Subject: Nats, Now Carb Adjust/Compression Check
Author: Keith Ruff
Date: May 31, 2005, 12:22 PM
Post ID: 1718951385
KO wrote: "My bike got almost 50 mpg after Mark tuned the carbs-"
I had to retune my carbs on the ride home even after Mark tuned them at
the rally. I couldn't keep the idle going when stopped and kept messing
with the idle screws during the ride, then she started popping a bit.
At one of our scenic stops, I got out the screwdriver again and reset
the mixture and the idle screws having watched how Mark and Tom Halchuk
had done it, engine had been at operating condition for a good few hours
at that point. Bike seemed to run nice afterwards, though she still
struggled on the long inclines, pinged a little bit when under load, and
even blew out some black smoke (according to Cam) when I down shifted
mid-stream on a hill and went wide open throttle (I guess I blew out
some carbon?). Still got 50mpg's on the ride home. I ordered up a new
distributor spring as Mark showed me that one was tight, the other was
sloppy - I'm hoping that will make her run smoother and perhaps get rid
of the ping when the engine is under load. Mark had reset the timing
for me at the rally and she seems to run fine, so I think the timing is
on.
I picked up a compression tester at lunch today and want to run the test
to see what condition my cylinders are in. I have had the feeling that
my left cylinder is a little worn out compared to the right, Mark said
the bike ran nice but felt perhaps the compresssion is a little low -
will test it and see. What is the proper way to check compression?
Should the engine be hot or cold? I believe Paul Linn said to crank the
motor with wide open throttle to get the correct reading?
Keith Ruff
70 Cafe Racer Ambo
Manahawkin, NJ