Carbs: a diet of guesswork

Pat's Mechanic


Once dinner was put away and the kids were finished off I took the new carburetter out to look at how easily I might swap the two things around. It looked far too complicated, but as the bike had almost thrown me this morning trying to get in to Paragon I guessed I have not the time to get it to the guys in Droxford and would not be able to use it at all if it wasn't fixed RIGHT NOW. So I took some photos to help give me a clue later, slowly swapped pipes from old to new, and then realised the job was going to get complicated because the bugger obviously wasn't coming out of the tight spot it was in without some major re-thinking about where the tank was.
So:
    Removed seat
    Removed tank (having drained the carb and the feeder pipe - and then turned the tap off
    Removed side-panels
    Half-removed and disassembled the air box
    Removed clutch cable and various other ties

It's doesn't look so hard in that list but remember I am relying on Lego building skills of round peg round hole, so with no instructions I was delighted once everything appeared to be back in place and I'd done an initial drain on the new carb to be sure it had fuel in it.

Lifted from Crazy Jokes.com

I put the key in the ignition, pulled the clutch (needs adjusting - mental note), and twisted the throttle. F&%$ all happened except the starter motor did its thing and nothing else gave a shit. The throttle wasn't right. I was beginning to think that the one instruction I'd been given by that nice bloke at LS Imports had been wrong, I'd forgotten it, or I was mistaking it for something I'd picked up last night from Dr Who.

So I did what any bloke would do; pressed the starter again and twisted the inoperable throttle cable few time. Brrrrrrdddddrrrreeeeeee - that's an onomatopoeia for an engine gone berserk - the bugger started alright but at close to full throttle. Luckily, the vibration re-aligned whatever I'd messed up and throttle control returned spontaneously. Am I clever, or what?

Anyway, with the kids a kippin', I stole out to the shops and back a few times to judge what difference it might have made, and do you know what? It feels okay, even though I didn't have a 10mm spanner to secure the carb in place with and had to use a an improvised wrench (I'll borrow one in the morning).

So, I'll take it for a spin in the morning on my way in to DAS 3D. If I've genuinely fixed it I'll make a point of thanking LS Imports tomorrow and crowing just loud enough to know that I may be dangerous when brandishing my tools, but at least now I seem to have some idea of what to do with them? (Quiet, darling. Stop giving me that look. My friends might be looking in).

"No, I've not got a 10mm ring', but the tool I'm packing doesn't generally call for one"

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