3. needle clip position: this works in conjunction with the length
of the straight section. If the engine is too rich above a quarter throttle raising the
needle clip (#1 in illus.) will lean the
mixture. 4. needle taper: a larger taper will result in a leaner mixture in
the first half of the taper and a richer mixture in the last half of the needle. For
example, a 1.34 taper will be richer in the first half and leaner in the second half of
the taper than a 1.45 taper needle.
5. number of tapers:
the needle can have one or more tapers. The number of tapers is not usually changed.
Needle jet: the needle jet/nozzle,
varies the fuel/air mixture up to 3/4 throttle. How it overlaps with the jet needle
depends on the needle jet orifice i.d., air bleed holes, and type of nozzle screen. Most
modern japanese carburetors use a fixed needle jet/nozzle assembly which cannot be
removed. If your carburetor has a removable needle jet/nozzle please contact the
manufacturer in order to decipher the nozzle code. It is also not advisable to calculate
how rich or lean a needle jet is using exclusively the nozzle inside diameter to needle
outside diameter discharge area.
Wide open throttle (w.o.t.) main jet:
the best trackside method to determine the size of the main jet (#7
in illus.) is to fully load the engine on a long straightaway or hill. At
the end of the stretch chop the throttle and hit the kill button simultaneously. The plug
is then pulled for a "reading". The parts of the plug you should be looking are:
the positive electrode and the last 1/4 of the ceramic insulator . Best power will usually
result in a very light tan colored insulator tip and dark colored ring around the tip of
the electrode. The electrode itself should have fairly sharp edges. For example, if the
ceramic insulator has a nice tan coloring but the electrode has a white ring around the
tip and the plug is of the correct heat range then you can easily run a size larger main
jet.
Please keep in mind that different types of pre mix
oil & ratios, along with the gasoline, will give different readings. Also, that race
or av gas is more prone to oxidization and storage deterioration, along with the fact that
a multitude of types are used worldwide. When jetting your main jet try to remember to jet
for the best power for a given track. An example of this is endurance where you would want
to run a main large enough to keep the engine cool, this means that you may be on the rich
side but the engine will fade less towards the end of the race. Another situation could be
a stadium sx track where you spend much more time on the low to mid circuits. In this case
you will probably be running a main jet that is much smaller than your usual
"outdoor" jetting along with a hotter/extended electrode plug. As you gain
experience and knowledge, you will be able to use other methods to determine your jetting.
A good tuner can "feel" most of the circuits by slowly revving a parked bike, or
just by looking at the color of the unpainted pipe and silencer.
But in the mean time always remember to change
only one calibration component at a time ! |