twinmax or mechanical gauges?

[HeatedGrips]

My catless GS seems to need throttle body balancing every 1,000 miles so I'm going try to do the job myself.

Never tackled it before. I've read your collected wisdom and instructions, but what instrument should I use to measure the balance? Is the twinmax worth the extra over the steel column type gauges?

 

[The Mechanic]

Blimey mate....

Well nobodt seems to want to put their two pen'oth to this one, so here goes...at the risk of creating a right old 'this one better than that scenario.

You will no doubt get a reasonable job done when you've done the set-up a few times to familiarise your self with the adjustment process.

A good quality single vacuum gauge can be used to great effect for both idle by-pass settings (brass screws) and again for throttle plate balance however, the skill of the operator does play a rather large part in this.

The twin vacuum gauges (which must be checked against each other first) are very good, but the (my choice) best gauges are the one advertised in MCN and M & P 'carbtune'. The latter is significantly better than the 'Twinmax' although they cost about the same.

If you want to save money, then I'm quite prepared to show you how to do it yourself with my guidance, even set the TPS if you want, using my stuff. Contact me through the club.

 

[Richard Russell]

Cheap throttle balancer

I use a loop of plastic tube half filled with Scottoil, as described here:
http://www.airheads.org/index.php?Technical Tips+$4 Carburetor Synchronizer

I've only used it once, and I'm happy enough with the sensitivity of the device - it responds to the tiniest movement of the bypass screws. Having said that, I didn't manage to balance the throttle bodies to my satisfaction. The Scottoil moves in opposite directions at low revs and high revs. I think there may be some slack in the linking cable, which probably means I did it wrong. Sounds simple on paper, but seems to be harder in practice.

I just need more practice I suppose

Richard

 

[Jeff H]

I use the plastic tube system and it is more accurate than I can adjust the throttle bodies - with practice I am now down to an eighth of a turn on the cable adjusters - an extra tip is to use the reinforced tube with the diamond shaped nylon thread moulded in - the diamonds act as calibration marks

Jeff

 

[The Mechanic]

DIY Manometer

Yep, done that got the tee shirt and read the script of the new film version 'Maneating Monometer Strikes Back'.

You will find greater accurracy if you use engine oil 15/40 this reacts less to induction pulsing however; mine is rigged with a couple of dampers to eliminate this.

But I only made mine for my own satisfaction, I still prefer the results obtained with my vacuum gauge and other equipment.

You are right in what you say though the more you do it the better you get.