Mikuni CV Carbs — Great Tip For Seized Pilot Screws!

The GS550 needed carbs...
A previous post of mine described the making up of a bank of carbs from a spare set I bought. My originals had been broken by a previous owner and laid out in bits in a cardboard box. The carbs I got hold of were from a GSX750 — same bodies, but the pilot system was slightly different and the jets, obviously, were all the wrong sizes. But no matter, it proved that the GS would run... just not very well.

Because I want to put it back to standard, using the original airbox and filter, a good set of carbs was still on the wish list. And a couple of weeks ago, a bargain on eBay saved the day. For seventy bucks delivered, I had a very clean set for a GS650 on the way to me. Could not believe my luck!

It got better too, because once apart, the jets tell me that they were off the 550 after all. A strip, clean, new o-rings and we could be in business. 

Omnia Racing Headlamps... Cool Quality.

A BIG thumbs up!
I saw a CBR600 street fighter doing the rounds on one of the forums lately and, to be fair, it was a nice build. What really stood out for me was the headlamp — not in the "cheap, Chinese, badly-finished rubbish" type of way, but more "Buy Me Now! I am the quality you look for" — so I asked the owner of the bike where I could get one. 

As he looked at me, I could see his face contorted with pained expression. He gave a quick glance over his shoulders to check for eavesdroppers nearby, and he slowly whispered the words Omnia Racing... I looked behind me, was about to ask more, but he was gone.

So I started looking online. Based in Italy, with an impressive website full of expensive bike exotica, they also had an eBay store and I found just the unit to set off my GSX in a way that would somehow complement the odd-shaped ESD tank, along with my crudely knocked together tailpiece. Sort of.

Frayed Clutch Cables, And Making New Ones.

When you alter anything from standard...
Inevitably something must change with it. The clutch cable was way too long since I've dropped the handlebars down, and although I'd managed to 'lose' some of its length, it wasn't quite right. 

But it worked; until it frayed. So I bought a kit to make a custom one myself. 

Having seen the job done by Gordon at Lucas Motorcycles, Ross-on-Wye loads of times over the years, I figured I knew all the tricks of the trade. Whenever I had a cable issue on my bikes as a kid, I'd be straight up the dual-carriageway to Ross and he'd make one for about ten quid. Bargain, and that was at any time up until 9.00pm everyday of the week... the guy was a legend!

So if you have an issue with cable length, an odd bike or the original part is too expensive, take a look on eBay and check out the kits available. This one came from the UK and is a quality bit of kit, nylon lined for smoother action, oo'er missus.

DANGER! Scared Of Using Engine Flush?

Skeptical, or concerned?

You will find different opinions on using engine flush from every mechanic out there. Some say never use it no matter what. Others put it in at every oil change.

So why the difference in opinion? What are the pros and cons?

Valvoline detergent-based engine flush.

Bloody Exhausted! (I'm so funny...Suzuki GSX Humour).

Link Pipes Done.
With the merge collector done, I needed to make the links to the reverse cone mega's. I decided to cut up loads of little sections of stainless pipe to get the correct angles for the link pipes. I could have done it with fewer, longer sections but decided the "loads of welds look" was the way forward. Maybe, when you know how to get the pretty colouring of welds to work for you, but it looks like a jumbled mess now. 

Still, it's on and the bike sounds bloody great! And it was a good experience too, giving me plenty of ideas for the next go, and that's how we learn. I've been wondering how the bike would sound for ages, and I'm not disappointed. You can hear it in a video at the end...