carb sync...

[rayvin57]

Sync'd the carbs on the fat one this morning. Due to having owned many multi-cylinder, carbed bikes (VMax, Magna, Gwings, Royal Star, etc) in the past, I'm not new to the procedure, but I did expect the Valk's 6 carbs to be more time consuming than it was.  Piece of cake with everything so easily accessible, no doubt just due to the nature of the flat 6.
I've used mercury types in the past, but finally sprung for a decent one, a CarbTune Pro, a few years back.  I'd be more than willing to help out any fellow Valk riders within riding distance of Fort Myers who need a sync, btw.
I did notice the 3 rubber caps on the 1,5 and 2 manifolds were a bit dried out (no cracks yet), so I'll replace those the next time I hit up the local Honda stealer.
Supposedly the carbs were sync'd up just before I bought her, but they were quite a bit off.  Purrs like a tiger now.

[Flrider]

That is a great offer and I would love to learn how to sync them.

A little too far up or I'd be there in a flash.
I am in Kissimmee, about 2.5hrs away. 

[John Schmidt]

You said the carbs were off quite a bit, so I'll ask....did you set them using #3 as the base carb?

I know of one rider that spent an afternoon trying to sync his and never did get it right. Turned out he was trying to set them all to #1 as I recall, all the while his shop manual was laying next to him on the bench. Took me maybe 20 minutes to change it all. I then took an equal amount of time trying to explain why #3 didn't have an adjusting screw. It never did sink in so I told him next time he wants to do anything to the carbs, call first. 

[rayvin57]

That is a great offer and I would love to learn how to sync them.

A little too far up or I'd be there in a flash.
I am in Kissimmee, about 2.5hrs away. 

I'll try and remember to let you know the next time I take a ride out to Lake Okeechobee.   The wife and I have only been down here for about 3 years, so we're still exploring new areas to ride.  Just discovered the great riding SR 78 has out west of Labelle.  It even has a good number of a rare thing down here--curves.  Still flat, but better than straight and flat!  Lots of nice horse and cattle farms out there, mostly, and the Okeechobee waterway runs along side it in stretches.

[rayvin57]

You said the carbs were off quite a bit, so I'll ask....did you set them using #3 as the base carb?

Yeah, #3 of course.  When I said they were off a bit, I meant by over a cm.  I've got it now to less than a quarter cm.  I thought it ran smoothly before I did the job, but, never having had a Valk before, I didn't realize what smooth was.  This is one well balanced machine, and I'm starting to forget about the Kingpin I traded for it.  I ordered new intake vacuum caps on ebay for just over $4.  Not sure what the dealer would charge for the 3 of them.

[sandy]

"within riding distance of Fort Myers"

You do realize I've ridden to Ft Meyers on my way to Key West from AZ. There's not many places on the North American continent too far for a Valk rider.

[rayvin57]

"within riding distance of Fort Myers"

You do realize I've ridden to Ft Meyers on my way to Key West from AZ. There's not many places on the North American continent too far for a Valk rider.

So when should I be expecting you and your Valk for a sync?

[Warlock]

Sync'd the carbs on the fat one this morning. Due to having owned many multi-cylinder, carbed bikes (VMax, Magna, Gwings, Royal Star, etc) in the past, I'm not new to the procedure, but I did expect the Valk's 6 carbs to be more time consuming than it was.  Piece of cake with everything so easily accessible, no doubt just due to the nature of the flat 6.
I've used mercury types in the past, but finally sprung for a decent one, a CarbTune Pro, a few years back.  I'd be more than willing to help out any fellow Valk riders within riding distance of Fort Myers who need a sync, btw.
I did notice the 3 rubber caps on the 1,5 and 2 manifolds were a bit dried out (no cracks yet), so I'll replace those the next time I hit up the local Honda stealer.
Supposedly the carbs were sync'd up just before I bought her, but they were quite a bit off.  Purrs like a tiger now.

Once you sync them they stay pretty good. What I did is removed all the fittings in the intakes and went to Lowes and bought I'm thinking 4 or 5 mm bolts with a little medium lock tight(in my case my wifes fingern nail polish) and installed them. Kept the tubes just in case I need to sync them again and not worry about those caps cracking.
David

[rayvin57]

Once you sync them they stay pretty good. What I did is removed all the fittings in the intakes and went to Lowes and bought I'm thinking 4 or 5 mm bolts with a little medium lock tight(in my case my wifes fingern nail polish) and installed them. Kept the tubes just in case I need to sync them again and not worry about those caps cracking.
David

I figure it took about 10 years for the rubber caps to get a bit dry (and they were still working), so it's worth the 4 bucks and change to me to stay with them.  Don't know if I'd trust the bolts/nail polish to stay as air tight as the rubber caps, and they'd be a lot easier the next time I sync (if I rejet, pull the carbs to replace the boots, etc.).

[Patrick]

Its good to hear that you got this monster running like it should.. These things are pretty bullet-proof,, Honda got it right.. One never knows what was done before.. There was a time here when some insisted that the sync had to performed at 3000rpms.. There were also a number of folks that had their own way of adjusting the pilots.. There have been enough situations such as a timing belt being installed a tooth or so off or valves being improperly adjusted.. So, its good to take a look at an unfamiliar bike to make sure everything is as it should be..

[Warlock]

Once you sync them they stay pretty good. What I did is removed all the fittings in the intakes and went to Lowes and bought I'm thinking 4 or 5 mm bolts with a little medium lock tight(in my case my wifes fingern nail polish) and installed them. Kept the tubes just in case I need to sync them again and not worry about those caps cracking.
David

I figure it took about 10 years for the rubber caps to get a bit dry (and they were still working), so it's worth the 4 bucks and change to me to stay with them.  Don't know if I'd trust the bolts/nail polish to stay as air tight as the rubber caps, and they'd be a lot easier the next time I sync (if I rejet, pull the carbs to replace the boots, etc.).

Been running the bolts for better than 10 years with no problem. JAS
David

[Flrider]

That is a great offer and I would love to learn how to sync them.

A little too far up or I'd be there in a flash.
I am in Kissimmee, about 2.5hrs away.  

I'll try and remember to let you know the next time I take a ride out to Lake Okeechobee.   The wife and I have only been down here for about 3 years, so we're still exploring new areas to ride.  Just discovered the great riding SR 78 has out west of Labelle.  It even has a good number of a rare thing down here--curves.  Still flat, but better than straight and flat!  Lots of nice horse and cattle farms out there, mostly, and the Okeechobee waterway runs along side it in stretches.

I know what you mean by flat and straight. If you ever get a chance, the area around Brooksville is pretty nice with some small hills and curves.
I ride down that way once in a while and also to Smoky Mts. TN area once a year for the last 3 years.
I am planning my next trip for next April and can't wait.

[icemanisintexas]

Sync'd the carbs on the fat one this morning. Due to having owned many multi-cylinder, carbed bikes (VMax, Magna, Gwings, Royal Star, etc) in the past, I'm not new to the procedure, but I did expect the Valk's 6 carbs to be more time consuming than it was.  Piece of cake with everything so easily accessible, no doubt just due to the nature of the flat 6.
I've used mercury types in the past, but finally sprung for a decent one, a CarbTune Pro, a few years back.  I'd be more than willing to help out any fellow Valk riders within riding distance of Fort Myers who need a sync, btw.
I did notice the 3 rubber caps on the 1,5 and 2 manifolds were a bit dried out (no cracks yet), so I'll replace those the next time I hit up the local Honda stealer.
Supposedly the carbs were sync'd up just before I bought her, but they were quite a bit off.  Purrs like a tiger now.

So when you bought the Carbtune Pro from Morgan Ltd were there any other accessories you bought from them needed for the job? Does the Carbtune Pro work with the Valkyrie ok? I've never sync'd my carbs before however I've been thinking about doing it and I've seen the Carbtune Pro before but never knew of anyone who used it on the valk. What are you comments regarding the Carbtune? Any input or feed back would be appreciated.

Thanks

Gerry

[rayvin57]

So when you bought the Carbtune Pro from Morgan Ltd were there any other accessories you bought from them needed for the job? Does the Carbtune Pro work with the Valkyrie ok? I've never sync'd my carbs before however I've been thinking about doing it and I've seen the Carbtune Pro before but never knew of anyone who used it on the valk. What are you comments regarding the Carbtune? Any input or feed back would be appreciated.

Thanks

Gerry

No other accessories but the Carbtune Pro. I bought the tool pouch to store it in and the hoses are plenty long for every bike I've used it on.  Had used a Motion Pro mercury type one before that and one of the glass tubes broke over the winter and leaked the liquid silver on my garage floor. 
The Carbtune is really easy to use and I've found that as I change the angle I'm holding it at, I can get the indicators to settle down to get very accurate readings, at least to 1/4 cm.  I forgot what I paid for it and the shipping cost from England, I think about $110 bucks including the pouch, and it got here in about a week.  I've used it to balance the throttle bodies on my Rocket 3 also, so it isn't just for carbed bikes.