Float adjustment

[Ken in Oklahoma]

I am quick to install new floats when the existing floats are questionable. Sure, you can adjust old floats to whatever level works, but my experience has been that keeping the old floats right, with or without regularly diddling with the float level is hard to accomplish. I believe that heavy floats can and do give you less 'headroom' for adjustment.

If you install new floats, and it doesn't look like you needed them, well, it's not that hard to pull out the new floats and put them back into your spares stock, and stick the old floats back in.

In a similar vein, I always keep a new set of coils in stock. Old coils are another thing that I have 'chased' and seemingly corrected by narrowing the plug gaps, only to have the problem crop up again. Two new Bosch coils are expensive, but to my reckoning are more expensive to the psyche trying to make the old ones work.

I understand how satisfying it can be applying my brain to a problem, thus saving a significant chunk of money. On the other hand, if I'm wrong, then the specter of having a dead airhead way too far away from home to walk it, and with non-existent cell phone coverage, is something that I don't ever want to see myself doing again.

Sermon ended!

Ken, preachy in Oklahoma

[richard t]

I was thankful one time you kept a extra set of wheel bearings on hand. Spare are good!

[Ken in Oklahoma]

I was thankful one time you kept a extra set of wheel bearings on hand. Spare are good!

And as you know, I've even been known to keep a spare airhead or two, or three. And band saw, and radial arm saw, and . . . .

Not that I've ever tried it, but I think a spare sweetie would be a tad problematic.

Ken

[dougie]

Not that I've ever tried it, but I think a spare sweetie would be a tad problematic.
Ken

And you think bikes and tools cost too much money.

[1991 R80RT]

I find that removing the float bowls to measure can result in 'some' petrol coming out of the fuel line when the float drops.

Better to use a clear plastic bowl.

[SteveD]

Welcommen 1991 R80RT.

float bowls-clear..jpg (289.79 KiB) Viewed 1111 times

[barryh]

I find that removing the float bowls to measure can result in 'some' petrol coming out of the fuel line when the float drops.

Better to use a clear plastic bowl.

Agreed, back in 2017 at the start of this thread I was saying that measuring the level in a removed bowl was flawed, not just because of excess fuel flowing out of the fuel line but also because it's dependent on float buoyancy. At best it's an indirect method that relies on using new floats or floats of known weight. A clear float bowl is a direct method that shows the actual operational float level and it's surprisingly high. I came up with another direct method which was to drill and tap the float bowls and fit a level tube. With new floats fitted that gave me a benchmark to refer back to when checking the levels.

20170928_161859A.jpg (235.95 KiB) Viewed 1099 times

[Blapper]

Nice idea Barry. Cheaper than the clear bowls.

[Blapper]

Welcommen 1991 R80RT.

float bowls-clear..jpg

Thanks Steve. Did the other forum close down?

Andy.

[SteveD]

Welcommen 1991 R80RT.

float bowls-clear..jpg

Thanks Steve. Did the other forum close down?

Andy.

Yep, that's been the talk for a while and it finally happened.