Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Performance Mods Synchronizing carbs and home made elcheapo tool

Just an update to anyone that is as cheap as I am on using a homemade balancing vaccum tool. I followed the instructions to make a tube and liquid tool from the BMW forum site. I used:
1) a 3' scrap white piece of 1" trim board - $free
2) a 1/4 " x 20' roll of tubing from Lowes - $1.49
3) clutch fluid that had been on my shelf for years- $free
4) spare zip ties. I have bags of them laying around- $free

I drilled the trim board about every 10" in about the center. Eyeball it or measure it. It's not that important. I ran two ties through each hole so that when the tube was run around the outside edges of the board, there would be one tie on each tube- not one tie going around the board and both tubes. Strap the tube to the outside of the board. Stick one end of the tube in the fluid and suck on the other end. Draw about 2.5' of fluid into the tube. remove the tube fromthe fluid container and hold it above the board so the fluid runs to the "U" at the bottom of the tubing. I hung the "tool" up while doing this and let it hang there over night.

The clutch fluid worked very well. It was fluid enough to move freely without being too thin and getting sucked around too fast. It was also easy to see against the white board. I should mention the ambient temp was about 65 deg f (sometimes winter in Texas aint so bad ).

Follow Pats instructions and it works very well. my carbs were a 1/4 turn out of sync. Bike is smoother than it has ever been.

pic [image]http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=6161[/image]

Interesting, I made one of these today, and as soon as the warmed up enging fired, the tube was all bubbly and the stuff got sucked right into the ports....smoke bellowed out of my garage. The tubes were firmly seated into both ports.
I am going to buy a Twinmax....
Oy!

There needs to be some restrictions I think.

My bike (and every other SM/BA) tends to backfire a bit when cranking the engine. Sometimes it pops off the caps.
I have read 3 different postings on how to make a mano. Nobody ever mentioned restrictors. ...I'm still going to get the Twinmax. It is the least expensive of the major tuners available, and virtually all BMW dealers stock it.
Speaking of.... (Off topic question) In my town the only decent New Vehicle dealership is the BMW one. Is this common in other cities? Too bad they dropped the Triumph franchise some 8 or so years ago.

Here's the original thread on my experience:

'n synch

I made mine with about 20-25 feet of tubing. I have never had a problem and it works great! Scott

I also think the length of the tube is the key. Never had a problem here.

Use aquarium air valves to attenuate the vacuum. Close them all the way and then open them slowly until you get the just enough suction to read the level.

20' of tubing and works fine

Sorry to hear you had a hard time with it. Sounds like yours may be way out of whack. A little bit on the screw makes a big difference.

I made one with 15 ft of tubing a board and used trannie fluid. Just finished syncing the carbs last week and did'nt suck any in on mine either.

Pete

aquarium air valves!!!! Now, thats thinking out of the box!!
Ok, I will try again...

To slow down the draw, some hardware stores sell these plastic "Universal Tubing Connectors"
You might be able to snap off the 2 sections that fits best to shore up the ID a little bit.



Link to a printable page in case the hardware store guy says
"A what?"
http://www.scottsupply.com/Catalog/vacuum%20connector_page.htm

I made mine back in 2003 when I bought my triumph and have had no problems with it. I believe I also have about 25' of tubing. I even use it for my 4 carb bike. If the carbs are really unbalanced, the length of the tubing gives you a chance to kill the motor, or adjust the cards before the motor swallows it. I've been using auto trans fluid in mine. As for the bubbles in the line, just let the tubes set for a few minutes, and they are gone. I've compared my homemade manometer to the store bought kind, and have found it to be as accurate, although not as handy. If you have the bucks to burn, buy the commercial brand.