Good read mate, keep the updates flowing. Out of curiosity, what height are your carb floats ? What year is your bandit ? Looks identical to my 1990 Bandit.
Contrary to what the title of my efforts (maybe some one could help me correct it to read "GSF") reads, My bike is a '93, GSF250P, GJ74A. I did knock down the carbs for cleaning, but did not want to mess with them in any way until I had a good benchmark to start working from. I did not think to record the height of the floats when I had the carbs apart so at this time I'm no help in that direction. I will make a point of reporting their height if I dismantle them in the future. I'm sure it will be of interest to others because my first shake down was a complete surprise to me because the bike ran so good without any major work to it. Thanks for your interest...
The float height is 8.06mm from the top of the main jet to the float going by some of the Japanese blog's https://imp.webike.net/diary/130696/
Thanks, strange way of measuring the float heights. I see he has the needle clip set to the very lowest. All of mine are set to second from the top. Wonder what impact that has. https://imp.webike.net/diary/photo/130696/968663/
Yeah it is different. And yeah the clip on the needle standard position is usually the 3 notch down (middle notch)
My clips were in the "middle" position as I found them when I cleaned the carbs. I've read somewhere the float height should be 14.6 mm measured off the fuel bowel mounting face. Some one else had reported success with floats set at 12 mm. I realize now, I should document these findings so that we can get the backround info in order to get the right combinations of adjustments. P.S. Thanks to the "IT fairy" for correcting my title. I have no idea what most of the things do or mean on a web site.
Speaking of fairies, filtering through all the garbage on the internet to find the truth is somewhat of a quest for the grail. We do a lot of that here and all the good people are with you When it comes to float heights you need to follow the factory guidelines and consider all "mine runs best with needles like this and main jets, float heights etc" as complete nonsense. The only posts I have ever seen in my life on a thorough test to determine correct float height was done by our very own @my67xr, and as I understand, he determined that factory setting was optimal.
Of course it is in Japanese. These are available on the Japanese auction sites and can be purchased via Jauce.com or similar.
If one of you GJ74 Bandit owners could take a photo of your pilot merge chamber bung, I would much appreciate it. It is this thingy.
Okay, if they look virtually identical it won't matter. I just wanted the photo to show the GJ74 owners the pic of where it is on their carbs as opposed to showing pics of Yamaha carbs.
I took the Bandit off the lift yesterday and took it for a ride. I understand why so many full face helmets are worn. It's to hide the grin you get when you roll on the throttle. At first it wanted to hesitate as I climbed through 2nd and 3rd but the more I rode the smoother the acceleration become. I reported a noise I couldn't identify the first time I had it out, and suspect it might have been the chain tension. I've tightened it, but I'm not happy with the results. I believe I need someone my size to sit on it to check the free play. It's been a long time since I've been on a bike this size, and some adjustments need to be made to shift and brake pegs. The mirrors are a real pain to adjust. The mirror housings were frozen in place, and finally let go after working in penetrating oil into the gimbal. The arms need wrenches to loosen and adjust positions, but is necessary because the speed you are going you will only see items in the mirrors. The idle on this bike is bike is so low and smooth I actually thought it stalled at a stop. I've been riding v-twins for the past 30 years, and they do have a characteristic shake to them. The Bandit just gets quieter when I throttle down and pull in the clutch. This bike has seen some abuse, and now that I have it running with a lot of help and encouragement from all here, I believe it will be worth the effort to start work on the esthetics and see what I can do to bring it back to what it was. I don't profess I will be able to restore it to original condition, but it will be an opportunity to challenge my skill sets, and perhaps touch on some new ones. I still have the ignition module to rework, and it will be interesting to see if I can refurbish the original. Thanks all...Bab (the grinning fool)
Good on ya mate , your hard work and Perseverance has paid off There is something about these little 4 cylinder screamers , we will never see the likes of them made again.
Kiffsta's comment is somewhat depressing when you think about it. I'm a late bloomer just discovering these "screamers".While these bikes from the 70,s thru early 90's were being released, I stood watching them from the sidelines. I took a break from bikes while raising my kids and admitting other responsibilities. Now I'm playing catch up, and fear it will be a challenge to experience the various makes now because as I mentioned previously, they have disappeared from this side of the world. It's an oddity to see anything from that era and size advertised for sale. At one time these bikes crowded the roads like a swarm of hornets. Where did they all go? How do they compare with today's 250's? What does it say about the vintage bikes when the manufacturers were mandated to limiting the horsepower they were building into them? My next question: What should my next bike be, and where am I going to find it?