After I got a crankcase full of fuel I decided to take my carbs off and go through them. I set the float level and then bench tested the fuel level with the tubing method. From what I read on here the GS is picky about having the float level spot on.
When you have the carbs off and they are sitting upright the bowl to body mating surface is not horizontal, it goes at an angle. My fuel level shows even with the high end of that surface.
My question is: Is this correct or do I need to have it level with the lowest surface?
Quote from: pkhoff on August 03, 2008, 07:42:08 AM
After I got a crankcase full of fuel I decided to take my carbs off and go through them. I set the float level and then bench tested the fuel level with the tubing method. From what I read on here the GS is picky about having the float level spot on.
When you have the carbs off and they are sitting upright the bowl to body mating surface is not horizontal, it goes at an angle. My fuel level shows even with the high end of that surface.
My question is: Is this correct or do I need to have it level with the lowest surface?
The float height measuement is taken perpendicular to the mating surface.
http://cgi.stanford.edu/~sanjayd/gs500/Maintenance/FloatHeight
Similarly, the same mating surface should be more-or-less level when the carbs are installed on the bike.
If I understood correctly, you are taking the float measurement, with the carbs off the bike? This is a good idea! You will need to hold the carbs so that the mating surface is horizontal :thumb:
BeRto,
Thanks for the response. When I first checked the fuel level using the clear tube, http://gstwin.com/float_height_check.htm, it was wayyy high. Then I did the float measurement per the link you posted and adjusted accordingly. Then I put the bowls back on, and with the carbs still off the bike, I checked the fuel level again. This was when I realized the bowl/body mating surface was not parallel to the ground. I have not put the bike back together yet as I am waiting on jets, but I did slip the carbs back into the intake boots. When I did this I noticed (as you said) that the bowl/body mating surface is much closer to horizontal.
I figured that since the float height measurement, taken with the bowls off, is just the mechanism for adjusting the actual operating fuel level in the bowl, I could get the float measurement as close as I could, then tweak it in small increments until the fuel level was perfect.
I've been looking at the fuel level with the carbs sitting on the bench in a vertical position, sounds like I need to tilt them until the float/body mating surface is horizontal and see what the fuel level is in that position.
The words in bold are to draw attention to the difference between float height measurement and fuel level in the bowl.