*Self Install or Shop Install* SELF DEBATE !

[Red007]

Hello All,

I recently ordered a Vanes and Hines exhaust and a Factory Pro stage 1 jet kit, Last week I installed the complete exhaust system, it was pretty easy, I installed it in like an hour or so. I felt pretty good after that.

Now I had not anticipated on installing the jet kit myself, I got a quote from the cycle shop in my area (Free-State Cycle) and they quoted me $550.00 USD and another shop quoted me like $650.00.

Now this is like my first bike, (The bike I had before was a Yamaha FZR 600) which I never put on the road so I sold it.

In the past, I was an auto mechanic for a dealership and worked on cars and trucks, rebuilding engines and transmissions but got tired and switched careers to Network Engineering (Way more money and less knuckle breaking ) that was over 12 years ago, showing my age now .. LOL

I have been debating for the past couple of days, Install the jet kit or pay a cycle shop to do the work. even though I have worked on cars I have never had to overhaul a carb. From the looks of it, it does not seem to be hard, but if I pay to have the job done, I know it will be right and have a warranty as well.

If I get up the guts, I may spend this Sunday breaking it down and installing the jet kit saving me some money.

Oh, I forgot to mention, its a GSX600F, the pilot jets are dirty because the bike will not idol without the choke being on so
I know I will have to remove the pilots and clean them as well.


Thoughts Anyone ?

[Wild-Bill]

It's not just removing the pilot jets. It's completely disassembling the carbs (to get all the rubber bits out of the way) and soaking the carb bodies in solvent. You see, it's not just the jets that get gummed up, it's all the little, bitty passages going to and from the different parts of the carbs.

I don't think it's difficult work, just painstakingly detailed. If you're willing to go through subnetting then you can handle carbs. (I HATE calculating subnets!)

[diesel]

I would go for it. There is plenty of info here to help you get through it.I had my carbs jetted by someone else a few years ago when I first got the bike. But after cleaning them a few times, I realize how easy it would have been to do it myself.

[steves]

Dropping in a jet kit is fairly easy. Just pay attention to what you are doing, and work on one carb at a time... if you screw something up look at one of the carbs you didn't touch yet

The instructions in carbs 101 or carbs 102 should be enough to get you going.

http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/katana/trinc/jetkit.htm

[Kreylyn]

If your going to do it yourself, be sure to do a full dissassemble and cleaning of all parts. Inspect-replace parts as needed. Be sure to check the emulsion tube/needle jets for wear while in there.

If your going to pay someone to do it, there are members who will do 2x better job in cleaning them than the local guys for less than half the quoted price you got. The only thing you would need to do is remove them, put them back on, and sync them to the engine once re-installed.

Krey

[jetmerritt]

I'm an auto tech and did my Ivan's jet kit and it was easy!

[Red007]

If your going to do it yourself, be sure to do a full dissassemble and cleaning of all parts. Inspect-replace parts as needed. Be sure to check the emulsion tube/needle jets for wear while in there.

If your going to pay someone to do it, there are members who will do 2x better job in cleaning them than the local guys for less than half the quoted price you got. The only thing you would need to do is remove them, put them back on, and sync them to the engine once re-installed.

Krey

I understand, I think I am going to give it a shot on Sunday when I have a day to do the job. After that I will get into the tuning part of things.

Thanks everyone, wish me luck !!!
I will post up the results on Monday !!

cheers

It's not just removing the pilot jets. It's completely disassembling the carbs (to get all the rubber bits out of the way) and soaking the carb bodies in solvent. You see, it's not just the jets that get gummed up, it's all the little, bitty passages going to and from the different parts of the carbs.

I don't think it's difficult work, just painstakingly detailed. If you're willing to go through subnetting then you can handle carbs. (I HATE calculating subnets!)

LOL, Subnettings easy,

IP Multicast troubleshooting, Multi packet Loss over GRE ..... Pain in the ***

[MikeyZ]

Read the Carbs 101 and you can do it absolutely no problem...

Promise

[Red007]

Well guys, **Update**

I started my jet kit install, and carb cleaning. I have just about completed the job, its just what everyone said, real easy to do. I replaced the needles, Main jets, cleaned the carb body, I have the Pilots soaked in carb cleaner overnight, they're really clogged up.

The carb was easy to remove, the float bowls were really rusted and dry, seemed like no fuel went into the bowls at all, the bowl gaskets were in good shape though.

The Factory Pro stage I kit is pretty easy to do.
One gripe I have though is why on earth would they sell a jet kit without the pilot jets, instead the kit included 8 new shiny polished hex screws to "top off" the carb for a nice finishing touch. I can do without the nice looks. Seems like they would include new pilots, make more sense to me IMOO. I know that the pilots are more for Idle and not performance but come on Factory Pro......

Anyway, Tomorrow I am going to adjust the floats, put the carb back together and install everything back in the bike and Fire it up !!.

I took some picks too so I will be posting those soon.

Thanks everyone for your assistance.

[arsenic]

Why would they include pilot jets when it tells you too use the ones you already have? Oh and BTW, I agree with you that the top socket cap bolts are kinda pointless. Float bowl socket caps make life a whole lot easier.

[burrsg101]

For once I agree with you arsenic haha, If it's just a little step up in fuel like to compensate for a full exhaust, the compensation needed at idle can be easily made with the air/fuel screw. No need for bigger pilots, and pilots as far as I know do NOTHING for actual performance and are only used during cruise/idle.

[Red007]

Why would they include pilot jets when it tells you too use the ones you already have?

its easier to just replace all the jets, than to soak them. I guess its the same reason they include "Top off screws" rather than what counts.No one cares(at least not me)
that the carb looks good with those hex screws, The company prob could save money as well, they give you 8 polished hex screws which could be replaced with 4 pilots
or float needles or something... but hey who am I.

that's just me wishing..

[Wild-Bill]

The screws are included because most people don't have JIS screwdrivers. Instead, they use a phillips-head driver and chew up the slots on about half the screws. The cure for this is to replace the stock screws with socket cap screws... Which they include.

I suspect that the guys putting the kit together decided that if you have any business working on carbs then it's possible you don't have the right screwdriver but you should at least know to clean the carbs (including the pilot jets) anytime you've got them apart.

[arsenic]

Float needles are included in REBUILD kits. Rebuild kits and jet kits are not the same thing.

its easier to just replace all the jets, than to soak them. I guess its the same reason they include "Top off screws" rather than what counts.No one cares(at least not me)
that the carb looks good with those hex screws, The company prob could save money as well, they give you 8 polished hex screws which could be replaced with 4 pilots
or float needles or something... but hey who am I.

that's just me wishing..

[DClark]

I found a carb guru on the 'net whose specialty was chrome plating carbs for GS bikes (he also does everything else for them as well). By luck, he lived only 12 miles away from me, he did a total teardown/clean of my carbs for $100.