ColorTune vs Manometer

Hey everyone. I bought a 1982 XJ650RJ Seca last summer and I know the carbs need setting up. I've used Manometers before, but I never heard of C0lorTune until I joined this forum. I was wondering if some can tell me there experiences with ColorTune, if it works well or not. I don't want to spend a lot of money on tools I may only use once. In fact I was thinking of making a homemade Manometer out of 4 Mason jars and some Vacuum line. Thank-you ahead for your replies. JaiFer.

 

You need a manometer or vacuum gauges to carry out a running sinc', the colour tune is to set the mixture, you might just be better off with plug chops.

 

Thanks for your reply. I looked up Plug Chop on the net and it seems you have to ride the bike through the gears, then pull the plugs, then chop them. The bike isn't licensed for the road. First time I've had multiple carbs on a bike or a car, so I'm doing my research now, so I have everything ready for spring. The bike starts great, idles right on, the problem is it bogs down between 2000 to 3000 ,then picks up again. I believe it's running rich, cause pulled the new plugs I put in and they're dark and sooty.I've been hoping that I can solve this without pulling the carbs or spend too much money. The bike has to go in this spring for a mechanical fitness test. I won't mind spending more on the bike then. So should I ColorTune or not?

 

The Color Tune is the least expensive, and most accurate peice of test equipment that I've ever bought. Sometimes I take it out of the tool cabinet just for the fun of showing friends what it does. If you shop around you can often find them for sale with a decent discount.

Having said that, I have a few questions:

How thoroughly did you inspect and clean your carbs? If you didn't pull them for inspection and cleaning then you will waste time and money chasing your own tail.

Did you set idle mixture and speed with the engine thoroughly warm (ridden for 10-15 minutes)?

Are you using the stock airbox with a new filter, or did you use pod filters?

 

Valve clearances checked?
Part I
http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics.14827/
Part II
http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php...tment-part-2-the-tool-vs-ziptie-w-pics.29209/

 

Sounds like carb cleaning to me too...

 

for syncing the carbs, I bought this...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/UNIVERSAL-M...524?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item4d2a4986e4

it works great and doesn't use any fluid that could get sucked into the engine.

the color tune costs a bit more, but is an invaluable tool for tuning our bikes.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_kw=Gunson Colortune Single Plug Kit&_id=121170540844

one more thing, these bikes are 30+ years old. every piece of rubber in the carbs will need to be replaced if you expect the bike to run well.

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

and have you attended to things like new tires? rebuilt the brake master cylinder and front brake caliper? new brake hoses? new rear brake shoes? there is a lot of great info on these topics and more here... (scroll down below the catalogues)

http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?forums/xj4ever-supporting-vendor.23/

CN

 

That's a interesting device for the Synch, CN, Looks like I'm going to have to do a bit of tool shopping. Thanks for your replies.

 

Made my manometer using two glass baby bottles and it works great.

The colortune plug is perfect for setting the pilot screw settings. You'll probably use it a lot more than once. After a couple of years of trying to "read the plugs" and starting at 2 1/2 turns out, I kept getting sooty plugs that were hard to read as I made adjustments. Finally I said to h--- with it and used my colortune plug to set the pilot screws to a lean setting and then open just enough to get a blue flame. I then installed new plugs and adjusted from a lean setting which initially gave me clean plugs. As I tweaked the pilot screws I could see the change in the plugs perfectly and ended up with a good setting, good performance and good fuel consumption.

When I first got my colortune plug it helped me find a missfiring cylinder which I finally determined to be caused by a very lean setting caused by a bad intake gasket.

So, I think the colortune plug is worth the cost.

 

two bottle manometer

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/how-to-make-a-2-bottle-synch-tool.15650/

 

Having more than one bike, I figured balancing is something I would be doing from time to time. So I invested in a Morgan CarbTune. Works great! Worth every penny. Here is a short clip doing one of my bikes.
You can look for Part 3 if you want to see the final sync.

 

Nice, that looks like a handy gadget!

 

Thanks everyone. Considering the price of a ColorTune is less than an hours shop time and as Tabaka45 says I'll more than likely to use it more than once. So it's hi ho hi ho it's off to ColorTune I go.