(click on pictures to enlarge)
If you find that your scooter is running badly and has bad throttle
response and rideability, then a carb synchronization might be just the
ticket.
It seems that Honda went out of their way to make this procedure a
challenge. Though it's documented in the shop manual and in after market
manuals (like the Haynes manual) there are some specifics that are left out. |
Though not really a farkle, I included the carb sync
instructions here until I get a maintenance section completed. |
| First, make sure that you have the proper tools. You will need a 5mm
allen wrench, 4mm allen wrench, 10mm and 8mm socket and extension, a #2
phillips and a #2 phillips stubby (short) screwdriver. A #3 phillips screw
drive, at least 6 inches long. Needle nose pliers, and a good work light.
You may also need a slotted screw driver, hemostats (the longer the better) |
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| Remove both the right side and left side lower fairings to get access to
the bottom of the carbs and the intake manifold vacuum ports.
Remove the two bolts on the front of the tank and raise the tank. To gain
access to the carb sync adjuster screws it will be necessary to also remove
the tank prop bar from the valve cover. So secure the tank with a rope or
some strap to keep it up and out of the way.
To gain access to the sync screws on the number 1 and number 4 carbs,
remove the starter circuit slider from the top of the carbs. There are two
screws and the cable slides out of it's notch.
Be careful to save the washers (plastic) slider
washers (plastic) and the little spring attached to the left side slider
mount. These all can pop off and get lost down in the engine very easily!
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| Next, carefully pry off the hose off the number on intake. This hose
runs up to the petcock to provide vacuum to actuate the plunger in the
petcock to allow fuel to flow to the carb bowls. Carefully pry the rubber
cap off the number 2 intake and the number 3 intake. Remove the allen screw
from the number 4 intake. You will need to replace this with a screw-in port
to attach your hose from your carb sync gauges. (I use a Morgan Carb Tune
and they are included). |
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| Attach all the hoses to the ports. You will need to apply a vacuum
supply to the hose that you took off from the number 1 port, so fuel will be
supplied to the carb. I use a Mity Vac for this. Slide the hoses from your
vacuum gauge onto the vacuum ports. |
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| Start the bike and let it idle until fully warmed up. You might want to
consider putting a fan in front of the engine to provide some airflow to aid
in cooling. Avoid revving the engine with the gauges attached. Each type is
different, so read the instruction for your gauges. |
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| After the engine is fully warm, adjust to idle to 1100 RPM via the idle
speed adjuster screw by the number one carb. This only adjusts the number 3
carb, and since they are all linked via the linkage, each carb is adjusted
along with the number three. After the idle is set you can start to adjust
the screws. The goal is to have all the gauges level, or at the same
reading. Most gauges are in Inches of Vacuum. It really doesn't matter on
the CBR1000f how many inches it is pulling, just as long as they are all
the same. There are only three idle adjustment screws. Number 1 carb,
number 2 carb and number 4 carb. All of them are synced to the number 3 carb.
The heads of the Number 1 and number screws are blue in color. The number 2
screw is a standard cadmium plated color, and is between the number two and
number 3 carbs. The pictures show a screw driver in the position to adjust
each screw. You can see where the screws are hiding by these pictures, It's
difficult to see and impossible to photograph these screws. |
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(Click on pictures to enlarge)
| To add additional electrical devices, you must somehow supply power
and a fuse to the devices. People like to add things like heated grips,
power outlets for GPS devices and radar detectors. Also heated clothing
is popular in the northern areas for those of us that ride year round.
There are several choices to do this, but I've found the most elegant
solution is to add a aftermarket fuse box. There are several to choose
from, but space is a consideration on the CBR. One popular choice is the
Blue Sea, which is a marine application. Well built and functional,
but fairly large. I found that there is no space under the dash for this
unit, and the only place to mount it without doing some major cutting
and such, is under the tail. For me, this was not a good choice. I have
a Givi top case that would have to be removed to remove the tail piece
to access the fuses. Or I would have to leave the wires long and fish
the block out from under the tail. In reality, one would probably never
blow a fuse, but Murphy's law states that if you do, it will be pissing
out rain on a dark cold night a million miles from nowhere. Murphy and I
are good friends, so I went a different route, and mounted a smaller
fuse block under the dash. Which is accessible by removing just the
lower right dash panel. Takes maybe 30 seconds to do. |
I used this BUSE brand holder
instead. It's much smaller and fits under the CBR dash.
Blue Sea Fuse box. Nice unit,
but really hard to fit it on the CBR. Larger bikes like an ST or FJR it
fits great!
I also had to use a
Ground block since this unit doesn't have any provision for grounding
the circuit. |
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I also powered the fuse block off of a 30 amp Bosch relay which is
powered by the rear tail lights. In other words, it is only on when the
keyed ignition is on. No more draining the battery because you forgot to
turn off your heated grips, or left the radar detector on all night.
Actually I used two relays. One is strictly for the Magnum Blaster
horns, described below.
This also has the added benefit of not running what ever current draw that
the accessory has, through a switch. The accessory gets a full 12V
straight from the battery. The accessories switch simply turns the relay
on or off. Or in this case, it gets the power from the fuse lock. |
| I mounted the fuse block to a piece of aluminum with tie wraps and
then tie wrapped mount to the front fairing stanchion. I mounted the
grounding block to the stanchion right above the fuse block with tie
wraps as well. They are both accessible simply by taking off the the
lower right dash panel. Very simple. |
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The relays I mounted on the front cross bar, again each
with a tie wrap. The one one the left in the picture is for the fuse
block and the other for the horns. I ran a single 12 GA wire from the
tail lights up to power the relay to the fuse block. I'm sure that there
are wires under the dash that could be used for the switched power. The
front running lights aren't a good choice, because they are a two wire
system and when the turn signal is turned on, they power on and and off. |
I also mounted two
Powerlet
style (BMW type) power sockets on the upper dash panels. One is for my
GPS and uses a 2 amp fuse, the other is for another accessory such as a
radar detector. Which I so desperately need. It's less expensive in the
long run then speeding tickets and increased insurance rates. I have my
eye on the Valentine V1. 8-)
One picture shows the two Sockets, one on each side and the other picture
shows the underside of the left socket. I simply drilled the hole using
a
Unibit, which works brilliantly for drilling plastic to the perfect
size. |
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(Click pictures to enlarge)
I use a Garmin Quest 2 GPS unit to help me route and find new roads.
This is a nice little unit that comes with all of North America
pre-loaded. It rests in a Garmin motorcycle mount. It features a audio
plug so if you use some sort of mixer, like an
Autocom or
Starcom1 you can
plug in and get voice directions. It works very well.
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I used a Ram mount, part number GRA1BJ, available from
Cycoactive, here
in Seattle. Cycoactive is the North American Tourtech distributor. If
you are into Adventure touring, you are familiar with Tourtech. On top
of that is the 3.5 inch ram arm (part number GRANA) and then a round
adapter plate (part number GRAB) to connect it to the Garmin MC mount.
The Garmin mount has a neat little locking feature that prevents the
unit from jumping out of the mount if you go over some rough road. |
| And it's powered from the switched fuse box via a
Powerlet
socket and 90 degree plug. I put a 2 amp fuse in the fuse box to protect
it. |
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(Click on pictures to enlarge)
(Click on pictures to enlarge)
In the winter time it gets pretty cool up here in the Pacific
Northwest, so instead of waiting for winter to kick in I decided to
install some heated grips on what turned out to be the hottest day of
the year so far. A simmering 97F! Oh well... they will be much
appreciated come winter time.
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I Used the
Symtec brand from
California Sport
Touring. They come with either a round rocker or a toggle switch.
Another choice is the
Dual Star brand, which is the exact same thing, or
Hot Grips which are
full grips. As you can see these are just the elements. |
Alternately you can use a
Heat-Troller
for infinite adjustment. I've used the Heat-Troller on other bikes and
have found that I use only two settings. Full high or about half. So for
this installation I decide to just use the round rocker instead
I mounted it on the lower left dash panel where the fuse access is .
The elements have super adhesive that sticks well to the bars. I used a
length of heat shrink tubing on the metal clutch side under the element
to keep the aluminum from acting like a heat sink. The clutch side does
have a few extra elements to counter act this, but in the past I have
found the throttle side is always warmer. I simply slid the grips over
and glued them in place making sure that there is room for the wires to
move and the throttle returns with out binding. Wiring is easy, and I
ran it off a 5 amp fuse on my fuse block, so when the key is off, the
grips will power off as well. |
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(Click on pictures to enlarge)
The lack of a clock has bothered me since I purchased the bike. I like
to know what time it is when riding, to aid in decisions like should I
go exploring up that road, or just how late to work I'll be
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I used this multiple function clock - voltmeter - thermometer unit
from
California
Sporttouring. It's about 5" wide, 1" tall and about 3/4" deep. It's
also back light for night time. It has a neat feature that will warn you
of low battery voltage and ice. The low battery voltage is important on
Hondas, because of the legendary stator - rectifier problems. Now I'll
now if for some reason the charging system is dying. |
| I mounted it right above the stock information (idiot) lights with a
aluminum bracket. The bracket is stuck to the dash with strong double
back tape (the kind that holds on automotive body side molding) and the
voltmeter is attached to the bracket with Velcro, so if I need to remove
the dash panel it will be simple. The wiring is simple. One constant hot
12+ , one 12+ switched and one ground. The constant hot I split off one
of the relay feeds, the switched goes to the fused block and is
protected with a 5 amp fuse. The ground goes to the ground block. The
unit feature inside and outside temperature. The sensor for inside is on
the unit, and is subject to direct sun on a bike. It also has a long
wire with and probe, which I ran to the tail section and mounted it with
a tie wrap under the tail section to the license plate wire. Hidden from
the direct sun and not subjected to the heat of the bike itself it give
a good accurate temperature. |
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