We drop in on our Tech Editor Mat Boyd to see what tricks he's got for us this month and he shows us a trick to unblock a carby.
This month, ADB Tech Ed Mat Boyd, shows us what tech tricks he’s put to use with everything from cleaning carbon of your power valve to the tricks to unblock your carby.
ELITE RAGS
TROUBLE:
Using old rags or paper towel that is breaking up and leaving fibers and things inside your carby or engine is not ideal.
TRICK:
Buy a packet of these cheap microfibre cloths. They make excellent rags as they absorb anything and they don’t fall apart or leave any fibers behind that could block up anything in your carby or engine.
DIFFICULTY: 1
TIME: 1 minutes
COST: $10
TOOLS: Microfibre rags
BLOCKED CARBY
TROUBLE:
I see this as a very regular job in my workshop. People have pulled the jets out of their own carby and cleaned them but the passage in the carb body between the jet and venturi is still blocked.
TRICK:
If the body of the carb is blocked and you cannot blow air or cleaner through it then remove the centre section of the carb and poke wire through the holes to break up anything blocking them.
DIFFICULTY: 5
TIME: 15 min
COST: $0
TOOLS: Wire, carb cleaner, torque bits, screw driver
TIGHT BOOTS
TROUBLE:
Older bikes that have been sitting around tend to have very dry and tight manifolds making getting the carby back in a complete nightmare.
TRICK:
Warm the rubber manifolds up with a heat gun but take care not to melt them. Then give them a good spray with silicon spray so the carb will slip into the manifolds easily.
DIFFICULTY: 3
TIME: 10 min
COST: $0
TOOLS: Heat Gun, silicon spray
POLISHED VALVE
TROUBLE:
Two-stroke power valves need to be cleaned periodically to stop them from building up with carbon and sticking. Once they have become gummed up and stuck they can drastically affect the bikes power.
TRICK:
Once you have cleaned all the carbon off the power valve, go ahead and polish it. This will help prevent carbon from building up on the power valve and keep it operating correctly for longer.
DIFFICULTY: 7
TIME: 30 minutes
COST: $0
TOOLS: Dremel, polishing bits