Posted by William Boylan on January 03, 2002 at 05:50:24:
Well, I tackled the carb today, again. If you will remember, I have been getting lousy gas mileage and have tried everything I could think of except changing the needle & needle jet. Well, the weather wasn't good for much else, so today I pulled the carb off (What a pain in the ass) and installed a new stock needle & jet.
The "White Spacer" was still in place and I left it there when I put it back together. The new needle & jet definatly fit togeather tighter. The old pair has some noticable slack when in the down position, the new set does not.
It is too damn wet & cold for riding (color me wuss) so it will be a while before I know if my mileage has improved, but, I now have to "choke" the bike to start it, which I didn't have to do before. I am guessing that the carb is a bit leaner now. She starts right up with the choke out, and after 10-20 seconds to warm up, she idles like a kitten with the choke off. So far so good. Well, it will be June before the weather is fit to ride in, so now I have plenty of time to clean & polish.