the trickiest job so far!......carb jetting!

sorting my cbr640's carbs were a doddle compared to these vfr blighters. The awkwardness of them linked together gives the DIY tinkerer nightmares, usually leaving the job to the end because one cant face the dread of touching them.
Well being a sunny day I just thought get on with it. First up give the carbs a good wash and brush getting muck off the sides with paraffin ( cheaper than engine degreaser) making sure not to get any inside any holes!......then the only option use an impact screw driver onto the crummy cheese screws....they are always stuck and you will chew them if you dont use an impact.
make sure you have 4 tubs to keep each carb part identified to its original carb. Take carb bottoms off, remove floats and float needles
Uncrew pilot jet and clean wit carb cleaner...good blast down its scre hole too. unscrew main jet assembly.....carefully use a large flat screw
driver, hold main jet nozzle in vice and undo main jet...
Standard main jets are 130. this kit is a stage 3 kit ledar jet kit probably impossible to get hold of these days as ledar died in some kind of road accident, it contained needles, specially cut out needle nozzles, large main jet. contains a beast of 150 main jet . Its down to the clever needle nozzle jet and needle in combination with the main jet, the pilot was left standard on the kit, guess for stage 3 tune the pilot wont be needed! ..(so it has standard 40 pilots, mains 150 and ledar needles and nozzles). To get the old nozzles out you have to be pretty brave, it can be done without separating each carb but its a good idea to take all the base carb covers off , get a long punch with a flat end rest on the end of the nozzle the brass sealed tube horizontal in the picture and give a short sharp tap. this should nudge it just so the rubber seal holding the other end gives way, should pop out, be careful as its easy to bend the nozzle tube if you hit it at a too low and angle. Then its just a question of popping the lead nozzles in. cant go wrong its easier to do this, make sure the nozzle cut out is facing inwards.2 spacers added to the needles as a starting point. drop in and drop the slides back into the carb. will be interesting to see how this goes. Ive changed all the crummy screws with hex's so will be easier to disassemble. According to advice 135 should be a good main jet but thats with standard needle nozzles, and this will also have little exhaust restriction.
.

rear swingarm part 2

After a good old clean, time to check the bearings, the needle rollers run smoothly in both the pivot end and the wheel end. Seems like these must have been replaced in the past. repacked with grease. Ball bearings are also ok, rinsed out with parafin then lithium grease squirted in as the pivot end the bearings as they werent sealed bearings.

A bit more sprucing up, cleaned the splines in the hub, lithium grease applied liberally and re-attatched along with skimmed disc. Then put away in the box ready for the next task.
I'm doing this because i'm waiting for some spare cylinder head bolts, a replacement lower engine mounting bolt from CSML.com , a dutch parts supplier of mainly Honda parts ( real honda), cheaper in some ways to a french site a can't remember the name of , eg cylinder head bolt 6 euro or 8 euro from french)....didnt realise though it would take 3 weeks to deliver though. There are so many other things to get on with I don't really mind. next check and clean rear susp linkages.

Future things to think of : fireblade forks to be overhauled, have to order new springs..do i do it myself (have to buy a fork spring compressor) or send it away?....order a set of tyres?...which ones....source spare wheels........do i build up the rolling chassis ...

rear swingarm

One rusty old rear disc, this proves the bike has been standing for a long time, the swing arm is reasonably good, caked in grime. First job strip it down and check the bearings...............caliper stay in need of a stripping paint and clean up too. Give the disc a skim as it looks unused.

cyclinder head porting and smoothing

Cleaning up the cylinder heads, before shot and mid point after, still got some fettling to do. Smooothing valve pocket edges, balance the chambers with my trustee pipette. the ports are being opened out a touch, then polished, there are some nasty casting marks that need smoothing. The view into the port can see the valve pockets quite well, I can open it a little but I dont want to upset the gradual taper by gouging out troughs of Aluminum. slow process but it will be worth it.