Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Yet another jet question

Ok I got my 1st motorcycle last fathers day. 2005 America I have removed the secondary air intake, added new pipes (no baffles), and put in a K&N filter.I am not a mechanic but this was all easy to do.My question is should I do the rejeting or have a mechanic do the work?(money is a problem) I think I could do it myself but I don't want to screw in up and have to pay more to get it running again. Is this a easy job also?

By the way I found a guy on craigslist says he can do it for $200 + parts (but do I want him to work on it)

Bart,
Read Dinqua's carb 101/rejetting guide. It's right here

I just went through rejetting my 07 TBA. It's really a fairly straightforward job, but plan on allotting extra time to get the carbs out & back in. I spent more time taking things apart and putting it all back than the actual rejetting (that was darn easy.). I figured it would take me an afternoon, I ended up spending all weekend on it (plus a few other changes to my bike). You will need an extra long (~6") allen head wrench to access the screws holding the air filter housing from the rear wheel well. And make sure the bike is up on a list, securely tied down.

Dinqua's carb 101 is good, but I found some discrepancies. For instance, I had to remove the chain guard to access the allen head screw. He also said it was 8 mm, mine were 6 mm.
Disconnecting the TPS was a pain, best have someone help you with that and use a small flat tip screwdriver to unclip it.

Be very careful with the bowl screws. 7 of them came off no problem for me. The last one, the phillips head slot gave out and we had to work to get that screw off. Have new SS allen head screws ready to replace them, do not re-use the old bowl screws.

You will want M4x0.7x8mm for the carb tops, M4x0.7x16mm for the bottom ones that hold the idle adjuster and M4x0.7x14mm for the others.

I still ended up with a leaky left bowl and had to call my friendly dealer to bring the bike in the shop and fix it. They said it was dirt in the float preventing the float from working properly. I dunno, I checked the float twice and she seemed leak tight.

Do not play Neanderthal man and torque the bowl screws. Tighten them snug, don't overdo it or you can end up having to buy a new carb.

If you're really apprehensive, best to call the dealer and ask them how much to do it the first time.

Good luck!

Wow sounds a little intimidating
But I think I'll do it myself and save the money
I'm thinking about freaking it out 1st that way I can jet it only 1 time.
Thank you Conwy for the info.
PS. It is not listed in the tools but I can see by the pics that having beer on hand will make the process go better.

Once the air box is gone removing the carbs and putting them back on is much easier. Jetting is a simple matter but may have to do it a couple times to get it dialed in right. I can do it in a couple hrs start to finish.

For what it's worth, I'd rejet before going Freak. Especially if you feel you are not a mechanic. Doing the Freak conversion, in my opinion, is a major mod that if you question your mechanical skills, you best wait a bit. Save some money just in case you have trouble and need help. With the Freak, if I recall, you will have to come up with a way to brace your carbs, relocate/reposition the battery, etc.
Enjoy her this summer with just rejetting, than consider the Freak next winter.
Again, just my 2 cents.

Well if he uses the actual Freak kit it has a built in carb brace so that isn't a worry. I am an experienced mechanic and it seems a simple job to me. I don't know what an inexperienced person who is a not a mechanic would think of it. To me it seems a job that as long as you pay attention and take your time anyone could do. If you have concerns about reassembly keep a camera handy and take pictures during disassembly so you can reference them during reassembly if needed.

Steve, I'd have to agree with Ian on his comments. I'm no mechanic but with the instructions the freak install was pretty straight forward. Like most stuff I do on my bike though, as long as I take my time and I've done my research properly with info from here and the workshop manuals, it usually works out fine. I also know if I get into any difficulties, I have veteran mechanics and homies on here who I can ask and they've never failed me once. One of the main reasons I love this place and the good blokes on it. Just thought I'd mention my point of view just so anyone thinking of buying the freak wouldn't be put off either.

As far as jetting yourself, it's also straight forward stuff with the only doubts being what sizes are most appropriate to your set up. Perhaps besides Pat's calclator, you could have a quick squiz at the dyno table and try and match up your setup to others. Generally it takes most blokes a few goes at getting your setup working well enough to be satisfied with but the beauty is, by the end you've taken your carbs apart several times and the practice gives you confidence for harder stuff down the track ie, doing your own shims.

Personally, I don't trust stealers much anymore but even if I did, I know when I've done it myself it gives me a lot of satisfaction as well as teaching me heaps in the process. That's even without mentioning how much you'll save in the process. So don't be daunted doing your own sevicing and improvements Bart, all the help is here if you need it.

Staffo

I'm not trying to put him off, but if he's worried about his mechanical skills then I think he should do it in steps (rejet, ride thia summer, then Freak in winter). As I said in my post, it was just my two Yankee cents.
Never having done the Freak, I don't know what comes with the kit. It sounds like he doesn't have Ian's experience or his shop setup.

Actually, your suggestion to do things in stages makes good sense Steve, particularly as a fair few over your way have plenty of downtime come winter. I tend to forget the hibernation period too cos I don't have one really, and if I did only have a 6 or whatever months to ride a year, I certainly wouldn't want my bike off the road for to long either.

No, good point Steve. Can't argue with you on that one mate.

Tinman, You can also rejet without removing the carbs. Its a PITA, but with a small phillips head driver and some patience, you can pull the float bowls and change out the primary and main jets. Needles can be changed by removing the gas tank (relatively easy) and undoing the top of the carbs. Best bet would be to find someone local who has done it and they can show you. It's not as hard as you might think.

If he's concerned about his mechanical skills/abilities, I would seriously recommend not dropping the bowls to rejet. He could have trouble with one of the bowl screws and could mess up the jets in trying to remove them. And if a jet drops out before it's threaded in position, ay-yay-yay!!

If you go this route, definitely get someone, who's done it before, to help you out.

Thanks for all the information everyone here is very helpful. One more question (hope it's not dumb) Do I try to get rid of the poping before I rejet or wait til after (it is starting to drive me nuts).

Bart,
My popping has really gone away after I re-jetted (went from 120 to 130 mains). I think it has something to do with the engine running too lean that causes it to happen, perhaps Ian can verify this?
Never a dumb question, I ask a lot of crazy stuff (some very obvious) too. Good luck!

The Air Injection also causes the popping on decel. Removing it will help. Also a lot of fellows have reduced the amount of popping by simply disconnecting the TPS plug situated between the carbs. It is a triangular plug that is a pain to disconnect. You will need a small screwdriver to bend the tab to disconnect. Doesn't hurt to remove it and test.

I took the AI off 2 months ago didnt change the poping. Now what is a TPS?

Throttle Position Sensor It dosent need to be hooked up?

I wasn't suggesting he bite off more than he can chew just that the Freak was not out of reach in my opinion as long as he pays attention to what he is doing. If I was going to do it I would do the Freak and jet at the same time since the Freak, or any air box elimination, makes carb work so much easier.

Well I've looked at the TPS plug. It sure is in a hard to get to place with the airbox in the way. Think I'll just cut the wires. (J/K) Everything that I have read says unpluging it it good has anyone unpluged it and had to plug it back in?