Kiss my Keyster (carb kit needles)
Hi,
When the japanes in those days were having a modern dyno, the end results of jetting and needle shapes would have been different. The thing is that the Japanese in those days lacked a dyno, so they couldn't see what's going on. Honda jetted the carbs correctly with the knowledge in that time, no arguments here. And if the bike is new, and in japan, it will run fine. But, I'm not in japan, but in the Netherlands, at low altitudes, (below sea level). The engine is not new, and uses a different air filters (foam filter). Also the cylinder head is smoothened up a bit. Luckily my mufflers are standard, no problems here. I use a dyno to be sure, therefore I know my engine doesn't run too lean. At least I'm not comfortable with reading plugs, just too many parameters. Even when the bike was standard (everything original) the bike was running a bit lean. See my dyno sheets elsewhere on this forum. How comes that I never have a questions about jet's, needles, not running engines, timing, idling and other issue's ? I rebuild the engine to specs, tune it by going through Ed's recipe, and finally put it on the dyno to see if everything is correct. And if something is not correct I will change it (running lean in some era'sfor example). I did the same with the bomber I have, and found out that the engine had a better "laufkultuur" when the needle was a little higher for some better midrange and picking up from the idling jets. But the jetting, even with the early carbs was almost spot on, really not bad for knowing they didn't have a dyno ore gas analyzers. If you can spend the money, it's worth it, if not, check your plugs for leaning out signs, that's all. Running a little too rich isn't bad (as long as your plugs fire), but running too lean will destroy your engine, not fast, but slowly, mile by mile, Jensen assembly of Japanese motorcycles requires great peace of mind (Pirsig)
As stated before, I'm not looking to spend several hundred dollars for a monitoring and logging system, but I do see a value in being able to see live afr readings on the road, if only for confirmation of what I may already "believe".
To me, an oxygen sensor is just another tool to use in attempting to achieve the best possible carburation (or injector timing) as the case may be. While an expensive wide band sensor/ controller/ display may be ideal (there are some on the market for less than $200.00), a cheap narrow band may suffice for my purposes, the most important of which is to make sure I'm not too lean. My TPS is a push pin stuck in the throttle grip with a piece of tape on the housing marking throttle positions. Having a direct readout of AFR next to my "TPS" while being able to feel the bikes response on the road would helpful to me in adjusting or confirming changes. My exhaust is not stock, my air inlet is not stock, my air filter is not stock, and my riding conditions (2500-3500' average) are not stock. Therefore, I believe the stock jetting may not be appropriate. I've been reading plugs for years, (and that doesn't necessarily mean I've been doing it right), but having another tool to confirm or deny the settings can't be that bad in my opinion. To me, it's no different than using a timing light in addition to a light bulb or ohmeter when setting the timing. Now to get off this stupid computer and Ride, Ride, Ride.........my snow shovel! Haven't seen bare ground since Thanksgiving....thanks to GLOBAL WARMING!! 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
Your deck looks like my back yard. You know you live in snow country when you buy a special snow blower just to clean off the deck.
But then again, if it wasn't for winter, we'd be wrenching when the sun was out instead of riding. Admittedly, that's a rationalization. I hate f@*%ing winter!!! regards, Rob What makes it worse is I seemed to have fixed about everybody elses snowblower around lately, and I have to pull out a shovel!
Did get to see some interesting drive gear and clutch combos in the process, though. Now back to fantasy land.....nitrous button on the left, boost gauge next, AFR meter next, tach going red, and my old nemesis on his 305 Yamaha getting smaller and covered in tire smoke in the rear view mirror! 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
Narrow band is not that useful. If you look at the shape of a Lambda curve, it's almost vertical over a very narrow range and very flat either side of that. In Cruise (missile?) mode, you will probably looking for lambda of around 1.05 and in full power nitrous sprayed mode, it will be nearer to 0.85. Both points are outside teh normal ranges of a narrow band sensor.
You may be able to get close enough though as a starting point. You're right about wideband being better due to wider useful range, but also more expensive and a little more complicated to install. They require heating to a much higher temprature and also a supplied reference voltage to work, and from what I've been able to learn so far, require a processor to obtain a useable output signal for display. The display output from the processor is generally 0-5 volts and linear, so it does give an accurate indication of how rich or lean. But a DIY model may be beyond construction for the average Joe...like me. This is about as cheap as I've found for a drop in model: http://www.aemuego.com/ With a narrowband, you basically get 3 useable signals...rich, "perfect (14.7:1)", and lean. The output is generally 0-1 volt, but not linear, as you said. You can stretch out the voltage display with several led's, but how many are lit is not an accurate display of how far out the ratio is. It should be able to tell you, however, if you are close to 14.7 or not, and which side of it you're on, which would be helpful. (realizing you don't really want to be exactly there anyway) The advantages are, they are relatively cheap ($25 range), do not require heaters (although some models do have them), and you could simply hook the signal to a voltmeter and read the output directly. An led readout would probably be easier to read, especially if using it on the road, and can be constructed pretty cheaply...here's one version: http://www.scirocco.org/tech/misc/afgauge/af.html DIY sniffer instructions were already posted here: http://www.daytona-sensors.com/download ... h_Note.pdf Worst case scenario for me would be ending up with a lean warning light...still useful to me, but maybe I'm just paranoid! 66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
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