Posted by Mike on July 27, 2003 at 03:47:01:
I posted a few days ago about a stripped mixture screw, thank you for all the replies. I gave the carb to my brother-in-law, who works at a auto repair shop. He took it to work with him and used some of the tools at work to get the screw out. It was so screwed up it took him 2 hours! Anyway, I called the suzuki dealer and they said the screw will be here in around 2 weeks. Being inpatient and wanting to ride my bike, I came up with an idea to make a homemade mixture screw. Using the partially destroyed original screw as a guide, I found a small metric bolt that was the same thread. I then cut the head off with a dremmel, so that it was just a threaded stud approximately 1cm long. Then I got a very small 3/32" drill bit and drilled a hole about 1/2 cm deep right down the center. On the other side I cut a flat head screw notch. For the tapered part of the screw that fits into the hole I had a small screwdriver for repairing eyeglasses...the kind you buy near the cash register at a grocery store. part of it was virtually the same size as the original one. I grinded it evenly around all sides until it was the same size and smooth all the way around, and cut it to 1cm in length. I made one side slightly smaller and tapered so it would fit into the hole I drilled in the screw. Once the fit was right, I screwed it into the carb just to make sure. To make this eaiser, I drilled out the small brass plug at the back of the pilot screw recess (if you're looking at the front of the carb. This allows you to see the needle slide in and out. I'll have to re-plug it with a small piece of brass or jb weld. It fit perfectly, so I used jb weld to weld the homemade needle into the screw. The finished product looks almost exactly like the original except it is stainless steel. I know, its ridicoulsly McGuiverish, but i figured there's no harm in trying, and I don't want to miss a ride some friends and I had planned for next weekend. I'll post within the next few days as to how it works.
Mike