Headlamp fitting & Carb balance 900

[anon]

From: Pooh-© Sent: 01/08/2003

1 - When fitting your super duper new headlight bulb you will find it's a very fiddly job and the Haynes manual talks about removing the fairing for better access. Rubbish, just remove the petrol tank ( 2 minute job ) and your access is far better. Even with my not so little hands I managed to swap the bulbs over in about 5 minutes.

2 - When balancing your carbs with your super duper Carbtune read the bloody instructions ( DOH!! ) took me 2 attempts to get the carbs right. 1st time I did not increase the tickover speed as per instructions and could not get the dam things properly balanced. This time all the vibes have practically gone and the engine happily sings all the way up the rev range right up to Alto.

Regards

Pooh

From: Golly Sent: 05/08/2003

A tip for anyone who does their own carb balancing and also owns a motor mower. A easier option than trying to balance the fuel tank on top of the frame is to remove the tank completely and use the tank from the mower, mine just lifts of and even has the same size fuel pipe spigot as the original tank.
Pete

From: Gadget Sent: 9/10/2003

I have an upside-down fairyliquid bottle full of petrol which hangs on the handle bars. The bottom is removed and an old coat hanger bent over and threaded through the upside-down-bottom so that i can hang it on the handle bars. A inline fuel filter is used and petrol pipe to connect it up. What always takes me ages is to suss out which way to turn the screws to get the desired effect. and compared to my old GT550 its a bit of a pain having to keep jumping up and down to reach the different screws.

From: Anto-Divvy9 Sent: 3/6/2004

Once you get used to balancing the carbs and can find the adjustment screws without spending ages searching for them! you'll find you have enough fuel left in the pipe work to run the engine while you balance them, there's no need for a fuel supply.

This applies to both the 600 and 900.

[teejayexc]

1 - When fitting your super duper new headlight bulb you will find it's a very fiddly job and the Haynes manual talks about removing the fairing for better access. Rubbish, just remove the petrol tank ( 2 minute job ) and your access is far better. Even with my not so little hands I managed to swap the bulbs over in about 5 minutes.

Very handy tip this Pooh. Pity I didn't see it sooner. Didn't take the fairing off, but spent about an hour practising being a contortionist trying to change the bl**dy thing!

Will know next time.

Trev

[CD]

I balanced my carbs with a rubber hose to listen to the pop pop sounds as the cylinders suck. When both are equally loud it's balanced. Reaper checked them with his gauges & they were spot on. :-)

To keep it fuelled I put some anti slip mat over the seat frame tubes and sat the tank on there. No fuel leaks & no access problems.

[eliminator]

I have found the "easiest" way to change the headlamp bulb, is squatting in front of the bike and doing the swap.

[magwych]

I use an old gpz500s coolant expansion tank as a makeshift fuel tank for carb balancing purposes, cheap to buy and easy to use.

[eliminator]

Changed the bulb today, sat in front, took me about 5 minutes.

[CD]

My headlamp bulb has always been easy enough to get at from the top with steering turned.

Fit a bright LED bulb to the side light while in there.