I admit that I am no carburetor tuning expert. Yet I have this fancy new Keihin FCR which is notorious for being difficult to really dial in. It came set up from FSW pretty close - but it's not quite dialed in. Where the CVK carb had only the main jet, pilot jet, fuel screw, and needle clip, the FCR has the fast jet, slow jet, pilot jet, main jet, idle screw, and needle clip. And accelerator pump. I may be missing some.

So I called up the shop that I mentioned before that will do a Dyno run for $35 and asked if they did carb tuning. They said yep and asked what kind. I made sure to tell them it was a dirt bike - just to make sure they didn't think I was bringing in a cruiser or something as they seem to be chopper / cruiser oriented. They said no problem and when I asked how much, they said they'd charge between $90 and $100 and would include an Dyno report.

They look like a decent shop and from the reviews I've read seem to know their stuff.

Here's the shop:

http://www.ironthunder.com/performance.html

Any opinions? Does it sound like I'm getting ready for a bad experience or is this money well spent? I'm just thinking that I could spend a lot of time tuning and maybe never get it set up just right, so I'm willing to pay an expert. But neither do I want to just throw money away. I'd planned to do a $35 dyno run from them anyway ... I guess the big question is can a cruiser / chopper shop dial-in a dirt / trail bike - there shouldn't be that much difference should there? They did seem familiar with my carb when I spoke with them over the phone and didn't have any reservations when I told them it was a dirt bike.

 

Brian,

I remember watching the owner of Wheeler's Bike Shop near Deal's Gap work on a TL1000 one day. He had it strapped to the dyno, made several runs and tweaks on the dyno. Net result - several horsepower and extra found torque. The owner took it for a run through the "Gap" and returned with a big smile on his face and paid the man the fee with no problem.

A good shop, regardless of the motor, has the ability to read the exhaust with a sniffer. They run it through the rpm range and record the sniffer readings. They know if it's lean, rich or right. Then they make adjustments.

When I did my ZRX, I was working for the Harley dealership. I had access to the dyno and we made several passes each night. Once all was good, the final run showed 136.5 horses at the rear tire and 88.4 foot pounds of torque. The bike ran like an electric motor through the rpm range - pulled hard all through the range.

I just don't have the $$$$ to buy one at this time, otherwise I would own one and do carbs for a living!


I vote to spend the money and "Git-R-Done" the right way!

 

+1

I don't see how you can go wrong with getting that thing dialed in by a pro with the right tools to do the job. You've been wanting to dyno the bike anyway, so really it'd only going to cost you about $55 to $65 for the carb tuning. That's getting pretty close to the "no brainer" stage in my book. You've spent a lot getting your bike to where it is, I say finish it off with a professional touch.

Go for it.

 

I would check that they are going to tune it on the dyno with the sniffer, and not just do the old seat of the pants test then put it on the dyno and give you a horsepower read out. The sniffer is the only way to truley do it, it would be money well spent in my book.

 

I just called them up again and verified some of the questions you guys said to look for and they said they have the top of the line dyno and all the sniffers and everything and that's how they do it. So I'm going to try and get it in ASAP. They said just drop it off and they'll work it in. Again he said doing the dirt bike / trail bike is no problem and said they do all kinds of bikes including lots of sport bikes too. I think I agree that this will be money well spent.

Thanks for the advice - sounded like a pretty good deal to me, but again I'm no expert and didn't want to spend the money if if didn't look like it was a good idea.

 

I would do it for sure. When you drop off the bike, it would be a good idea to go over the taffy mod with them. Although I'm sure you already thought of that. Seems to me that its a fair price to pay to not have to tune it yourself.

 

Hey Brian I think it sounds kinda cheap to be honest with you. As long as you get what you are looking for which is the bike running the way you want. As we no you can take the carb off many times to get it tuned in.

 

It would be interesting to watch them set it up and make a run ,i say go for it ....i love spending other peoples money

 

If they do a good job for a good price, then they must have lots of happy customers ... so why not ask for a reference? If they're hesitant, then that could be a sign. If they have references, ask for one with a similar bike i.e.: dirt bike, or at least a single cylinder & smaller bore (Oops! No disrespect intended , I just meant like under 500cc!)

I've never dealt with a dyno shop before, so I don't know, but it seems to me that if they're a reputable business, they shouldn't flinch at all when you ask.

Mike

 

As long as the shop is reputable, then it's worth every penny to have this done. With all the tuning points this carb has, the only way to get the most out of it is tuning it on the dyno, this way you can see if each change gained, or stole more power...something the butt dyno can not accuratley do, unless of course your butt prints out power and torque curves after each run.

But really, all the money you spent on this carb it would be well worth an extra $100 to make sure you are getting the most from it.