How difficult is it to balance carbs?

[5hort5]

Ok before answering the question in the title .....

How much does a carb balance cost at your local garage? If it's more than 15 quid then are these worth a purchase:

http://www.triumph-online.co.uk/bonn...cer-6290-p.asp

So they are 28 quid delivered.

The next question is could a muppet like me check and balance my carbs? If I can with these and it costs say 15 quid or more to do it at the garage then I may as well get these and do it myself, a balance check a year and I have made my money back.

Good idea or not?

It's a piece of **** to tune carbs once you manage to access the vacuum port for the front carb. Get some decent gauges though. Not sure it the ones you have linked to are any good or not. I use these http://www.carbtune.com/. They are very good and easier to read than the dial type in my opinion.

Balancing the carbs is easy, its the things you need to do first that a pain!

They should be done when you know the valve clearances are correct, and you need to extend the nipple on the front carb (not sure with throttle bodies) before hand.

[5hort5]

Thanks, guys, sam, the valve clearance bit makes sense and yep, I did that a couple of weeks ago and they are fine but the extending the nipple bit, not sure what that is, any clues as to what I would be looking for? I have a spare (knackered) set of carbs I can have a look at if need to see the bits.

The nipple you need to connect the vacuum gauge to is hard to get to at the best of times, let alone when the rad and head are hot. (You need to do the carbs with a hot engine)

You can add some bits of tube to this nipple so it pokes out of the right side of the bike, or upwards to sit accessible with the airbox off.

There is a thread on here with pics, a search should find it.

You could connect the pipe when the engine is cold, bung the end with a bolt and then warm it up- mucho easier.

Also, I found that one of the short adapter pipes for my Mityvac worked for getting the pipe on the front bleed nipple- put this over the nipple, then push the carbtune pipe into it. This was after much messing about and swearing last time I did it (didn't have to take the carbs off though- bonus!).

As long as you have a good set of (very) long nose pliers, getting the cap back on is a doddle.

[fastdruid]

This is the front carb


You see the little stub just above the clamp almost in the very centre of the picture, that's what you need to connect to. Now try and find it on a bike with the radiator and everything in the way still!

Druid

[yorkie_chris]

What I do is add 6" of pipe to that and leave it in place. That way next time you just connect it up and you don't have to get burnt at all

Plug pipe with a bolt or something when not balancing carbs.

Originally Posted by fastdruid

This is the front carb


You see the little stub just above the clamp almost in the very centre of the picture, that's what you need to connect to. Now try and find it on a bike with the radiator and everything in the way still!

Druid

Once the rad's propped forward, it's easier to see- still a bugger to get to though without long nose pliers...

The cap on mine is red and white, with a long tab to grab with pliers. Much easier to see against all the mucky metal around it!

[5hort5]

Yep I see it thanks, interest I may do a bit of work to make that easier before I get my tank from quest (been a while though?)