Carb Swap?

[threepot]

Will Khien carbs replace Mikunis on a 95 Super111 without any mods? What is the difference,and why did they change manufacturers?

[KitNYC]

Don't know why Triumph switched, but the biggest difference is that the Keihins have metal slides where the Mikunis have plastic. Mikuni people tend to want the more durable Keihins; Keihin people apparently want the Mikunis because they don't rattle.

You should be able to swap them fairly easily. You will probably need new carb to head rubbers & a new throttle cable. You may need a choke cable as well.

Umm, also: keep in mind that I haven't actually done this.

Cheers,
-Kit

[sailfish]

The Keihins rattle? I didn't know that, I guess that I'm used to it. From what I've seen here, the Keihins are superior in almost every way. They don't wear out the main jets and needles. The float needle seat doesn't crack and flood everything with fuel. They deliver better fuel economy. Did I miss anything? Nine years and 50,000 miles and I've had zero problems with mine.

[idahotb]

Originally Posted by threepot

What is the difference?

About 10 mpg.

[KitNYC]

I was told by the guy I got my spare Mikunis from that he had bought them because his Keihins rattled. He told me that Keihin owners liked to swap in Mikunis because the Keihin's metal slides start to rattle when they wear & the Mikunis are quieter due to their plastic slides.

I don't personally buy that as a valid reason to switch from otherwise superior carbs, but, ahem, how to put this.... I understand that some people might have a different opinion.

Cheers,
-Kit

[Major Kong]

I think the Mikis are for people who like to wrench. Kehins are more difficult to fiddle with- or so I have heard.

Zip

[LaneSplitter]

The Mikunis wear out needles, needle jets and the plastic slides. The one thing that they have going for them is the after market jet kits and parts. I've a set of Keihins and boots that I purchased from Triumph-ant that I'm going to rebuild and install on my bike, I purchased jets and float needles for a Kawasaki from motorcyclecarbs.com.

[threepot]

The reason I asked,my bike doesn't start very well. I'm going to get the valves checked and instead of re-building carbs,get hold of another set if the price is right. I've heard that Kiehns are better. I've bought new inlet rubbers ready. I just wanted to check the cables run the same? Thanks.

[ezride]

Originally Posted by threepot

The reason I asked,my bike doesn't start very well. I'm going to get the valves checked and instead of re-building carbs,get hold of another set if the price is right. I've heard that Kiehns are better. I've bought new inlet rubbers ready. I just wanted to check the cables run the same? Thanks.

Replacing the carbs is an expensive way to fix a starting problem. Most carb problems are pretty straightforward to fix (never mind the four months I spent chasing what turned out to be a bad o-ring on a float assembly). The hardest part of a carb service on these bikes is removing and reinstalling the carbs.

What kind of starting problem do you have? Hot or cold? Is the idle OK once started? Have you checked that the 'choke' is working properly?

Regarding Mikunis vs Keihin, my experience is that the Keihins get much better mileage, carburet a bit 'smoother', but don't provide the same punch that the Mikunis do. Also, I think the super 3 has a different head than the rest of the T3 motors, so the carbs might have different jetting???

[Hinckley]

If you are going to spend the money on carbs, do it right and get a set of FCRs.