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Carb advise

1024 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  circeseye
I cleaned, rejetted & synced the carbs a few weeks ago. Have only put about 3 to 4 hundred miles on the bike since then. The front cylinder pipe is bluing where the muffler is attached to the pipe (first few inches of muffler, all stock) I understand that I need to go back into the carbs but my question is can this wait? will it damage the front cylinder, valves etc if I ride it? It would really help me out if it could wait till after Christmas, maybe another 500 miles or so. I should add that the bike runs really great after all of the work, lots of low end torque
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The bluing of the pipe will get worse if you keep running as is. Sounds like you're running way rich and the fuel is finishing it's burn in the pipe. The same thing can occur if you normally throttle up while running with choke on at startup.
I agree with Smilie. Sounds rich to me.

Try pulling the air filter and ride it to see if it improves even more. I'm not saying to drive it 'til Christmas without an air filter, but if you remove the filter, it will most likely lean it out some and it may even feel a little better, solidifying the thought that it's getting too much fuel.

If you find that out, you can re-jet the carb to bring it back to tune.
thanks I'll try that today or tomorrow
Sorry, but blue pipes mean lean and golden/brown pipes is rich. You might want to check that the connection between the exhaust pipe and the muffler is tight and not leaking.
Sorry, but blue pipes mean lean and golden/brown pipes is rich. You might want to check that the connection between the exhaust pipe and the muffler is tight and not leaking.

yes I agree, I doubt its rich

To get a guide pull a plug out of each pot and check colors as they will give you a better guide. Black plugs = rich

A rich engine generally runs cooler, lean hotter, hot + blue pipes and is not great for your engine


Have you just fitted aftermarket pipes? Some single wall pipes do blue a little?
yes I agree, I doubt its rich

To get a guide pull a plug out of each pot and check colors as they will give you a better guide. Black plugs = rich

A rich engine generally runs cooler, lean hotter, hot + blue pipes and is not great for your engine


Have you just fitted aftermarket pipes? Some single wall pipes do blue a little?
No its all stock, the po had bolt on straight pipes on the bike and it sounded really bad, of course he also said that the bike had not sat up and he had a mechanic tune it up and change the oil right before I bought it. Well I went back with the stock mufflers, it did not help. Got a Factory Pro jet kit and went thru the carbs. The floats were discolored (higher gas mark on the left side where it sat on the kick stand and dried up) all kinds of crap in the carbs and it had a 42 pilot & 178/180 mains. I cleaned everything up and put in a 45 pilot, needle clips on 3 and 172/178 mains. I'm carb stupid and this is the point that I don't understand. Per Honda my 2005 VT1100C2 Sabre came from the factory with a 42 pilot and 175/180 mains. This why I was wondering if it would hurt the engine to leave it for a couple of hundred miles till I have time to research it more. Not sure why, I have smaller mains than stock and the front cylinder muffler is bluing starting where the muffler bolts on back about 6-8"(I've got to take the heat shield off again and see what the actual pipe is doing) Maybe the needle clip should be on the 2nd position rather than the third, oh well something else to work on when I get the chance. Oh I also found that the "mechanic" either did not care or did not know what he was doing. Throttle cables ran wrong, plug wires not in holders, choke cables wrong and 1 needed adjusting and po had the bike for 7 years and only put 2500 miles on it, the last 585 miles was 3 weeks before I bought it, miles put on by someone who could not decide if they wanted the bike or not. So it sat somewhere for a WHILE, what is that 300 some odd miles a year, I get everything straight and I'll put 300 or so on the bike in a week. Sorry this is so long, I get started and can't stop! But I still love the bike
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Sorry, but blue pipes mean lean and golden/brown pipes is rich. You might want to check that the connection between the exhaust pipe and the muffler is tight and not leaking.
+1.
you put smaller mains then what factory stock would be? if im not mistaken you want to go up from there not down. hell honda cause of smog has the bare minimum as it is. and going smaller should would make your bike have less performance. i would go to stock numbers or at least 1 step up. if not for yourself do it for your bike man. :)
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