Carburetors

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BurnsYoFace34
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Carburetors

#1

Post by BurnsYoFace34 »

So does anyone know of any after market or a replacement carburetor for the gl1000 I know there's a single carb conversion is that worth buying to replace the 4 carbs are there other carbs we can use from different yrs
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Re: Carburetors

#2

Post by Whiskerfish »

Some use 1100 carbs and claim it is an improvement due to the accelerator pumps. Otherwise there is no "Bolt up" replacement that I know of.
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Re: Carburetors

#3

Post by redglbx »

As Randakk was fond of saying “a well setup set of oe 1000 carbs are as good as it gets” or something like that. If you take your time and make sure everything is right there really is no benefit in anything else. I got to spend a fair amount of time on my friends dyno and found changing the jetting to #35 idle (stock) #65 primary mains (75 stock) and #115 secondary mains to provide the best overall performance.

The Oe jetting with the as delivered #35 idle & # 62 primary mains is just excessively lean, adding the 65 primary mains enrichens things just enough at lower engine speeds and then the oe #120 sec mains are just pig rich so taking them back to 115’s gives you a nice flatter fuel curve. Plus it can give you a bit better mileage.

As far as alternative carbs go, I wouldn’t waste my time on a single carb setup, I have yet to experience a setup that didn’t really restrict the 1000 motor. The Weber setup has better low end punch but no top end. Probably due to the accelerator pump. The Stromberg single barrel is just a pig that really does nothing well.

1100 carbs, in spite of claims of better performance, wheelies, whiter teeth and a better sex life, it just ain’t there. They are smaller than the oe 1000 32mm carbs and generally won’t rev past about 6500-7000 rpm. That said I run 1100 carbs on my 76, but I have about 40-60hrs of machining in them to improve the air flow and once I got all that done it still wouldn’t rev past 6500rpm until I reduced the sec main jet from the oe 145’s to 140 ( I am using 138’s) then it would rev and now actually out-performs the oe carbs. Using stock 1100 carbs will not make your 1000 faster than it is with the oe 1000 carbs. The accelerator pump helps a bit but Honda pretty much got it right with the oe carbs.

Imho the only real problem with the oe 1000 carbs is their tendency to stick the slides and us owners wanting to buff or polish the outside of the slides vs the real problem actually being in the stems.

Now for your info I know you’re thinking if all that machining in the 1100 carbs helped improve their flow why not get a real boost by doing the same to a set of oe 1000’s ? Well I did that & quite frankly it’s too much ! It made everything below about 7500-8000 rpm really soft, too much airflow ! They’d probably work ok on a 1200 with more displacement but just too much for a 1000. The real trick with my modified 1100’s is that I’m getting more airflow through a smaller opening for much improved velocity which is always a good thing.

So in summary, imho just take your time and make sure your 1000 carbs are as perfect as they can be, get the jetting right ! (35\65\115) and just enjoy your bike. I’ll put my flame suit on now because of my comments on the single carb setups (total waste) and 1100 carbs are simply a waste of time & money. One last thought on the the single carb setups,, if you used a bigger carb like a Holley 350cfm 2 bbl or maybe one of their smaller 2bbl fuel injection setups you might get the best of both worlds. I have a single carb manifold & 2bbl Weber but am thinking along those lines of adapting a Holley or some kind of 2bbl fuel injection but things are running so well I really don’t want to mess with it. good luck !
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Re: Carburetors

#4

Post by pidjones »

I'll just agree with reglbx with one addition: each year seems to have it own optimum setup although 75-77 can be somewhat grouped and 78-79.
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Re: Carburetors

#5

Post by Fred Camper »

77 does have the emissions fix that is easily fixed with a smaller air jet mod and some tiny washers, but I too agree with Reglbx and nice to have the input on larger primary and smaller secondary jets.
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Re: Carburetors

#6

Post by Rednaxs60 »

redglbx makes a very good point that is supported by pidjones and Fred Camper. Have read a lot of threads regarding carbureted Gold Wings and have always thought that the best way ahead is to stay as close to the OEM setup as possible for ease of maintenance and especially reliability. Just a thought.
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CYBORG
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Re: Carburetors

#7

Post by CYBORG »

I agree. Once you learn them, the stock carbs can be better then the "easy" to swap ones. May have to play with the jets a bit, but when they are right they are a thing of beauty.
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redglbx
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Re: Carburetors

#8

Post by redglbx »

One thing I will add is that as PID said above, my jet recommendations basically apply to the 75-77’s, the throat size is smaller on the 78-79’s so the jets would have to be adjusted accordingly. That said I have found that all the Honda’s I have messed with seem to exhibit the same characteristics being really lean on the idle jets, they all seem to use #35’s, the intermediate/primary mains seem better on other models but all of the secondary mains are just “pig” rich and need to be decreased, at least on the one’s I've fiddled with.

On washers under the slide needles, personally I’m not a fan as washers are generally way to thick, usually around .030in thick which is way to thick and just floods things. I use plastic shim stock and have found that .003in-.010in. Of shim is enough. I make shim washers using arc punch’s.

I have been fortunate in being able to sort carb things out using my friend dyno but he closed his shop almost 20yrs ago now so now I use my a/f meter on my Sun machine to get things sorted. Yes it is a little bit different not being able to sort things under a load but I can get things close enough. Honda’s typically run around 15-15.5-1 a/f on the idle & primary mains which is up to around 2000-2400rpm before adding the secondary mains and going rich, usually in the 10-11 to 1 a/f ratio which is just way to rich. I shoot to see 13 to 13.5-1 which is still a little rich but is better than being to lean. 14.7-1 is considered the ideal ratio but imho is too lean and causes rideability problems, typically it highlights the carbs other fueling shortages so it’s better being a little rich.

One last thing that I learned on the dyno is that surge you feel when your really cranking the throttle and is generally called”on the cam” or “on the pipe” is actually the motor clearing a glut of fuel caused when you whack the throttle open, it’s even there on non accelerator pump equipped carbs. This is why I don’t like using washers under the slide needles because it just makes that “glut of fuel” much worse, most times the motor can never clear it and get to running clean.

Anyway I hope this helps get your carbies right, one other thing I’ll add is that you really can’t get the idle circuit clean enough when your rebuilding your carbs, imho this is the root of most problems on the carbs. You need to be able to spray carb cleaner into the idle jet and see it freely come out of the mixture screw hole with the mixture screw removed and also out of the discharge hole in the throttle bore with the mixture screw installed. These are “must do” things if your carbs are going to work well. I’m going back to sleep now.
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Re: Carburetors

#9

Post by Fred Camper »

In my 1977 I did not uses te washers as the idle air jet reduction was enough to fix off idle launch and I did not notice any other lean condition. I do plan to try the primary up and secondary down trick next time I do a set of carbs as that logic seems to ring true for me.
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Re: Carburetors

#10

Post by dontwantapickle »

In my experience, I have found that carburetor adjustments are bike specific.
There are no "one size fits all" improvement modifications.
When in doubt.... keep 'em stock.
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Re: Carburetors

#11

Post by redglbx »

Fred, I forgot about the air jet reduction, I also on the 1000’s reduce that down to 110’s if I remember right and you’re right that does help with the off idle. I’ve found that the fuel delivery curves are very similar across the board. I did mix my carbs up, I don’t shim needles on 1000 carbs, the idle air jets do the same thing basically but I will shim the needles on a set of 1100 or CBX carbs which are essentially the same, but don’t have the idle air jets, shimming the needles gets the fuel moving a little sooner to cover a lean or flat spot, the smaller idle air jets do essentially the same thing. Good catch !
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1980 CBX , in the que, to fix the ignorant heavy handed owner
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Re: Carburetors

#12

Post by BurnsYoFace34 »

So pretty much the 1100 carbs are no good which sucks cause i just bought a 81 gl1100 parts bike for 100 bucks lol I do know that on one of my carbs for the 77 the float pin bracket broke i tried a lol jb weld om the bracket an it was moving just fine which is the reason I was going to swap carbs to the 81 style since I got a whole bike for half the price as a set of 77 carbs lol
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Re: Carburetors

#13

Post by Whiskerfish »

"Agreement is not a requirement for Respect" CDR Michael Smith USN (Ret) 2017
"The book is wrong, this whole Conclusion is Fallacious" River Tam
2008 GL1800 IIIA "TH3DOG"
1975/6/7/8/9 Arthur Fulmer Dressed Road bike
1975 Naked Noisy and Nasty in town bike
and a whole garage full of possibilities!!

Psst. oh and by the way CHANGE YOUR BELTS!!!!
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Re: Carburetors

#14

Post by ericheath »

Probably 90% couldn’t tell the difference riding one with clean synchronized 1100 carbs or clean synchronized 77 carbs. My gut says the 1100’s might be better for most riding conditions, smaller venturis by 1mm. 1100’s are also more expensive to rebuild because of accelerator pumps. Just a guess, but 77’s are probably a little better above 100 mph. Your 77’s are salvageable or look for a replacement body.
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Re: Carburetors

#15

Post by flyin900 »

ericheath wrote: Tue Mar 29, 2022 12:31 am Probably 90% couldn’t tell the difference riding one with clean synchronized 1100 carbs or clean synchronized 77 carbs. My gut says the 1100’s might be better for most riding conditions, smaller venturis by 1mm. 1100’s are also more expensive to rebuild because of accelerator pumps. Just a guess, but 77’s are probably a little better above 100 mph. Your 77’s are salvageable or look for a replacement body.
If the 1100’s are easier to clean and use I would agree here. There are guys who are running these on the GL1000’s even though it isn’t suggested. There is theory then there’s real world when it comes to this kind of stuff. Give it a shot if it makes sense given the GL1000 carb issues you have, there is little downside.

You can change them back if needed to the correct set down the road. I think a way better option than trying to move to two single carbs with manifolds, or a one carb set up.

That would be lots of fun and other issues to resolve. :crosso
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