Odo's Carb Float Adjustment

Long story, but I'll try to keep it short and to the point...  A few years ago I hooked up with the infamous Odo over in Mississippi. (and trust me, middle Mississippi in the middle of August is not a fun place to be unless you happen to be a crawdad or alligator)   He had offered to "help" me port my manifold and rejet the carb for a BAK (in other words he was gonna' do it and allow me to watch if I stayed outta' the way, kept the beer cold and didn't disturb him too much)...  LOL

While we're on the subject and just for giggles here are a couple of images of a properly ported and lapped manifold.  (yep he let me do most of the nasty work)  I've managed to do a few since my training days, and yes they can and do look this way when finished.  Just don't polish the inside of the flange area too smooth.  You need a little ruff area to stir up the airflow and allow the fuel and air to mix properly:

(Click the thumbnail for the big picture)

Well, the Guru was rejetting the carb and I happened to catch him holding it up and looking really hard at the float area...  I asked what he was lookin' at and he said "just checking your float level"  We all know the only way to check the float level is with a little piece of clear tubing connected to the bowl drain and held up beside the carb with the ignition and fuel pump on, all while trying too keep the bike level...  Not an easy task to accomplish while holding a beer!  Well there is another way...

If your just concerned with your float level and don't have the carb off, then by all means, check it the old fashioned way.  Just get a friend to hold your beer, or on second thought set it somewhere you can keep an eye on it (and him) and hook up the clear tubing...  But if the carb is already off your ride for jetting, here's a shortcut from the man:

Holding the carb upside down and fairly level look at the float.  There is a little flange area around the bottom edge of the plastic float that looks as if it may be where the float assembly was put together.  There is also an area of interest on a short tower directly behind the float (facing the throttle area side of the carb) Here's a pic:

Now if you draw an imaginary line across the flange area of the float look where it comes in contact with the short tower.  If it's even with the top of the short tower then the carb is adjusted for a 99-03 model or 1600 engine.  If it's below the top edge of the tower by about the thickness of a nickel (or halfway down) then you have it adjusted for the 04's and up...  The weight of the float itself is all the pressure you need for this alignment...  See these pics:

  (Click 'em)

The reason you haven't seen this tip from the carb Guru's before now is simple... There just ain't no way to explain it without seeing it, and unless you've seen the inside of hundreds of these things you'd never notice the slight difference...

Now don't go tellin' me that your Roadstar 40mm Mikuni looks different, the one I used for the pics has the main jet and needle tower removed.  Just hold it bottom up facing the throttle cable side and it's easy to see...

Joe Friday

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