Balancing carbs Vaccum vs mercury

[bobber]

What differance would there be if a person used a set of vaccum guages rather than the mercury tube when balancing carbs?

Would the vaccum guages work as good as the mercury tubes?

[fasterspider]

What differance would there be if a person used a set of vaccum guages rather than the mercury tube when balancing carbs?

Would the vaccum guages work as good as the mercury tubes?

No they would not work as good as a merc stick.

The guages are too unsteady to get an accuarate reading.

For 4 cylinder motors I use my Morgan Carbtune to sync carbs and I have a 6 shot merc stick for the CBX.

Morgan may make a 6 shot for 6 cylindr motors, I do not know. It would not hurt to look.

I just wrote them an email and will post the reply when I get it.

http://www.carbtune.com/contact.html

[bobber]

Thanks for the reply. Didn't think they would work as good due to the rapid fluctuations.

[fasterspider]

Thanks for the reply. Didn't think they would work as good due to the rapid fluctuations.

Here is the email I got from Sean Morgan;

Hi Ray



Thank you for your inquiry.



We don't make a specific 6-col Carbtune but the 4-col Carbtune can work

on 6

carburetted bikes. Normally you would balance carbs 1, 2, 3 and 4 and

have

extra adapters and an extra piece of hose just connecting 5 and 6

together.

Then swap the hoses from 1 and 2 to 5 and 6 and just connect 1 and 2

together with the extra piece of hose.

Then sync 5 and 6 to 3 and 4. Then check. Having the extra piece of

hose and

adapters makes it simpler and it only takes a minute or two longer than

if

you had 6 gauges. (Valkyrie doesn't need the extra adapters as it has

stubs

on it already.)





If you're interested or have any further questions please contact me.



Best regards



Sean Morgan

[broook]

That doesn`t sound right!!!!!!

To the best of my knowledge the order in which you balance the carbs is;

5-6-3-2-1 with the #4 being the base. When you turn the adjuster screw you will find that it will adjust two carbs slightly so doing it in the wrong order makes it very difficult and tests your patience.

I am not very good at explaining things so perhaps somebody else can elaborate.

[bobber]

Hey broook,

What part of the Rock are you at? Am originaly from Nfld myself, born in Goulds but lived in Baie Verte. Bought my first X there back in '81 while I worked in Corner Brook.

Rode across Canada 3 years ago on my other X. Figured I would give it to my son once he gets older so restored it and brought it to my parents in Bishop Falls to store until he graduates. Bad idea. Last year it took me a full day to get it to run right. And salt air works wonders on metal not being used. There's a few stories there! Anyway rode it over to North Sydney so some friends there could ride it once in awhile and keep it shined up. Couple of years time we'll make a father/son trip across Canada to ride it back for him.

[broook]

I am from New Harbour in Trinity Bay about 15 min. from the Whitbourne junction. I will be joining up with the "Ride for sight" there on Saturday, all being well. Going to have to be warmer than this though. There used to be a guy called Rob Hogg lived in or near Bottwood, he had an 82X he bought new in 84. Perhaps you new him??

[bobber]

No didn't know him. In the early 80's there were only 4 X's on the island. Funny you should say he bought his in '84 'cause when I bought my first '79 second hand for $2300 I could of bought a new '82, still in crate for $3000. Dealership had a couple but couldn't sell them. Finally shipped some off the island to an auction! Maybe it was one of those he picked up.

Whitbourne..... for some reason I'm thinking of Mary Brown's legs!!! HA!

[Dave Ditner]

Another thing to be aware of with vacuum gauges is that they all don't read the same. If you're going to use them, hook them up to a common source all at once and see what they read at different vacuum levels. Needle jumping can be cured with the proper orifices in the lines. :)

[Land_Shark]

Carbtune can sell you a 4-bar and a 2-bar tool, and can make sure that they are sync'd to one another if you tell them you're using them on a CBX. Then you don't have to mess around swapping anything, just do it all at once.

They have package deals as well, I purchased a 4-bar plus a Colortune plug, and then the 2-bar on the side.

[Jeff Bennetts]

I use the Carbtune with 4 meters and it works fine, you need to move them around anyway because of the syncing procedure, your never syncing more than 4 carbs at a time anyway.



It helps to have the long and longer screw in vacuum tube adapters from K&L. #35-8022 and #35-8023



jeff

[Land_Shark]

If you have a set of six sticks available, why would you bother swapping them around. It's sure nice and easy when you're able to see all six together...

[Mike Nixon]

Another thing to be aware of with vacuum gauges is that they all don't read the same. If you're going to use them, hook them up to a common source all at once and see what they read at different vacuum levels. Needle jumping can be cured with the proper orifices in the lines. :)

Alright, Dave! You tell 'em! Us oldtimers remember when all there was around the mc industry was mechanical gauges. Technically "bordon tubes" (right Dave?) they were okay ifyou had a quality set. The very first set Honda sold back in 1969 were made in the U.S. by Marsh Instruments. I still have an example of these. These are not the cheap plastic things with no dampers and no calibrating screws that you see on JC Whitney's site and all over. As Dave said, mechanical gauges must be calibrat-able. If they are not, then yes, they are inferior.



Of course today one has a lot to chose from. Electronic as Ray has mentioned. But there is also steel tube, steel ball, water, mercury, bourdon tube and others. There is even one that uses engine coolant! I think the best deal for the money at pesent is the one Suzuki sells, a calibrat-able steel ball setup.



Mercury gauges have a lot going for them, but they also have some serious drawbacks. The mercury attracts water. If you wing the engine too hard it will such some in. They're a pain to store and to transport. If you spill mercury, you have to chase it around with a bunch of clean pennies (they soak it up, making it easier to dispose of), and if you're in California, you may have to fill out forms and call in a hazmat team. The plastic tubes craze (tiny cracks) after time also. Again, if I were buying a set today, I would look at the Suzuki set for value for the dollar and a good, quality tool. If money were no object however, the several different brands of electronic types would get my vote. :)

[longuito]

Hi,

The Twinmax digiotal / electronic unit seems to work fine for me, and you can use it for any number of cylinders, moto or car, carb or fuel injection. Saludos,

Luigi

[cbxtacy]

Welcome to the site, Luigi. I've always wanted to ride visit that part of Mexico. On my bike.