What’s inside a float

OEM vs. cheap
Need I say more?

 

Foam doesn't float any better than air when sealed inside, but it does make the floats heavier. Maybe that is the goal.

 

But the foam will still float even if there’s a hole

 

True, but not as well.

 

It’ll float just fine. I have NEVER seen one of the oem ones sink.

 

here they both are, in a quart of gas.

the cheap ones have holes (they’re cut in half) and sank immediately

the oem ones have holes (they’re cute in half, too.... AND have two staples in them. They’re floating just fine, and one staple is even above the gas level.

pic taken at 1:50pm today, Saturday afternoon

 

The whole point of developing the foam float was because they ALWAYS float, unlike floats that rely on air to provide buoyancy.

 

Another case of original is best. Where carbs are concerned it's pretty much universal - never fit anything else.

 

Strange thing here. When I bought my X, the mixture screws still had the metal caps in place. When I cleaned the carbs I didn't notice anything strange about the floats. I have the carbs off again for a check and I find the floats on carb one don't match the other three. Three have a seam down the middle of each float and raised lettering on the top. The #1 doesn't have this. The metal hinge on three has a shiny finish but on number one it is more of a matte finish. With the carbs upside down I notice the first float extends a tiny bit further from the pin. What??? Was a float replaced by a PO? Did Yamaha run out of a batch of floats and used one from another model? If a float was replaced, why weren't the caps removed to adjust the mixtures?
A mystery for sure.

 

I have a big problem now. I don't know how I was able to adjust fuel levels before but this float is causing problems. I have the rack in a stand where I can check levels and pull the bowls from underneath and make adjustments. This one float was jamming against the bowl when trying to remove, when the fuel was drained. Finally got the bowl off and started really looking at the differences. From the floats to the hinge is much longer in the oddball float, hence the jamming during bowl removal. I also notice a sleeve in the odd floats. See pics. Looks like I'll be riding the airhead to the clinic unless I can miraculously source the correct float.

 

email info@XJ4ever.com. He might be able to get you the correct float in time.

 

I pulled one out of another 700 X rack for him…

 

If its closed cell foam, yes

 

Keep in mind I am talking specifically about the foam floats that were used for the carburetors on the ‘80-‘86 Yamaha xj-series motorcycles. I have absolutely zero clue about what was used/shared/not used/not shared with any other model or make. I could make some pretty educated guesses, but I don’t do anything specifically with them.