Dial a jets are great, but watch for the dust and crud they let into the engine. I have used these at the dunes and within an hour they got dusty. A good protectant is some silicone around the housing box.
On this note I must say this. NEVER run without an air filter, if yours is old and falling apart, make a new one out of a UNI filter or buy a new one. If crud gets in that carb, it means a cleaning, if crud gets past the carb, it can kill your engine.
How does 30 mph sound?
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Arnadanoob
- Spree
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I don't know what it's like in Michigan but I'm guessing it snows unlike Hawaii. Keep in mind that even during this season (where it rains and will be the coolest at night), I have to set the carb up a little differently for day and night riding (unlike the summer).
For us with Keihin/Koso/OKO carbs, we tune the bike so that the air-fuel ratio is good during the day (warmer) with the airscrew out by 1.5-2 turns. By night the temp drops from 95F to 60F-55F (I know it's not that much compared to the some of you) but it's enough to throw the slow jet settings towards the lean side. So it's a matter of turning the airscrew between 1/4 to 1/2 a turn to get it back on track.
If Hawaii did snow, it will definitely require a different jetting scheme. Naturally a colder climate involves more air density so the engine will be dangerously lean so you'll need to upjet to start (main jet first), then the clip position on the needle will need to be dealt with (depending on the impact of the main jet change), then finishing off with the pilot jet.
That dial-a-jet thing looks neat but I have zero experience with it. The only reservation I'd make is in the hands of someone who doesn't understand carb jetting, you may stand to make things worse with something like that. In my mind there's no replacement for experience, if you really want to ride it in the cold climate, I'd have a professional retune it and if you want to write down his settings (jet size, clip position, etc.) then if you want you may be able to do this the next time around yourself. The dial a jet is essentially a 3rd jet from what I can tell, it's mostly a correction jet to enrichen everything by a certain amount without actually replacing the jets, should work nicely.
One sure fire way to find out if your slow jet (pilot jet, if you have one) is set too lean for your current conditions, start the bike up, and let it warm up to normal operating temp.
- From idle, snap the throttle wide open and hold it for a couple of seconds. If the motor makes a hollow "BAAWWWW" sound and comes near or does die out, your pilot jet and/or airscrew setting is too lean.
- If you snap the throttle wide open, it hesitates then revs up, then as you close the throttle completely, the rpm stays at a particular rpm for a bit then comes down to idle speeds, it's too lean.
- If you snap the throttle wide open from idle and the bike comes up from
under you (or something like that), you found a good setting.
For us with Keihin/Koso/OKO carbs, we tune the bike so that the air-fuel ratio is good during the day (warmer) with the airscrew out by 1.5-2 turns. By night the temp drops from 95F to 60F-55F (I know it's not that much compared to the some of you) but it's enough to throw the slow jet settings towards the lean side. So it's a matter of turning the airscrew between 1/4 to 1/2 a turn to get it back on track.
If Hawaii did snow, it will definitely require a different jetting scheme. Naturally a colder climate involves more air density so the engine will be dangerously lean so you'll need to upjet to start (main jet first), then the clip position on the needle will need to be dealt with (depending on the impact of the main jet change), then finishing off with the pilot jet.
That dial-a-jet thing looks neat but I have zero experience with it. The only reservation I'd make is in the hands of someone who doesn't understand carb jetting, you may stand to make things worse with something like that. In my mind there's no replacement for experience, if you really want to ride it in the cold climate, I'd have a professional retune it and if you want to write down his settings (jet size, clip position, etc.) then if you want you may be able to do this the next time around yourself. The dial a jet is essentially a 3rd jet from what I can tell, it's mostly a correction jet to enrichen everything by a certain amount without actually replacing the jets, should work nicely.
One sure fire way to find out if your slow jet (pilot jet, if you have one) is set too lean for your current conditions, start the bike up, and let it warm up to normal operating temp.
- From idle, snap the throttle wide open and hold it for a couple of seconds. If the motor makes a hollow "BAAWWWW" sound and comes near or does die out, your pilot jet and/or airscrew setting is too lean.
- If you snap the throttle wide open, it hesitates then revs up, then as you close the throttle completely, the rpm stays at a particular rpm for a bit then comes down to idle speeds, it's too lean.
- If you snap the throttle wide open from idle and the bike comes up from
under you (or something like that), you found a good setting.
The Dial-a-jet is a third adjustable (5 positions) jet. You change your main jet about 5 numbers leaner when you install the Dial-a-jet. The jet nozzle starts flowing early and helps throttle response a bunch. On my 400 quad it added a solid 1 mph to the top end (speedo and GPS) and improved acceleration by about 4% on a 1/8 mile drag strip. I live at sea level on Puget Sound (the wet side) but also ride in the mountains, as high as 7000 feet and also on the dry side of the mountains where it is as much as 40° hotter and a lot less humid. The flexiblity is great. With a twist of a screw driver I can change jetting up or down about 5 numbers. The one on my 250 also improved throttle response a bit but the top mph stayed the same. It doesn't really matter as the wife has never run the 250 at WOT anyway.
Bear 45/70
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
Re: How does 30 mph sound?
I'm glad I got an '86 Spree, from what I've read, the '85 and below could barely hit 26.....
30 is normal, however....My BoneStock 1984 Spree did show me 41.
Even if it was downhill with all of my 230 pounds helping out...
30 is normal, however....My BoneStock 1984 Spree did show me 41.
Even if it was downhill with all of my 230 pounds helping out...
Re: How does 30 mph sound?
My '85 has done 27 mph from day one and is still doing it 23 years later. Oh and you are a light weight. I never have understood why the '86 and later were faster. The compression was dropped to 6.8 in '86 from 7.2.seacook wrote:I'm glad I got an '86 Spree, from what I've read, the '85 and below could barely hit 26.....
30 is normal, however....My BoneStock 1984 Spree did show me 41.
Even if it was downhill with all of my 230 pounds helping out...
Bear 45/70
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
Nope, straight outof the service manual. The '86 and up head cc's went up to compensate for the domed piston. The best combo is the '86 and up piston and the '85 and down head.dgsoles wrote:I know the piston went from dished ('85 and below), to domed ('86 and up). Maybe you have your compression figures mixed up?
Bear 45/70
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
'83 Aero 80 X 3
'84 Aero 80 X 3
'85 Aero 80
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'84 Aero 125
'84 Aero 125 X 2
'85 Aero 50
'85 Spree
Re: How does 30 mph sound?
30 is normal, however....My BoneStock 1984 Spree did show me 41.
Even if it was downhill with all of my 230 pounds helping out...[/quote]
My '85 has done 27 mph from day one and is still doing it 23 years later. Oh and you are a light weight. I never have understood why the '86 and later were faster. The compression was dropped to 6.8 in '86 from 7.2.[/quote]
Thanx for the lightweight compliment!!!
We have a lot of hilly areas here in Georgia and when I did hit 41 it was an extreme downhill run. I dont know if it was me or the Spree that was screamin louder!!! LMAO
Even if it was downhill with all of my 230 pounds helping out...
[/quote]My '85 has done 27 mph from day one and is still doing it 23 years later. Oh and you are a light weight. I never have understood why the '86 and later were faster. The compression was dropped to 6.8 in '86 from 7.2.[/quote]
Thanx for the lightweight compliment!!!
We have a lot of hilly areas here in Georgia and when I did hit 41 it was an extreme downhill run. I dont know if it was me or the Spree that was screamin louder!!! LMAO