3/2/2017 Dan'sMotorcycleCarburatortheoryandTuning

CarburatorTheoryandTuning

Forsomereasoneveryoneseemstothinktuningacarbisjustrealeasy.Changeajetortwoandboom,
yourthere.Yeah,right!Therearequiteliterallymillionsandmillionsofjetcombinations.AroughcheckonBing
carbsshowsthereareatleast13,860,000differentcombinationsofjets.Ifyouaregoingtochangecarbs
you'dbetterbepreparedtospendsometimeandmoneyonthejob.

Ifyoulookatacarburetor,youwillnoticearatherlargeholegoingfromone
sidetotheother.ThisiscalledaVenturi.Airpassesintotheenginethrough
thishole(Venturi).Asthevelocityoftheairenteringthecarb(andthenthe
engine)increases,it'spressuredecreases,creatingalowpressureorvacuum
intheventuri.Thisvacuummovesaroundintheventuri,asthethrottleisopened,and
sucksgasolinethroughthedifferentjetsinthecarb.Thegasthenmixeswiththeairgoing
throughtheventuri.Thewaythejetsaremadecausesthefueltovaporizeasitgoesinto
theventuri.Wherethejetsareplacedinthecarbandwherethejet'soutletislocatedinthe
venturi,determineswhatpartofthethrottleopeningthatjetcontrols.Theidlejetsystem(comprisedofpilot
airjet,pilotfueljetandpilotfuelscrew)controlsfrom0%toabout25%ofthethrottleopening.Thethrottle
valvecontrols0%to35%ofthethrottleopening.Theneedlejetandjetneedlecontrolfrom15%to80%of
thethrottleopeningandthemainjetcontrols60%to100%.Thismeansthatwhenyouopenthethrottle
aboutoneeighthofthewayopen,allofthegas/airmixturegoingintoyourengineiscontrolledbytheidlejet.
Asyoucansee,thedifferentjetsoverlaptheoperatingrangeofeachother.Thatis,thejetneedlestartsto
effectthingsbeforetheeffectoftheidlejetends.Thisissomethingtorememberwhenworkingoncarbs...
everythingisinterconnected.Changeonethinganditwilleffectotherthings.

OK,let'sgooverthedifferentsystemsinthecarbandseewhattheydo.

1.Fuellevel.

Thefuelleveliscontrolledbythefuelfloatsandthefuelfloatvalve.
Thefloatsarehollowormadeofsomethingthatwillfloaton
gasoline,suchascork.Partofthefloatpressesagainstthefloat
valve,sometimescalledaneedleandseat.Mosttimesthepartof
thefloatthattouchesthefloatvalveneedleisbendablesoyoucan
adjustthelevelofthefuelinthefloatbowl.Allplasticfloatsarenot
adjustable.Ifthisleveliswaytoohigh,gascanleakoutthecarb
overflowtubeorintotheengine.Iffuelgetsintotheengineitwillthinouttheengine
oil,ruiningit'sabilitytolubricate.Thiswill,soonerorlater,blowupyourengine!Ifa
fulltankofgasintheeveningturnsintoahalftankbymorning,checkyouroil.Ifit's
thinandsmellslikegas,changeitandreplaceyourfloatvalveand/orcheckyourfuellevel.Iftheoilis

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OK,checkundertheoverflowtube.Ifit'sOK,thencheckwhereyouareparkingyourbike'cusesomeone
iswalkingawaywithyourgas!

Ifyourfuellevelisjustabithigh,themixturewilltendtobeabitrich.Ifit'slow,themixturewilltendto
beabitlean.Thisisbecauseahighleveltakeslessvacuumtosuckfuelintotheengineandalowlevel
takesmorevacuumtodothesame.

2.Pilotoridlejetsystem.

Theidlejetcontrolstheidleandonuptoquarterthrottle,giveortakeabit.Onsome
carbs,likeMikunithereisanairjettoo.Inconjunctionwiththeidlejetthereisanidle
jetairscrew.Thisscrewleansorrichensthefuelmixtureforasmoothidleandonup
toonequarterthrottle.Fromtheidlejet,therearelittlepassagescastintothecarb
thatleadtoholesjustinfrontofthethrottlevalveorplate.Therecanbejustonehole
ortherecanbeseveral,dependingonthecarbdesign.Theyeffectthemixtureaslong
asthevacuum,intheventuri,isoverthem.Asthethrottleopensfurther,thevacuum
movestotheneedlejetandjetneedle.

3.TheThrottleValve.

ThethrottleValveisthebigslidethatopensandclosesyourthrottlehasabevelanglecutin
onesideofthebiground(canbeflat,too)slide,towardtheaircleaner.Thisanglecomesin
severalsizesandhelpscontrolthefuelmixturefromidletoabout35%openthrottle.

4.NeedleJet.

Thisjetdoesn'treallyevenlooklikeajet,butitis!Itcontrolsthefuelmixturefrom15%to
60%openthrottle.Itsetsinthecenterofthecarb,rightovertheMainJet.

5.JetNeedle.

Thisistheneedlethatridesinthethrottleslideandgoesintotheneedlejet.ThisJetNeedle
controlsthefuelmixturefrom20%to80%openthrottle.Itcancomeinmanydifferentsized
tapers.Sometimes,oneneedlecanhaveseveraltapersonit.ThetopendoftheJetNeedle
hasgroovescutinit,usuallyfive,andyoucanmovethelittleclipup(whichmovestheJet
NeedledowninrelationtotheThrottleValveandNeedleJet)toleanthemixtureordown
(movingtheJetNeedleupinrelationtotheThrottleValveandNeedleJet)torichenthe
mixture.Mostlatemodelbikeshaveneedleswithonlyonegroovecutinthem.Thisissoyou
can'trichenthemixture,therebykeepingtheEPAhappy.

6.MainJet.

Thisjetcontrolsthefuelmixturefrom60%to100%openthrottle.

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Wewantnicecleanaccelerationfromidletofullthrottle,withnostumblingorflatspots.Thiscanbequitea
tallorderifwearestartingwithanewcarb.Actually,itcanbearealchallengetogetthingstocarburateright
aftersomethingassimpleasanexhaustpipechange.

Now,IwishIcouldtellI'mthegreatcarbman,but,well...noonehaseverbeendumbenoughtohiremeto
reallyworkoveracarb.Well,therewasthatonetimewiththatKaw650andaftermarketpipes.Ithadsome
kindofweirdstockcarbsthatlookedlikeMikunisbutreallywerenot.IthadTDKorKDTorDTK,something
likethat,carbs.Ithadaftermarketexhaustpipesandwasrunningtoolean,andstumbledatonepointunder
acceleration.Worthlesspig!Thejetneedleswherenotadjustable,soIputlittlewashersundertheneedleclip,
toraisetheneedles.Themainjetonlycameinonesize,soIdrilleditoutwithitybity,expensive,jetdrills.I
couldmovethemissaround,butIcouldnotgetridofit.FromthebeginningItoldtheguyitwouldn'twork
andthathewaswastinghismoney,andthatattheleastweneededcarbswecouldgetpartsfor,butnooo.
Justrisetheneedles,drillthejetshesaid...$200laterhefinallygaveup.IguessIshouldn'tcomplain,Idid
getpaid...but!

Butyouwanttotryit,don'tyou?OK,thedrillreallyisn'tthathard.Simplyruntheengineatwhateverthrottle
openingyouwanttotest,foramileorso,andlookatthesparkplug.Isthesparkplugreadingleanorrich?
Nowlookforthejetthatcontrolsthatparticularthrottleopeningandexchangeitforaricherorleanerone.
Nowthatdoesn'tsoundveryhard,doesit?Ohyes,thethrottletransitionfromonejettothenextmustbe
smoothtoo!Gobackovertheareasthateachjetcontrols.Theyoverlapeachother.Somealittle,somealot.
Makesureyouhaveagoodselectionofjets!

Mostcarbmanufacturershavetablesofspecificationsonthejetneedlesandneedlejets,andotherjetsthat
youwillfindveryuseful.Withthesespecsyoucanmakeabetterguessastowhatjetwillworkbest.Some
placesusemotorcycledynamometersfortesting.Thesecanbeabighelptogetrealclose
tothebestjetsetting.Workingoutthebestmainjetfora170MPHbikecanbequite
unhealthyifyouonlyhaveafreewaytoteston!Justrememberonething.Adynamometer
isnottherealworld.Afactmorethenonefactoryhasfoundoutthehardwaywhentheir
superhot,dynotested,racemachinesdidn'trunsofastintherealworld,onrealpavement,
inrealairwithrealbugsonthewindscreen.

Anyway,whatI'mtryingtogetovertoyouisthatjustbecauseyourbuddysaidhegotnew
carb,changedajetortwoandnowhisbikegets100milespergallonandhasdoublethehorsepower,doesn't
meanyoucantoo.Itjustmightrequirealotmoreworkthanyoubargainedfor.

Lookonthebrightside.Carbsusedtoberealsimpleattheturnofthecentury,buttheydidn'tworkasgood
astoday'scarbs.

Oh,onelastthing,seeinghowwearetalkingcarbtheory.Whenanengineiscold,likewhenyoufirststartit
up.Itdoesn'tevaporatethegaswell.Liquidgasdoesnotburn,soyouhavetoputinlotsofgas,becausealot
ofitdoesnotvaporize.Thechokehelpsthecarbtoputintotheengineaveryrichmixture,andatleastsome
ofthatmixturewillvaporizeandburn.

Ihadoneguytellmethatthereasonforarichmixturewhenstartingwassothepistonswouldbelubedby
therawgasandspintheengineovereasiersoitwouldstart!Hefeltverystronglyaboutthis,soIdidn'tsaya
thing.LiketheBiblesays,don'tcastyourpearlsbeforeswine.(Matthew7:6)

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3/2/2017 Dan'sMotorcycleCarburatortheoryandTuning

ForaPDffileoftheaboveMukuniPocketTunerclickHERE5,000KB
Printitoutoncardstock,cutitout,stapleittogetheranditwillhelpyoufigureoutMikuniMainJets.

AmalTuningGuideinPDF AmalMonoblocTuningGuideinPDF
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MakeyourownTuningWheel

HerearesomeCarbManualsthatmighthelp.

Mikuni

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DellortoTuningGuide10,212KB

DellortoTuningGuide2655KB

Butyouwantmore,don'tyou?SoclickontheCarburetortolearnmorethenyouwilleverwanttoknowabout
theinnerworkingsofCarburetors.

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3/2/2017 Dan'sMotorcycleCarburatortheoryandTuning

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