five-speed concours?

[T Cro ®]

Hey guys, I want to run my carbs past the local Kawasaki dealer for a quick clean before I send them south to visit Steve for the winter

Do you enjoy throwing money away? Steve will clean your carbs why pay someone for something that he will be doing!

As to time for pulling the carbs? One hour....... Give or take a beer or four!

[CRocker]

Do you enjoy throwing money away? Steve will clean your carbs why pay someone for something that he will be doing!

As to time for pulling the carbs? One hour....... Give or take a beer or four!

Exactly!  Let Steve see what's been going on in those suckers so he can address any issues he finds...

[julianop]

Exactly!  Let Steve see what's been going on in those suckers so he can address any issues he finds...

A very convincing argument! But I see my comment was confusing. I didn't mean I'd take 'em out, clean 'em, then immediately send them to Steve. I agree, that would be nuts. The deal is that we're going to get a final few nice days here before the end of the season, and I'd like to enjoy them riding the bike rather than staring at big holes where the carburetors were.  The other part is that I don't have the cash to pay Steve for his magic yet - that'll have to wait for the winter months. So I thought I'd give them a clean up here so I'd at least get something half decent for the rest of the season, then send 'em to Steve when there's snow on the ground.

Meh, you're right: I've driven the blessed thing on three cylinders below 2500 RPM for the past six weeks, I might as well wait till the midwest season is over, and get the job done once, and properly.

You've convinced me :-) But be careful Tony: St. Joseph is only around the corner from Rockford - much closer than Minnesota; I might just arrive on your doorstep with the bike and a twelve pack and convince you to pull them out for me 

[T Cro ®]

You've convinced me :-) But be careful Tony: St. Joseph is only around the corner from Rockford - much closer than Minnesota; I might just arrive on your doorstep with the bike and a twelve pack and convince you to pull them out for me 

You just show up with a 12 pack of Leinenkugels anytime you want between the dates of Oct 15th and the 22nd and we will get right to that......... 



BTW would you mind checking in on my dogs? I'll be back on the 23rd from Las Vegas! 

[Outback_Jon]

Meh, you're right: I've driven the blessed thing on three cylinders below 2500 RPM for the past six weeks

You shouldn't be spinning the engine that slow while riding anyway.   

[julianop]

You shouldn't be spinning the engine that slow while riding anyway.   

Out on the highway I can see that, but around town and in traffic?

I love this machine when I pass the 65 speed limit sign and I give it the old "right hand down a bit". It'll yank my hands right out of my gloves and sit me right up on the passenger seat against the top box- I get all tingly just thinking about it... I just don't feel comfortable crawling past the Happy Days Retirement Center at 25 mph, 3000 RPM and 100db. It's noisy, too torquey, bad tempered and erratic.

You're joking, right?

Maybe once I get these bloody carbs cleaned out and sync'd up, and I can afford the jet and cam kit,  all these problems will go away.

Talking of which, I take it there's general consensus on the Morgan Carbtune Pro ??

[snarf]

Not really a joke.  I believe Bergman that did a a ton of dyno testing and found that the Connie maintains horrible oil pressure under the 3K mark

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

There's no problem running low rpm IF you're using very light throttle, and just tooling around. What you don't want to do is to do hard throttle accellerations from very low rpm. HTH, steve

[Gitbox]

Don't get the Motion Pro sync tool. I have it and hate it.

[snarf]

Don't get the Motion Pro sync tool. I have it and hate it.

This thread has gone in so many different directions I dont think there is a way to hi-jack it 
What dont you like about the Motion Pro?

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

I have the motion pro. works great. Steve

[julianop]

This thread has gone in so many different directions I dont think there is a way to hi-jack it 
What dont you like about the Motion Pro?

No indeed, and I have already acknowledged y'all for your patience and indulgence on that very issue :-)

I'd like to know what's wrong with the Motion Pro too...

There's no problem running low rpm IF you're using very light throttle, and just tooling around. What you don't want to do is to do hard throttle accellerations from very low rpm. HTH, steve

That's what I'd hoped. I will remark, casually, and not to incriminate myself (!) that I'd noticed since wiring up the #1 cylinder that it does actually pull a lot harder from "down there" than it did when I first got the bike. But I don't inhale...

So... the 7th gear mod ... isn't that going to exacerbate the oil problem? And how popular/advisable is an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, given that situation?

Crikey, we are going all over the place, aren't we? It's like my own private thread...

[Gitbox]

Well, since you asked...


I've lost the fluid in it twice - not really sure how. It constantly gets bubbles in the fluid. The calibrated fluid height is only accurate at exactly the point you set it. In other words if you have vacuum on all four tubes simultaneously and set the fluid heights even, just a slight increase or decrease in vacuum throws the fluid levels all over the place - they don't remain even.


The fluid is a pretty blue though.

[T Cro ®]

Well, since you asked...


I've lost the fluid in it twice - not really sure how. It constantly gets bubbles in the fluid. The calibrated fluid height is only accurate at exactly the point you set it. In other words if you have vacuum on all four tubes simultaneously and set the fluid heights even, just a slight increase or decrease in vacuum throws the fluid levels all over the place - they don't remain even.


The fluid is a pretty blue though.

Makes ya long for the old mercury tubes as they were stable due to the weight of the quick silver.

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

robin, you need more time with it. they work fine. They are to be calibrated prior to each use, so that pretty much insures good readings.

As far as the 7th gear "exacerbating the oil problem" well, there is no oil problem, and the gearing doesn't exacebate it - the riders gear selection is the key here. You can't ride an inline 4 at the rpms designated for a v twin. learn that, and all's well. Keep in mind what I stated earlier, that the issue isn't low rpm riding, it's giving hard throttle at very low rpm's and lugging the engine. HTH, steve

[T Cro ®]

So... the 7th gear mod ... isn't that going to exacerbate the oil problem? And how popular/advisable is an aftermarket oil pressure gauge, given that situation?

Exacerbate what oil problem? While the engine does not develop a lot of oil pressure once up to full operating temps it develops more than enough to hold the oil wedge. It's not good for ANY engine to be lugged (ultra low RPM while trying to maintain slow speeds) this motor included. If you think your lugging the engine drop one gear and pick up the RPM's.......... If you want an Oil Pressure Gauge install one (I did and never look at it after start up) they are nice to have but should make little to no difference in how the bike/engine is treated. Not to sound rude here but you are making more out of this than need be; I'll say it again DROP a GEAR AND RIDE THE BIKE....

[julianop]

Steve, Tony,
I didn't mean to imply it was the bike's problem - I realize it's MY problem with my desire for low RPM.
I was out at a get-together of our local club, and spoke to one of the old-timer guys about this. He listened to the bike and gave a supporting opinion that the problem was carburation.  He also said the same thing you two have about RPMs: drop a gear or two, keep the RPMs up and damn the neighbors! That's simply the design of the bike.
I think what's going on is that I'm unwittingly compensating for the carburation problem by keeping the revs low where the torque is low and before the engine goes through it's "warp shift" as different jets come into play. While doing that largely avoids the jittery problem, it is doing the bike no good.

Steve, I'll send the carbs down to you as soon as I can afford to, but as I want the cam kit as well, and based on our phone conversation, there's no point in my doing it twice.

On losing fluid in the Motion Pros I watched their video on using it, and read some comments on the web: a larger engine you suck some of the fluid right out of the tubes if the air gap at the bottom is too big and the level is set too high, and especially "don't blip the engine".

But the Morgans have steel rods in the tubes, no fluid, damps the pulses really nicely. What say you about them?

[Steve in Sunny Fla]

On the carbs - if you're planning on doing the cams, I can do the carbs first, set up for the cams. It's not the same jetting as the 2 minute mod jetting for the stock cams, but with a little less foam it'll work fine, and you'll be ready for the cams.

  I think you shouldn't be placing alot of stock in how the bike runs now, because it's pretty sick. It's going to be a HUGE change when you ride it running properly. Steve

[julianop]

That's good news (that I can do it in two stages), Steve. I want to get some sense of achievement before he season ends.
I've left you a phone message...

[julianop]

Well chaps, I took your collective advice and did the smart thing: I bypassed my local greasy wrench and shipped my carbs to Florida for surgery under the skilled knife of Dr. Steve.

Here it would have been $100 for an overnight stay, but all he'd have done would be to pull the bowls, clean out what is accessible, and put in an O-ring kit.

Let me ask this question once again: would any of you advocate my purchasing the Morgan Carbtune Pro for carb balancing ? I like the idea of the steel "bullets" the Carbtune has rather than fluid of the Motion Pro.