vaccum leak

[dconnors]

i have a 05 750. is there an easy way to find a vaccum leak. im use to cars and smoke testing vaccum hoses. im gonna be putting the bike away and working on it over the winter . can i just spray carb cleaner or brake clean around the carbs to see if they are leaking or is that bad for bikes? is there any tricks to do with carbs to squeeze out a couple extra hp while im in there. thanks guys...

[arsenic]

Don't use carb cleaner to spray around the carbs. Use something more combustable like starting fluid. Than if you hit a leak, the RPMs will actually rise. Carbs have absolutly nothing to do with horse power. There isn't a damn thing you can do to your carbs to get more HP. You can smooth out the RPM range with a jet kit. I recommend Factory Pro. While you're at it, a 5 degree ignition advacer is a good thing too. Factory Pro also sells one of those.

[Wild-Bill]

Apparently spraying stuff all over the place works and so does waving an unlit propane torch around in there. I've never had a bit of luck with either; not on my bikes and not on my truck. Instead, I've always had to rely on taking things apart and giving everything a thorough look. If it's loose, missing, dried out, distorted or cracked then it's probably a source of leakage and I replace it. Biggest culprits I've found on the Katanas are the boots going from the airbox to the carbs. They're supposed to be sealed with RTV to the airbox and that dries out eventually. If those boots can be moved (after disconnecting them from the carbs) then there's a leak. The other ones I've found have been missing airbox drain hose plugs, missing sync port caps, cracked/loose petcock vacuum lines and distorted o-rings between the intake boots and the head.