for the course?
Thanks,
Chris

on carb balancing.
75 cb 550
putting the tubes in the 5mm holes at the intake?
any one have a cheaper option the buying the screw in tube adaptors?
and rejetting for buying new exaust how do i know if i need to and and which jets to get

This method is not able to be used with Yam's YICS correct? Unless you have the YICS tool, to isolate carbs,......correct?

Anyone know if I can use a sphygmometer, or a pair of them to balance carbs? Its a device used to measure blood pressure in MM of mercury. It goes up to 300 MM / HG. These are available for about $20 and up. I have some laying around.

I hope someone is still answering this string. This seems like great information for old bike owners like my self. I have a 81 Honda CX650 with two carbs. I have very little experience with motorcycles and since I have the engine removed from the bike for an alternator R&R I thought I should tune the carbs after the reassembly.

What causes the carbs to become out-of-balance to start with? Are there worn out parts that should be replaced first?

Are both ends of the manometer attached to the carbs?

Do you attach the manometer to manifold vacuum or venturi vacuum?

Could I use vacuum gages instead of a manometer?

Thanx, KPO.