I found your channel by accident. I have watched dozens of videos on carbs regarding rebuilds etc. and yours are by far the best at explaining and showing what's going on. I understand so much more after watching a few of your vids and I know I can sync my carbs myself now. Thanks so much for the time and effort you've put in to teach!
Thanks and glad the videos help some with how these old carbs work 👍. A lot of folks get frustrated with these dual carbs and give up on them, but once they are setup and tuned, they really make the bike come alive IMO and don’t cause any troubles at all. All the best ! Steve
Another excellent video Steve . You Know that many Shops won't put the care into sorting these old bikes properly and your videos help many realise that they Can do it themselves. You explain everything so well and show every step-needed . Sometimes when I haven't worked-on something for a long-while , your channel inspires-me to get-stuck-in . Easy to see that you love this work and solving the problems that arise . Dave NZ
Thanks man ! Yep, I do enjoy seeing if I can get these old bikes back into tip-top running condition…I never see the old ‘80’s bikes on the road here in my area anymore as most folks seem to have given up on them (especially the bigger carb’s bikes since fuel injection is so much less complicated). I almost have as much fun building them and then getting them running right as I do riding them, lol. The best part is when they are all sync’d up and dialed in, they start up almost instantly…such a nice feeling to not hear the bike struggle to come to life. Thanks again and all the best ! Steve
Paul Woods , thanks man ! It was a really fun build for sure and those pipes are crazy loud, lol. I didn’t realize they resonated the video camera until I was editing the video and saw the waves in it (but can definitely feel it in the garage). This motor was one I rebuilt prior to the motor I recently did in the videos for my soon to be Cafe style bike...has about 28k miles on it, but still runs like a champ and pulls hard. Helps to have separate air filters on the carbs, bigger jets, and the unrestricted exhaust I would say...much harder to tune, but once you get it they really sound good and purr like a kitten.
Hi Steve & followers from here in Sydney... Funny I went to copy this procedure but found that the sync screw between my carbs faces the FRONT, not the rear. Never seen that in any of the videos, forums or Haynes manual. My bike is a Japanese domestic market model. The good implication is that to do my carb sync I don't have to raise the tank or remove carb intake boot/snorkel...the screw is visible & accessible from the front right. The bad news is it's partially obscured by the bracketry of the carb connecting linkage. But I'm hopeful that using the bendy screwdriver you recommended but with a longer driver bit I'll be able to dodge the bracketry to reach the screw. Hopefully I wont need your nifty idea of the stub of hose/tube on the screw head to locate the driver bit, because the bracketry would prevent it. I'll let y'all know how I go if anyone's interested (no-one would be unless they have this screw facing forwards). But I'd be interested to hear if anyone else's carbs have the screw this way, or has some previous owner of my bike somehow flipped the linkage around, either by accident or to access this sync screw easier. The bike looks otherwise unmolested & has run fine since I got it a couple years ago. Whether this front-facing sync screw is a good thing I'll find out tomorrow after I get the longer driver bit I need & give it a try.
That’s interesting that the adjustment screw is facing the front 👍. Maybe someone did put the linkage back in opposite or it was a revision Yamaha did for some. Is your throttle cable connected to the right side or left side of the bike at the carbs? I was just thinking that the carbs might have been turned around for some reason and the throttle cable crosses over to the left or something. Very interesting though as I’ve never seen one setup differently with the screw towards the back...maybe others have seen some this way 👍. All the best ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs the carbs and cables are positioned in the conventional way. So it's interesting. I took some photos but dark & blurry so not very informative
Thanks man ! Yep, the bendy screwdriver makes it a ton easier to get in there to adjust them. Just enough space so the tank just has to be raised, but not removed, so you don’t have to do hook up a temporary fuel supply. All the best ! Steve
Thank you very much for these carb videos! I have an 82 xv750j that I bought with trashed exhaust and an intake leak.. i opened the factory airbox up to expose the filter and will be replacing the pipes with some open 1.75 ID. What did you do for the jetting with the open filter and pipes?
Thanks man 👍. Yep, those are fairly loud, but not annoyingly loud (based on feedback from my neighbors, lol). Apparently they resonate really well as they were making waves in the video recording when I revved it up 🤣🤣. All the best ! Steve
Hi Steve, your bench test helped my bike run significantly smoother. I was very excited to have this video pop up on my feed and I’m looking forward to trying it. One question, are the oil filled tubes of the manometer simply connected at the bottom forming a “u” or do they go into a reservoir of sorts?
Hey man ! Glad the video helped 👍. Yep, the manometer tube is just a loop at the bottom. It is basically one long tube that loops down and then each end connects to a carb. I made it up along time ago and just leave it hanging in the shop, but if you make a new one, it’s probably best to put the oil in and then let it hang for a day or so to be sure the oil that’s in the part of the tube that connects to the carb is empty of oil. That way it doesn’t pull any residual oil down in the carbs. All the best ! Steve
Good thinking, I’ll be picking up the parts sooner than later. Hey while I have you here, I wanted to ask how tight the bandix clip should be on the starter assembly. I could easily make it out of the copper crimp but in your videos it looks like it is loose enough to slide, is that true? Do you crimp it at all after putting it on? I know it’s not on topic for this video but I’ve been binge watching your tutorials all night. Your channel is exactly what I’ve needed. Starting problems are my next think to tackle on the bike.
@@asherodhner9427 , yep, the clip clamp does fit loosely while the wire clip is not on the gear, but once it’s put back in the groove it’s really tight. It has to be forced over the hoop end of the wire clip (I use a small taper in the vise to force it on if you haven’t found that video) . There’s also a video of how to make one on the channel...seems like the ID is like 0.3”, then when squeezed into the clamp shape, it’s almost exactly the right size. No need for crimping...I think it would be too tight that was done. One of the guys that put one on described it as the clamp makes the wire clip hold onto the gear like it’s depends on it once installed, lol.
Thanks 👍. Yes, if the jets are stopped up, the carb will have an Air to Fuel imbalance so the motor will be running lean (if it’s the fuel jets). The sync’ing of the two carbs allows each to provide the same quantity of the properly mixed air and fuel to each cylinder so they provide power equally. If the sync is off, one cylinder will not be getting as much air and fuel so it will basically want to be running at a lower rpm…thus the other cylinder has to waste some of the power it produces to make the cylinder wanting to run slower keep up. Thanks again and all the best ! Steve
I have a 1982 Virago Xv750 that has the front cylinder running lean and the rear cylinder running rich. Is this caused from the carburetors being out of sync? Or should I adjust the mixture screws on the bottom of the carbs?
Hey man, both the carb sync as well as the mix adjustment can impact whether one cylinder runs leaner than the other, but which one has the most impact depends on when it’s running lean. If you are getting a lean condition (popping back into the carbs) at idle, then both the sync and the mix adjustment are critical to balance the cylinders since the butterflies are closed and the sync is setting the gap of the butterfly. If it’s lean when running at higher rpms, the mix needle plays a bigger role than the sync since the butterflies are opened and the sensitivity to the sync is much less. Synching them does affect the cylinder balance with the rpms up….just not as much as the mix adjustment. Hope this helps a bit and all the best ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs This is the best information I've had on these bikes so far. Thanks a ton! I've spent too many hours taking the carbs apart on this bike trying to figure it out. It sat for 15 years according to the previous owner and I got it running but poorly. I've been tinkering on these carbs for far too long, thanks for the info! I'll be putting it to use for sure!
I really like your airfilters! Are using the original rubber breatherchannels and just rotated them a bit to ad the round filters? And which filters are that? Would care to share a link?
Hey man, thanks ! I did try to use the original rubber elbows, but they were so soft that they wouldn’t hold the filters very well. For the elbow tubes, I bought some fiber reinforced silicon intake elbows (like for a car’s cold air intake) that are 50mm ID on one end and 60mm ID on the other so they would have some strength. Had to shorten the ends of the elbows a bit to get them to position correctly was all. For the filter and housing, they are from a VW Karmann Ghia, lol...the part number is AC129741...not very expensive at all and the chrome has held up nicely. The hole on the back of the air filter pod is also offset from the center so they can be rotated to get them to fit higher or lower to the gas tank as it’s a bit different on either side of the bike. All the best ! Steve
Hey steve, carbs are cleaned put back and bike only starts with half way open throttle and won’t idle once let go it quits. What adjustment does it need?
Hey, sounds like the air/fuel mix needle needs to be turned out a bit more as it doesn’t sound like it’s getting enough fuel for the idle circuit. Either that, or there’s an air leak on the carb boots or vacuum lines letting in too much air to balance the fuel in the more sensitive idle circuit
@@StevesDIYs Just got back from the garage after completing my first bench synch, couldn't have done it without you. How many turns from soft seat are your pilot jets?Do you have any tips for adjusting them? I'm completely new to mechanic type work so getting my craigslist XV750 up and running.
William Hart , thanks man...glad to hear the video helped some 👍. For a stock bike (using the stock air filter and reasonably quiet mufflers I’m usually 1.5 to 2 turns out from a soft seat to begin. If it has more open air filters or open exhaust I start around 3 turns out (assuming the jets are still stock in the carb). Once I get both cylinders hitting decent by adjusting in it out on the pilot screws, I’ll pull one plug out of the motor, leave the plug connected to the wire and set it on the motor so it will still spark (so it won’t hurt the coils) then fire it up on one cylinder and fine tune the pilot needle till it idles the best. Then do the same for the other cylinder. Put both plugs back in and I then turn each needle out an 1/8 turn and fire it up and see if it will throttle up good. If it hesitates as it hits a certain rpm, I’ll then open each needle up by about 1/8 turn to see if it gets better. Most times it dials in the first time really close. If it hasn’t been run for a while it will take a few rides and readjusting of the pilot needle as the carbon and crud get cleaned out if the cylinders it seems. Let me know once you get her going 👍.
Hey ! There’s another video out on the channel that shows how to do the bench sync and the sync screw adjustment. At the 3:20 minute mark, it shows me adjusting the screw between the carbs to sync them: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Be8yV7n-xxg.htmlsi=JRUQYSHbbGUTAe2q . Hope this helps a bit and all the best ! Steve
Hey man ! Nothing I’ve found makes it easy to get to them if you have big hands, but I actually use the smaller tip that comes in the cheap blue handled Harbor Freight screwdriver (at one time it was free with a coupon if you remember seeing it, lol) that you can remove and switch the ends. It has the smaller sized flat and Phillips together on one tip so it’s long enough to get a grip on, it’s still short enough to get to the screw.
Great video once again Steve.. I’m just wondering why you’re not measuring in between Manifolds. Thinking the vacuum is there to pull the oil one side or the other. Don’t understand how it works like this..
Thanks man 👍. This type works like a closed loop manometer with equal length tubing on both sides. It doesn’t tell the actual vacuum like a gage (even if you were to put marks on the two tubes) but when the levels of the oil on each side of the tube loop are the same height, it indicates that the two carbs are pulling exactly the same vacuum. It is a very inexpensive (but extremely accurate) way of seeing if two things are pulling the same amount of vacuum. If it’s off just a little, the oil in one side will quickly pull up the tube and will pull all the way into the carb. Accurate gages are the standard since more than two carbs can be synched, but gages are also hard to read sometimes since the needle bounces as the cylinders fire. In a more mechanical way of thinking, a tube balancer is like two people playing tug of war with a rope. As long as they are equally strong, the flag stays in the center…no one knows how strong each person is, just that they are equally strong. A vacuum gage system is like two people each pulling on a rope attached to a wall with a force gage mounted on the wall. To determine which person is stronger, you have to read the force gage and see who can pull the strongest. Thanks again…maybe my analogy was not to silly in explaining, lol. All the best ! Steve
hey! my Virago 535 1993 is kinda choking while i drive.. when i hit more than 50% throttle it just wont accelerate and just stutters a while before it suddenly accelerates abit while stuttering... can this be the result of a bad sync?
Hey ! Yep, bogging down at a certain point of the throttle could be the sync of the carbs, but it could also be several other things making it do it too. Most relate to the motor either leaning out or getting too rich beyond a certain rpm which could be something as simple as the carbs are dirty or the air filter is dirty all the way to pin holes in the CV diaphragms or leaking carb boots. Synch’ing the carbs is pretty easy and doesn’t require them to be taken apart so it might be a good place to start...if that doesn’t help then they might have to come off to be cleaned and inspected for any issues that might cause leaks. Oh, another thing...the height of the fuel in the bowls is really important as well and can cause the rpms to top out if the fuel level is too low from the floats being set too low. As the motor starts to pull more fuel with the higher rpms, if the level is too low it will start sucking air into the emulsion tubes and stumble. Hope this helps and all the best ! Steve
Hey man ! No, unfortunately that all much more air in than the stock setup so the carb has to be re-jetted. It’s not had to do and companies like Jets R Us sell the different jet sizes, but it does take some time taking the carbs off and putting them back on to test for the best size.
Hey you think I could get in contact with you to send you a video of how mine sounds?, it’s my first Bike and I have no prior experience before I try anything I would like to see how it is first.
Hey man ! No problem...if you use Facebook you can go over to my Stevesdiys Facebook page and private message me from there or you can send me an email at stevesdiys@gmail.com. Here’s the link to the Facebook page: facebook.com/stevesdiys/
Hey man ! I would definitely sync the carbs with at least a warmed up motor (and no choke if you use it). Having it really hot would not be needed I wouldn’t think. I use a fan to blow on the bike to keep it cooler so it doesn’t get too hot while I’m revving it up to check the center adjustment as well. Hope this helps and all the best ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs I got my 97 virago running after not running for 25 years, it only has 600 miles on it! Runs great for about 10 miles, then seems to die out like it's not getting fuel? Any leads? carbs were cleaned and fuel lines replaced
@@Thumperwrestler it does sound like fuel getting restricted or maybe one of the components that drives the spark (coil, TCI, etc…) is going out and stops making spark once it gets hot. When I first got my ‘89 1100 at the beginning of the year and finally got it running after it sitting for 10 years or so, I noticed that with the low fuel light lit up (I didn’t put much gas in it initially), it didn’t run right unless I flipped the switch to reserve, but once I filled the tank it ran like normal with the switch in either position. Still haven’t looked into what exactly that switch does, but it might make the pump not pump as fast or something so it wasn’t filling the bowls as fast as the gas was being used. The other thing I found was an inline fuel filter tucked up behind the reserve tank that was all stopped up. Hopefully this helps some 👍. All the best ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs I'm just going to replace the coils...I see them on Amazon for $30. Do you know which ones specifically work b/c another user @Kensworld said there's a lot of junk out there. Also, if you're ever near Philly, let's grab a beer. ✌
@@Thumperwrestler sounds good 👍. I’ve actually never had to use aftermarket ones for my bikes yet…I’ve collected up a few spares from parts bikes over the years that were still good so I’m still running OE ones. I’ve read that some folks have switched to a Harley type dual coil I believe, but haven’t really heard how they did. Cheers 🍻 and all the best !
Hey man ! Sorry about that…I was trying to show the adjustments as well as what the tube manometer was doing on the oil raising or lowering. The Bench Sync video on the channel goes through what’s being adjusted on the carbs close up (a bench sync should be done prior to the final sync on the bike IMO), so if you view that one you’ll be able to see what is being adjusted to balance the two carbs. Then it’s just doing the same adjustments using the oil filled tubes to fine tune the butterfly opening sync. Hopefully the other video will provide better detail 👍. All the best ! Steve
Hey ! Yep, it probably is running a bit high in this and a few other videos. I don’t have an rpm gage on the bobber so I usually error to the high side as idling them too low really reduces the oil pressure I’ve found (once I installed the pressure gages on them).
@@bigfel3240 not sure if all of the Japanese bikes are similar, but the Viragos have really small oil pumps in them so at low idle (like the loping idle of a Harley for example) they would have almost no oil flowing up to the heads. Most of the oil goes to the lower end on these as Yamaha put restricters in the external oil flows that go up to the heads. I’ve seen some folk’s bikes in videos with a very low idle (since they sound kind of nice that way), but it’s really hard on the motor on these judging by the oil pressure.
Donde puedo con seguir los carburadores para la moto sicleta yamaha birago 1100 modelo 1995 por que loa mios yano tienen repara cion saludos des mexico
Hola , hay un foro de Facebook llamado "virago nation - all things yamaha virago". Hay miembros que son de muchos países diferentes, por lo que puede haber alguien vendiendo algunos o saber dónde encontrarlos. adjunto está el enlace ... facebook.com/groups/ViragoNation/?ref=share Saludos ! Steve
Man i ve got some serious issues noone in australia can work out with my build and i need help! Its been a money pit. I need a new stator and pick ups for my 83 virago but yamaha parts only date back to 1985 so what can i use?
Hey man ! If your’s is an ‘83 xv750, I looked up the stator and the same part number (4X7-81410-20-00) is used on the ‘81-‘83 xv750 as well as the ‘84 and ‘85 xv700 and xv1000 from what into I could find. I saw a couple out on eBay used, but a new one might be really hard to find now. It looks like the pickup (20X-81670-20-00) may be specific to the ‘81-‘83 xv750 and xv920 though, but I also looked and there are a few out for sale used. I’ve actually never had a pickup go bad on any I’ve worked on. Seems there are several folks in Australia that have these bikes (I’ve sold the starter clip clamps and also some oil filter covers I made so some guys there). Have you tried getting on the Facebook forum called “Virago Motorcycles and Parts for sake/swap” forum? You can post that you are looking for something and folks with parts bikes might have some available. Hope this helps and all the best ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs thanks for the part numbers mate i am going into yamaha today to see if they can pull up any parts for the xv920 with those numbers and maybe it will work. Unfortunately i dont have Facebook so it makes things really hard to source parts. Ill let you know how i go! I ve def already destroyed one oil cover so can you make them? I also just blew apart the stator cover nut last njght that covers the centre nut for the engine purely out of carelessness being to focus on other problems
@@adamc457 , no problem...glad to help 👍. For reference, a replacement part number for the little cover that seals up the side cover for the crank is 1L9-11186-00 I believe (Yamaha should be able to pull up a picture of it I would think). It’s still available (and pretty cheap too) as it was used on other bikes as well for head covers or something. Yep, I got tired of trying to find a decent unbroken oil cover when I was looking for one for my bobber project so I machined up some out of billet aluminum vs. the brittle OE cast aluminum ones. That way I’ll never break one again, lol. The 1st Gen oil covers with the crescent shape in the cover face are getting really hard to find so I’ve made a few for folks needing them 👍. Hopefully Yamaha will be able to source the parts so you can get her going 👍. All the best and let me know how it goes ! Steve
@@StevesDIYs that helps a lot i didnt even think about finding the reference numbers for that part at first ill give it a shot and see how it goes! Just got back from the dealer and they told me i cant get a hold of the stator or pick ups but gave me a number for a place here that rewinds and reconditions them so ill pull mine out and take it there. Ended up having to fork out 350$ for a Arrowhead starter motor because mine has had it! Not even the mod that you made a video for fixed my starting issue so once i get that fixed i can work on bench syncing my carbs then finishing off the sync on the bike.
Hey man ! I’m actually not sure as they were from the parts bikes boxes I had collected up over the past years. I do know that they are for 1” handle bars and not the ones on the Virago because I had to make some tubes to slip onto the bars so the inside diameter was right. I’d say they make the same design for the smaller Virago handle bar tubes though if you can find a picture on the web of them. Sorry I couldn’t be much help, Steve
@@johnyoho4567 , I got curious and looked them up, lol. Looks like they are Kuryakyn brand ISO-Grips, with a Stiletto end cap. You are right that it doesn’t look like they offer any in the smaller handle bar diameter though. I took two pieces of thin walled conduit and drove them onto the stock bars then flared the end of the bar a bit to insure they couldn’t come off to get them to 1” diameter. If I remember right, I also had to take a Dremel and open up the stock switch assembly so the throttle grip would rotate in the switch assembly and not drag 👍.