Step by step

One of my original rubbers,the right side I think was a lot thicker and stiffer than the other 2, I bet with some boiling water application you could gradually stretch them quite a bit,maybe 10mm increments till a firm fit would happen. Finding gradually bigger bits of pipe might be an issue.I bought a complete air box including the carby hoses from Andy years ago,bet Wolfgang has the hoses. I will attempt this some time in the future.Maybe but in my case it will take some major airbox trimming to get it to fit
 
Vince said:
One of my original rubbers,the right side I think was a lot thicker and stiffer than the other 2, I bet with some boiling water application you could gradually stretch them quite a bit,maybe 10mm increments till a firm fit would happen. Finding gradually bigger bits of pipe might be an issue.I bought a complete air box including the carby hoses from Andy years ago,bet Wolfgang has the hoses. I will attempt this some time in the future.Maybe but in my case it will take some major airbox trimming to get it to fit
Click to expand...

The ones I got with my 3c are also different. Two are in a kind of gloss black, more stiff rubber, those are already cracked/brittle in the
bellows. One is made from a more dull, rubber like material. I could try to follow your suggestion with this one.

The thought to build a taylored airbox also came to mind - but first I will have other things to sort ...

Thanks
Jo
 
I just thought of something to stretch the rubber over,the back end of a holesaw of the correct size would be perfect for that.
 
Composition of the rubber changed at some point. Early stuff was more brittle and prone to cracking with age. Later parts were more rubbery and durable.
I would think that later ones would stretch over the Mikunis.
I'll find out soon enough as I have a couple of sets to try it on.
 
I have 2 airboxs and rubbers and don't use either so its an experiment anyway.Last night I had a look at second hand Triumph triple airboxs to see if that was an option to modify, they are not so attractive. I was hoping for a nice smooth curved box that might fit, nope there a complicated ugly odd looking shaped  looking thing. I am bored with plenty of time to waste at the moment. Like I said the right rubber is thicker and well stiffer than the other 2.
 
First start after the modifications:  KLICK
8)

She responded immediately, but didn't like the choke - well, than without we go. The smoke from
the exhaust is most probably due to the grease I used to position the header sealing with.

Well, I'm grinning a bit ?
:D

Cheers
Jo
 
I might be wrong but it sounds a bit as if it runs on 2 cylinders only on the first starts, no? Have you checked if all 3 headers heat up? The last start-up sounds about right, but the others and also the throttle response (maybe due to being cold) was a bit concerning to me.

If she is not running on all 3, change the spark plug on the cylinder that stays cold. Typically, these bikes are prone to shooting out a spark-plug when to much fuel is involved (to much choke f.e.).

For the starting procedure, I always follow these steps and never had issues with dead spark plugs anymore:

-turn key on
-open fuel tabs and watch the fuel flow into the carbs; once the fuel line is almost filled:
-press the starter button
-while pressing the starter button, slowly engage choke until she fires up

Also, I always close the pet cocks at least 500 meters from home already so that the float-bowels start to empty when at home. This way, you hae always fresh fuel coming from the tank when you go for a ride.

cheers

Lothar
 
I open the fuel taps first, and let the float bowls fill while I get my helmet and gloves on. Only turn the key on just before hitting the starter. Only reason for that is to avoid current drain through ignition and lights (if they're on) while waiting for the float bowls fill. Clear fuel lines are handy to see when the bowls are full (fuel stops flowing). I always pull the choke fully on before hitting the button too. It's just the way my Jota likes it. I normally don't put the choke off until I'm under way. Maybe a couple of hundred metres down the road. The bike will still hesitate a bit on throttle until it warms up. Sometimes even when the engine is warm it'll want some choke. But in that case I switch it off as soon as it starts.
 
Dellortoman said:
I open the fuel taps first, and let the float bowls fill while I get my helmet and gloves on.
Click to expand...

You obviously never faced overflowing carbs due to a float that stuck open, right?

If the bike needs full choke, I would check the choke sliders are all on the same level and are opening and fully closing the same time. If that is the case, you might be running lean on your bike, maybe float-hight a bit low...?
 
not totally comparable to the Dell'Ortos then. Yes, on the Keihins, I also need full choke to start the bike. On the 1000 SFC with Dell'Ortos, I allways did it as described above.

cheers

Lothar
 
Laverdalothar said:
You obviously never faced overflowing carbs due to a float that stuck open, right?
Click to expand...

Wrong. That's a rather pompous comment Lothar, and not an obvious conclusion at all. I've been around bikes long enough to have had problems with overflowing carbs on many occasions. Especially with Keihins for some reason. Perhaps I've just been unlucky with them.

Opening the fuel taps and giving the carbs plenty of time to overflow, then checking that they're OK is an essential pre-departure safety check in my opinion. At least then if you have a stuck float you'll be aware that it's pissing fuel out of the overflow before you start the bike. If you ride away unaware that a float valve is stuck open, you run the risk of the bike bursting into flames somewhere down the road.

Bazzee is correct. My bike now has Mikunis, but that's not relevant. I use the same starting procedure with any bike. I've done it that way since I was a teenager and I witnessed a mate's bike catch fire because of an overflowing carby.


Laverdalothar said:
If the bike needs full choke, I would check the choke sliders are all on the same level and are opening and fully closing the same time. If that is the case, you might be running lean on your bike, maybe float-hight a bit low...?
Click to expand...

I suppose I could throw the converse argument back at you. If your bike doesn't need much choke for cold starting, then perhaps the idle mixture is too rich.  ;)

Pretty much every bike I've ever owned needs choke to start from cold, even when everything (including float height) is set correctly. That's what chokes (or enricher jets, or ticklers) are for.

Rather than apply choke gradually while cranking the engine on the starter, I just give it full choke to begin with. That may be more choke that it actually needs, but it starts straight away. Once it's running, if the idle is a bit fast, I'll back the choke off a little. If it's a warm day, sometimes I can back it off all the way.
 
Same same here. Fuel taps open first to make sure the float bowls are full and not overflowing; seems a logical, safe procedure to me.
 
Never had a laverda that would start with out full choke when cold using Dells. Never had a Dell carb overflow either and thats on an SF1/2/3and C and my 1200.
My starting proceedure is fuel taps on, full choke, start then turn off chokes as I don't want my bores being washed with excess fuel. Blip or hold the throttle till it's warm enough to idle.
One of the Mikuni carbs on the triple sometimes has a sticking float that will overflow but a tap on the bowl will usually stop that. Do the same procedure on the Mikunis as well.
I do like the fact that Mikunis have overflow hoses so when it does overflow it's on the ground rather than in the well under the starter motor!!
 
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