carb rebuild service, anyone use this guy?......................

http://www.viragocarb.us/

 

I haven't, but he has a good reputation on the Virago forum.

 

looks like that guy does nice work but personally i'd contact member "Hogfiddles"

 

A few years ago I had an 82 Virago . Learned a lot from the Virago web site especially about starters and carb rebuilds . I rebuilt both carbs completely jets looked like peanut butter . No matter what I did rear cylinder pipe would glow red ....the kits I got had 122 main jets parts people insisted it was correct well turns out it WAS for a 1986 ....the manual had a small blurb 1982 125 front and 132 rear SHAZAM ran fantastic after that found this out by myself. There were some very good people on that site so good chance he would be of a benefit ..

 

I would disagree with that. Even if you have the correct (JIS and flat head) screwdrivers, wires, brushes, and maybe an ultrasonic tank for cleaning passages and jets, and good sources for all the parts (some Hitachi parts are NLA), cleaning, rejetting, replacing throttle shaft seals, and adjusting float heights are all tricky tasks that someone is unlikely to get 100% right the first time... or maybe even by the third time they pull and reinstall the rack. It's also not something that needs to be done very often. It's a pretty good task to outsource to someone who does it frequently and knows all the gotchas.

 

Slight correction... It should have said "if you can't rebuild a carb yourself then you should sell your vintage motorcycle to either dragsta or hogfiddles"

 

Ha...thought about a new bike, but what fun is that. This one was 500 bucks and runs pretty well, but needs some minor things fixed and a new paint job. Love to rebuild it myself, but since it runs ok right now, i didn't want to screw anything up. Just putting some feelers out, looking for information. Unfortunately I didn't come out of the womb with this expertise, gotta start somewhere, but I'll start with the easier things first. Thanks for the informative reply.

 

Rebuilding carbs is really easy and i am sure you can do it. The most difficult part is getting all the screws off and the nuts holding the value levers on carb 2 and 3.
There is enough information on this site and walk through's that if you do hit a snag you can find an answer.

While rebuilding carbs is not hard, it is tedious. you will prolly spend most of your time with the float levels.

Oh yea is is pricey. Chacal sells a complete kit for the job that isnt crazy expensive. You might be able to find sub standard parts on ebay but then you lose out on the quality assurance and his expertise.

 

start with your lawnmower, if you screw it up go for a ride. If you start with the bike and screw it up you're cutting grass

 

Ha...good one, I have done smaller engines, mini bike, go cart, lawn tractors but those were not running at the time and only one carb to worry about. Thanks all for the input and encouragement. I'll do some more reading and research before I attempt this as a winter project. Working on the body parts first.

 

And you might want special tools to remove the enrichment plunger and float pins on Mikunis. And the "full kits" are not full kits. They're stock kits based on OE values of some things that might need to be replaced. About the only items that are a fairly sure bet are the mixture screws, float needles, float needle seats, and bowl gaskets. Regular jets, if they haven't been damaged previously, should be clean-able, and may be different that stock values anyway, if the bike has been adjusted for altitude or modifications. A lot of times you'll find other problems that aren't covered by the kits - e.g. ovalled emulsion tube needle holes, dried/cracked choke plunger shaft seals, damaged diaphragms, bad throttle shaft seals. Then remember that to change those Hitachi throttle shaft seals you have to grind/drill out the old butterfly screws and peen in the new ones when you're done.

Cleaning a set of carburetors, without changing anything, is already a bit of a tedious job. Being able to properly overhaul (not just clean) a set that's 30 years old is quite a bit more involved, because you have to know how to identify what other parts are needed beyond what's in the "kit".

For the BS34 Mikunis I did recently, non-kit items that were a problem included cracked choke plunger washers (not available separately... you have to replace the whole cap and plunger assembly), broken rivets for the diaphragm/slide connection (not available separately, you're supposed to replace the whole diaphragm and slide), O-rings on the slide frame (not available separately, you're apparently supposed to replace the whole carburetor), and rejetting for altitude (6000'). I already had a pair of special pliers that I had made to press the float pins out and in, and I made a special spanner socket for the accelerator plungers.

 

No you don't grind/file hitachi butterfly screws--- you do that for the mikuni ones. I don't need special tools for any mikuni's I've ever done. To remove the plunger, all you need is a socket. The plunder comes right out. I get any parts I need from Len, no prob. You don't have to peen the screws, use locktite.

And I'm not quite sure what you mean by " rivets for the slide/diaphragm connection", or "I-rings on the slide frame", or "accelerator plunger".......

 

The Mikuni BS34s use plastic rivets to attach the slide to the diaphragm. They are maybe epoxied and definitely heat-peened to set them in place. They broke loose on one of mine, leaving the slide disconnected from the diaphragm.

They also use a removable frame for the slide sets into the carb body. There are O-rings on this slide frame, on the tube into which the emulsion tube is inserted.

What socket do you use to remove an acceleration plunger like this?

 

Well that explains a lot----,I've never seen a carb like that on ANY. Of the Xj's I have, or have worked on, so my next question will be:

What are those from?

 

this thread needs... more cowbell

 

Virago 750.

But the press-in/press-out float pins are the same as those used on XJ Mikunis as well. If you search this site you'll find a couple of threads where people broke off a float post trying to get one of those pins out. Would have been a lot better for those people to send the carbs out.

 

So this forum is all about carbs that aren't on our Xj..... Ok, now I get it.

 

There are Mikuni carbs on XJs. They have press-in/press-out pins. I thought the butterfly screws on my Hitachis were peened, but I'll certainly defer to your greater experience there. When I had my Hitachis on the Seca, replacement emulsion tubes were not available - from Len, the dealer, Yamaha Parts Nation, etc. If they are now, that's great.

If you want to say that overhauling carbs (not just cleaning them, but restoring them to original functionality) is easy, and that kits usually have all you need, again, I'll defer to your greater experience. Are you saying that?

 

http://www.boats.net/parts/detail/yamaha/Y-4H7-14921-32-00.html

 

Also says, "Not available"

 

i see that but the 56$ price is what caught my eye. Even if you could get them, would you?

 

You might, if your original ones look like this: http://www.factorypro.com/products/Jets, Hitachi, buy.htm

 

so from what i see there the needle jets need changed at every oil change. Seems like they would be more common, like buy a dozen at a time.

 

Maybe that particular bike vibrates its carburetors a lot. Might be more of a problem on singles and twins than on transverse fours. Still, for any bike, wearing out expensive parts that quickly would be pretty painful to keep up with. And still.... something else I'm going to check next time I have to overhaul a carburetor.

 

I've never heard of that much wear on the carbs of a TDM or a first-gen Virago with so few miles. The Virago I worked on last had over 30,00 miles and no visible wear at the needle jet. I suspect that's just a scare-tactic/marketing tool on the part of that website based on an anomaly.

 

although i do remember someone having that problem on here, once. I guess it happens but not very often.
SQL, I thought you were a FI guy?

 

Had the bike out yesterday, seems to run pretty well. A little hard to start at just under 50 degrees here. once warmed up runs well no issues. Checking the plugs it appears that the two left carbs are running slightly rich. I guess I can try to adjust the mixture screw to fix that. The brass caps are no longer there. I think the previous owner must have rebuilt the carbs. Externally I can see the rubber seals around the choke arms have been replaced.

 

I am. I've converted two of my three bikes (Seca 750 and KLX 250).

The Virago was bought as a spare bike, to go riding with friends who are between bikes, or when the Seca is down for some sort of maintenance. I don't plan to convert it, but I might if the carbs piss me off enough. I went down two sizes on main jets and one size on idle jets and still had to just about close the pilot screws to get a good idle mixture at this altitude. A conversion is more money than I wanted to put into it, though, so I'll keep working with the carbs a bit... I think I need to recheck their float levels. Other than running noticeably rich when I go higher up into the mountains (idle at 6000' is about 1100... by 8500' it's down to 700 or so), and not getting that great of mileage, it runs pretty well and starts easily.

 

I would recommend hogfiddles too. Beautiful work.

 

Two-yr old thread, but I appreciate the plug!

 

Plug plug plug!!!