Idle hands..... NOT

[Flyingw]

Since having my knee surgery about 10 days ago, I have been going a little out of my mind with boredom but last night I couldn't take it anymore. I have been gathering ES/SX carbs where I can get them so yesterday I got to work. I even pulled a couple of 350X (85) from the attic and rebuilt those. Right now I'm getting ready to test them on my SX. Just thought I'd share by boredom with you trike monkeys.

[bkm]

Jim, my '85 Big Red has one of those junk Ebay carbs on it, but I have an oem off of another '85. I'm going to go through it and since you can do them in your sleep is there any particular part I should pay close attention to? BTW those look sweet.

Bryan

[Flyingw]

Yes, there are a few areas you need to pay attention to.

Pilot screw assembly
Be sure the pilot screw is assembled correctly. Screw, spring, flat washer, oring. Put a little Vaseline on the oring before you install it.

Needle and needle jet
Remove the brass barrel the needle passes through (needle jet) and replace it with the one in the kit. Long cupped end goes in first.

In the 85 rebuild kits are three orings. The smallest is for the pilot screw. The other two are roughly the same size but one is fatter than the other. The fatter one goes between the bowl tab right by the square hole cut for the cable cover. Lube it up before assembly. This oring makes a water tight seal to link the throttle cable cavity to the drain tube on the edge of the bowl. Its job is to allow water to drain from the throttle cable cavity. The third oring (skinnier of the large orings) goes on the bowl drain screw. The pilot screw does not get an oring.

Remove the idle adjustment knob and screw. Put some Scooby lube on the screw and reinstall it. The 86 kits come with a new screw and spring but not the 85 kits.

Butteryfly/Slide Synch
On the bottom of page 4-12- top of 4-13 of the manual outlines the butterfly/slide synch. The tab of the slide should just barely touch the split linkage for the butterfly. This is an important adjustment for these carbs and should be done very last after assembly.

When you get the primary jet out (jet closest to the pilot screw) look in to the venture of the carb and you will see a small nipple sticking up in to the air stream. Use you finger and push the tube down and it should fall out. Clean the tube and the hole real well with carb cleaner. Be sure to reinstall the tube.

Cold start mod. Even if you don't do the cold start mod, take a #4 sheet metal screw and screw it in to the startup jet about 1 - 1 1/2 turn. Use the screw head to pry the jet out. I have a wide blade screwdriver with a slot cut in to it. I stick the screwdriver under the head of the screw and I lay a piece of metal across the jet stack so the slotted screwdriver is up under the head of the screw and about level. Then I very gently push down on the handle prying the jet out. Once out, look through the jet and make sure it isn't blocked. Clean the hole out for the startup jet. Reinstall the startup jet by tapping it back in with something soft. Be gentle. It does NOT sit flush when installed.

Aside from all this, cleanliness is key. Carb cleaner and lots of air. Each hole should blow through to somewhere else.

[atc007]

Pretty ladies all in a row. Nice work Jim. Orthoscopy or replacement ? Little stiff huh lol?

[Flyingw]

Torn Meniscus so orthoscopic and YES!!!! very stiff, swollen, and sore. Russell Westbrook of the OKC Thunder got sidelined the other day for the same problem. I truly underestimated the severity of this type of injury and subsequent surgery.

As for the carbs, I have tested 5 of the 6 including one of the 350X carbs and aside from the usual skip in idle step which is common to these carbs, not a problem. Only a couple of the SX carbs have the skip in step. The other 3 idle very smoothly including the first X carb. I have one more X carb I'm getting ready to test.

I have seen guys trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro about stuffing X carbs in the SX but they are the same body as the SX carb but they are machined internally different. The only interference issue is the choke lever. The lever needs to be removed to install the carb. Without the frame backbone air box tube installed there is just enough clearance to flip the choke lever up but with the tube installed, would not let the choke lever to move up all the way so a slight mod would need to be done if someone was inclined to install an X carb in an SX.

Hopefully the last X carb will work like the others.

[UPNATM]

Wow Jim, those look great! I cant wait to see mine!
Thanks again for working your magic on mine for me.

[Flyingw]

Yours is the top left one. Its all boxed up and will go out USPS on Monday. If you get it after Thursday, either call or text me. I'll be heading to the OK ride Thurs morning.

[UPNATM]

Yours is the top left one. Its all boxed up and will go out USPS on Monday. If you get it after Thursday, either call or text me. I'll be heading to the OK ride Thurs morning.



Will do!:)

[Flyingw]

Final report. The last 350X carb worked well but was a bit slower to return to idle after pinning the throttle. The first one dropped right back to idle. The second one took a second or two. I'm 6 for 6 this weekend.

Alright boys, I have 4 SX/ES carbs and one 85 350X carb (QA05A) to sell so I can buy more crap. 3 each QA02A (85SX) and 1 each QA08A (86/87 SX)
100.00 with rebuildable exchange
125.00 no exchange.

I have parts to build an 86 350X carb (QA10A) and another 85 carb (QA05A) but I don't have the kits yet but they're coming.

[Keith Salyer]

Jim, are you going to be able to ride next weekend? Sounds like bad timing for a knee injury!

[Flyingw]

I'll be there but I'm leaving the R at home unless I see some real improvement in the next few days but more than likely, I'll be putting around on the SX but I'll be ok.

[kb0nly]

Man those look sweet... I know who to send a carb to if i have to deal with an SX again. Last one i worked on the carb was a major PITA to get working right. But after reading your post describing the o-rings and procedures i think i could get one working right now. The o-rings is what stumped me last time, there was only a slight variation between them and comparing to the hardened and squished originals was no help.

Keep up the good work! At least your making good use of your time.

[Flyingw]

Yep, I am. If I had to rebuild carbs and sell them to pay bills, it wouldn't be any fun.

[bkm]

Thanks for the info Jim. I'll tackle it and let you know how it turns out. Is there a rebuild kit you prefer?

Thanks,
Bryan

[Flyingw]

No not really. Shindy is one brand I buy but most of the kits I get from RJATV but it looks like they are out of 85 kits based on their listings but in any case, all the kits are all about the same.

[Scootertrash]

So which knee got the surgery? The left knee, the right knee, or the weenee?

[Flyingw]

Left. the middle knee got "modified" about 10 years ago.

[Scootertrash]

Nice work on the carbs by the way.

How do you get the body of the carb so clean?

[atc350xer]

Absolutely beautiful... if my wheelers didn't look so shabby, I'd consider getting one :lol:

[Flyingw]

I don't do them to look good. I do them up the way I do to get the corrosion off of them and clean them up. The added benefit is they look good. I have cleanliness issues thanks to my Mom and the military. I do them up the same way every time and I can only recall one that I had to rework after testing so I must be doing something right.