Carb synch a No-Go

DeanR

DeanR

Joined
Jul 28, 2007
Messages
3,155
Location
finger lakes ny
Bike
1999 ST1100
STOC #
7959
With the help of our great forum, I’ve always managed to learn about and successfully complete any work needed on my bikes. Timing belt, valve clearances/shims, brakes etc.

Recently had a bunch of plastic off, and since I had acquired a cool set of original Honda vacuum gauges from Mr. Igofar Larry, figured it was time to do my first carb synch.

Even despite having an extra set of carbs sitting right next to the bike for reference, with the adjustment screws staring right at me, I can’t even see em on the bike, let alone getting a screwdriver in the neighborhood.

Since it runs great and gets good gas mileage, I buttoned it back up, rode to the Ohio RTE a couple weeks ago, and the gauges are hanging here unused as a wall decoration.

Anyone have any magic tricks to access those screws?
239997
 
Other than needing a long-ish screwdriver to reach some of them I don't recall there being much of a mystery to it Dean.
 
John OoSTerhuis said:
Wuss!
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I know John, but as you know I had to walk away.
I've always managed the little carb drain screws, the carb insulator screws and most any other screw with patience, flashlight and minimal difficulty, but these damm adjustment screws remain a mystery and I just found myself saying 'screw it!'

At least for now.
 
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Are you talking about the synchronization adjustment or the idle mixture screws. The sync. screws are not difficult to reach with a longish screwdriver. The mixture screws can be a bit of a challenge using the special Honda flex tip d-shaped driver.
 
Regarding the synch adj screws that I couldn't locate .... this morning I uncovered the 91 backup bike to take a look. (no idea why I hadn't done that already! as it has a bunch of plastic off) Easily found the screws and no problem getting a screwdriver on them. Don't know why I couldn't find them on the 99?
So it looks like the 91 will be my first carb synch experience. Just need to install the gas tank. The 99 can wait until I again have some plastic removed, or, maybe I'll just forget it because bike runs fine.
 
DeanR said:
it looks like the 91 will be my first carb synch experience
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I expect a full report with pictures and video! :)

Good luck. You did save all my texts, emails and pictures... right? ;) Anyway, I’ll be standing by the silver courtesy iPhone.

John
 
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3 of the carbs sync screws have an 8mm nut locking them down from what I remember, mixture screws are another story
 
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Al st1100 said:
3 of the carbs sync screws have an 8mm nut locking them down from what I remember, mixture screws are another story
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that's the way they did it in the UJM days, but that hasn't been used for a long time now AFAIK. The adjustment screws sit in a spring that keeps some tension on the heads so they don't vibrate loose and lose their settings.
 
dwalby said:
that's the way they did it in the UJM days, but that hasn't been used for a long time now AFAIK. The adjustment screws sit in a spring that keeps some tension on the heads so they don't vibrate loose and lose their settings.
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my bad, thinking about the old wing... what did I have for breakfast, hmmmm :think1:
 
DeanR said:
Well, how do these numbers look?
No.1 was a notch higher at rest than the others, so I went with that when running as well.240281240282240282240281
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You've got the same old school Honda gauges that I just gave to another member.
Your clutch fluid looks horrible :eek:
Your brake fluid looks like it could use replacement as well ;)
As far as your gauges go, you need to calibrate the first one.
 
I found that using the Motion Pro flat blade screwdriver from the carb synch tool worked the best for me on all my bikes. In my experience, using a Philips or JIS screwdriver required some pressure which affected the readings.
 
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