No tank removal necessary. Just attach the meter tubes to the carburetor nipples that you probably have capped off - the ones closest to the motor. Have the motor warmed up before you measure.
I use a Motion Pro mercury balancer. Did my '07 at about 12k miles and it was just a teensy bit off, but I tweaked it to get it as close as possible. Did not really notice any difference in the motor though.

 

I use a TwinMax, no mercury, easy to use, adjustable sensitivity. It comes with good directions.

Tank removal is not necessary, although it's simple to remove the tank when it is necessary.

 

$1.55 carb balancer

made one of these,works great!!

http://www.powerchutes.com/graphics/martycarbsync.jpg

 

Balancing Carbs

I used the tube taped onto a yardstick (man-o-meter) to balance my carbs at about 20,000 miles. Made a big difference in throttle response.

 

Im dropping my bike off next week at the dealer to do a few little things for an hour of labor. How much time does the balancing take, Im at 6300 miles and need this done. Sounds like it should only take about 15 minutes or so, am I wrong? Thanks!

I want to add this to the list of things for the dealer to do

 

No you're not wrong, 15 minutes max. More like 10.

 

The yardstick thing works well. The hardest part is getting to the adjustment screw. People with small hands have the advantage here.

 

where exactly is that adjustment screw?


anyone have a pic of it?

 

The adjustment screw is behind and between the carburettors, horizontally mounted [think a small spring is on it], and most easily reached from the left side of the bike.
I used a small, offset phillips driver to adjust. Only had to turn a very small bit to even them up.

 

thanks, I just wanted to make sure that I didn't adjust the flux capacitor instead

 

carb sync

:Need pics

 

I picked up a set of offset screwdrivers at AutoZone for $3.
LIKE THIS

They work well for getting at the screw. You don't have to turn them much to sync the carbs usually.

ARTICLE about syncing carbs

 

before i put FCR's on my bike i used a Morgan CarbTune device and a MotionPro tool pictured below to adjust the balance screw. obviously you can make your own tool at home for a lot less, but at the time i was always removing the carbs, experiementing with jetting, float heights, etc, and just made it a point to check and rebalance the carbs every time i removed them and put them back on the bike. this tool made the job of adjusting the screw effortless, could easily adjust the screw when the bike was hot (which it has to be in order to adjust properly) and for me, was well worth the money spent (although i dont need it any more with the FCR's!).

 

before i put FCR's on my bike i used a Morgan CarbTune device SNIP...

+1 for Morgan Carbtune

 

I made one like 'dmay' shows. It works great. It might give you a fit if your carbs were seriously out of balance and you sucked the oil from one of the tubes into the engine. But you would have to be pretty far off for that to happen. It shows very good sensitivity to adjustment and can be 'calibrated' by switching the tubes (left to right) and comparing the readings.

 

If you do it yourself ...

... keep in mind that a little adjustment goes a long way. Only turn the screw a very little bit each time, or you'll way overshoot.

 

... keep in mind that a little adjustment goes a long way. Only turn the screw a very little bit each time, or you'll way overshoot.

I've used a home made manometer as pictured in this thread on my W650 and T100. I will agree that if the carbs are way off, you'll create a smokescreen that'll waft thru the neighborhood! No issues using it on the W or the T100, but when I attempted to balance the R100GS Bings (you have to balance them at idle and at 2500-3000rpm) off of idle, it sucked the tube dry .... I was using red Stabil. But when things are only slightly off, the manometer does a really nice job. Some of the Beemer guys claim they get better balancing with these things than with expensive balancers, due to the sensitivity of the fluid manometer.

Bob

 

Some use needle nose pliers to turn that screw.

You certainly don't need to remove the tank for the job, but I do. It just makes for easier access to the screw.

 

How can you tell when you need to balance the carbs?

Is this something the dealer would have checked at the 6k service?

 

Unstable idling, some clutch shaking noises, a little more vibration than usual, if it's really out a bit of hesitation when pulling away, etc.

It's on the service schedule from 12000 miles or 2 years and then every 6000 miles, so if you don't ask for it to be done at the 6000 servce they won't do it.

 

for ages I have used a home made manometer attached to a yard stick with water or ATF in the tubes. finally purchased a manometer using mercury.
it is so much better to take a reading as the mercury being much heavier, doesnt "dance" around as much as the water or oil did with engine pulsations

 

Vote from me too to balancing your carbs by yourself.

It took couple of minutes first time I tried with home made pipethingie. Just put like motoroil in it so it's easier to read. I used philips head socket and fingers. It's a little tight spot if you have large hands like me, but you only need to nudge the screw at the time and this is way more delicate than using any tool with shaft. And I didn't even get blisters.