balancing carbs - easy ?

[Enceladus]

i'm tempted to get myself a carb balancing kit and try and get the carbs a bit more in balance than they are now (think #4 is a bit out)
how much are the kits ?
is it easy to do ?
an idiots guide would be helpful too 
thanks 

[Andy Clap]

Yes, it's pretty easy.  Just don't drop your fuel tank on the floor like I did 


I got a Carbtune and really like it.  Spend the extra on the soft case, good for protection and keeping everything together (carbtune currently 57 quid delivered, pouch currently on offer at 7 quid   http://www.carbtune.com/  ).


I found the job a lot easier outside in the daylight than in the shed with the light on or a torch.


Other than that, get a very long screwdriver and search the web for a tutorial (think there was one on the old FOC-U site?).


Andy

[Andy Clap]

A-ha, found it...


http://foc-u.co.uk/index.php/topic,91.0.html

[Dead Eye]

The Carbtune is a fantastic piece of kit - I have one as well

£60~ may seem expensive, but a garage will charge you nearly that every time you have it done, so after one balance it has basically paid for itself Its a pretty easy job to do (other than being a little fiddly) and its worth keeping on top of

[Enceladus]

many thanks
looks like the credit card is coming out again :/
oh well, soon be pay day! (i wish!)

[Dead Eye]

Haha, tell me about it! More poor credit card this week

[Foxwood]

I made a make-shift gas tank out of a soda bottle, some clear plastic piping and an old moped's petrol valve (on-off-reserve) + lots of glue and tape. So now I'm able to take the gas tank fully off and don't have to worry about it falling or getting damaged when balancing the carbs.


And it really is an easy job to do on a Fazer. My friend's old 600 ZZR was a nightmare to balance. 

[otis]

Had a carbtune for a number of years and they are the dogs bits.
Doddle to do once you can find the adjustment screws 
When you are adjusting the balance screws do not put any force on the screwdriver or you will get false readings
balance #1 & 2 then # 3 & 4 then the left & right  pairs
Blip the throttle between adjustments and let it settle and check again, adjust if required, do this until all balanced
Have fun

[Stooby2]

I found I could leave the tank on, but lift it from the front and prop it up. But make sure there's less than half a tank of fuel or it leaks out of the breather.

It's fairly easy - the only hard part is actually finding the balancing screws, but if you follow the guide posted above, it makes life simpler.

[Kentish]

Carb tune are good. You can buy some really fancy Carb Balancing tools like ProBike's rang but the cheap Carb Tune do the job fine IMO

[JoeRock]

Did mine today, far and away the easiest one I've ever done. Interestingly though, it was also the first bike I had to adjust at tickover - the other ones I've had decent results with the idle turned up to 2k, set, and then turn the idle back down, but I balanced them at 2, turned it back down and it went out noticably, so ended up doing it again.
Job's an easy one to do, I took the tank off, undid the bracket holding the coils and fuel pump on and lifted that up above the frame, then took the main fuel hose and fed it back to the tank, which I put on top of a wheely bin next to the bike. Moving that bracket makes it a lot easier to gain access to the screws. Then balance as normal, and pop it all back together.
By far and away the worst bit was the burnt hands I got trying to put one of the vacuum port covers back on - I may have possibly forgotten that engines get hot when running 

[wezdavo]

Did mine today, far and away the easiest one I've ever done. Interestingly though, it was also the first bike I had to adjust at tickover - the other ones I've had decent results with the idle turned up to 2k, set, and then turn the idle back down, but I balanced them at 2, turned it back down and it went out noticably, so ended up doing it again.
Job's an easy one to do, I took the tank off, undid the bracket holding the coils and fuel pump on and lifted that up above the frame, then took the main fuel hose and fed it back to the tank, which I put on top of a wheely bin next to the bike. Moving that bracket makes it a lot easier to gain access to the screws. Then balance as normal, and pop it all back together.
By far and away the worst bit was the burnt hands I got trying to put one of the vacuum port covers back on - I may have possibly forgotten that engines get hot when running 

I have to agree, no.3 being the worst!!!