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Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 2:05 am
by Meatball
Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

I have a bucket of Gin-You-Whine Harley-Davidson Screamin' Eagle needle shim washers for the uh, Ahem... Japanese carbs used on the mighty V-Twins. Somewhere...
Glad to see youre doing OK, Wheel...all the destruction on the news had me worried. You must be deep enough in-the-harta to dodge Harvey.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2017 10:33 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Actually Wheel-house lies in the coastal town where Harvey made landfall. Category 4 North wind and sheets of rain Pummeled for 3 hours before Ms. Wheel-person and I took a stroll in the Eye. Gentle breezes, moon in the clouds around 23:30 or so, for 25 minutes before east eyewash Southerlies repeated the beatings from the opposite direction, albeit a bit less intense.

Our house took it like a champ; rain gutters, mostly. Abundant live oaks softened the blows as they gave their lives, uprooted. Others were not so fortunate; many lost all. Communication was down for 2.5 days and we were land-locked, but alive. Water returned for 8 hours yesterday, power maybe in 1-2 weeks. Have grill, campstove, generator for fridge and fans, and jungle scooter rides to enjoy.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Sat Sep 02, 2017 11:05 am
by Rip_City_Spree
d*** glad you and yours are safe.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 2:06 am
by ped
Wheelman is this you? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sueMfSgTm4A :surprise:

On the serious side glad you ,and your family are safe.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Sun Sep 03, 2017 6:45 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Yes, Ped, that was Ms. Wheel-Person and I on F9,fitted with a snorkel for the air box. AF16 is now liquid-cooled!

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2017 3:24 am
by ped
Wheelman-111 wrote:Greetings:

Yes, Ped, that was Ms. Wheel-Person and I on F9,fitted with a snorkel for the air box. AF16 is now liquid-cooled!
Hi wheelman.
I understand that it's very hard for a lot of people in Texas right now. I'm also glad that you guys are getting help. Hope things get back to normal soon. Stay strong be safe.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 5:12 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Update as F9 frame now has over 5000 miles, though the 9th engine build probably only a fifth of that. Anyway, it had resumed dripping - just a drop every 2-3 days or so, with tell-tale red color indicating fuel (with pre-mixed Motul) was the problem. It had also become increasingly hard - like 22 kicks - to start after sitting for as little as 48 hours.

I bought a complete carb gasket kit along with a new air screw + the little washer/o-ring that sits astride that jet. Dipped the carb hard parts for 45 minutes in Berryman's before a solvent wash and careful re-assembly.

QUESTION: This was the first time (I'm pretty sure...) I removed this particular carb, and I noticed my (late-model 2001) float featured a bendable METAL tab instead of the fixed plastic float needle holder I was expecting. Has anyone else seen this on any PA carb?

Anyway reassembled without incident and it starts with 1 kick after 3 days now. Plus, no drips!

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Tue Sep 04, 2018 7:34 pm
by bonesv
I’ve taken apart 20 or more pa carbs and never seen one with metal tab on float. Always plastic and one-piece even the older aero, spree and se/sb models.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:51 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

The F9 engine was sent to me by 1Man8, with a totally believable 30 miles of use, from a 2001 SR like mine. Except for 9:1 gears, my ZX conversion and a Polini Contesta 72 top end, it is stock down to the air box and exhaust. Running a 90 jet. Tried a 92 and it fell flat on its face. Weird that I hadn't noticed the metal float tab. First one I've seen on any PA Carb too.

BTW I finally installed Noisy's Elite air filter. Fits perfect and a 20-MPH speed increase! :)

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 3:02 pm
by noiseguy
Wheelman-111 wrote: Wed Sep 05, 2018 10:51 pm BTW I finally installed Noisy's Elite air filter. Fits perfect and a 20-MPH speed increase! :)
Yes, but did you get the performance dual-density model? That's good for at least a bit more...

https://www.ebay.com/itm/142574702714

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:20 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Scooter sat for 3 days, fired up with One Kick! That hadn't happened in months. Just cleaned and re-gasketed, also replaced cheap Chinese fuel line that had begun to turn mushy. Anybody got 5mm decent fuel line? I had to replace with a length of the same cheap material...

Also splurged on a new left side panel. Way too much money for what it is, but scooter is now Complete.

NoiseGuy's filters are awesome - perfect fit, light material holds oil without excessive drag on airflow. :worship:

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 11:27 am
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Still going strong, with the only issue the following:

It's back to taking 10 or more kicks to fire up unless I start it about every other day. Apparently I misspoke a couple of posts above; 4992 miles on the odometer, about to turn 5! Iron Polini cylinder, still with (super-quiet) stock airbox and pipe. It chugs up to 50 pretty quickly and without drama. It'll run 55 if the wind isn't from dead ahead. It's been a good ride.

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:02 pm
by Jaygen
Wheelman-111,
Im running same bore and jet, stock carb, but 9:8:1 gears, I was wondering what contra spring your using?
Also are you still spinning 42g's in the variator?

Re: Flash 9: Sanity Restored

Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:59 am
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

Been so long... no longer exactly sure. Mid-stiffness spring - I came up with a way to compare springs using a bathroom scale and a defined compression distance. Variator load feels like it's about 3 grams too light. Engine winds up higher, then settles down to torque peak, losing a half-second or so on the over-rev. I'll pull it apart and re-evaluate one of these days.

Carb Cleaning is Still Good Advice

Posted: Sun Jan 12, 2020 5:56 pm
by Wheelman-111
Greetings:

F9 was becoming increasingly fussy to start, until the other day I couldn't get it to do more than idle at 1200. Any throttle caused instant stall.
F7EngineL_resized.jpg
F7EngineL_resized.jpg (367.35 KiB) Viewed 10906 times
Time-tested Board advice was put to the test again, this time with the assistance of 16 year-old Wheel-boy, who helped me reassemble after an overnight soak in Berryman's and a thorough spray-down with choke cleaner and compressed air. Wouldn't you know it? Fired up and purred. Wheel-boy, who just got his license, test-rode around the block, thrilled with good throttle take-up and power. Repeat it over and over; Clean the Carb!

That's an old pic, by the way, of 70-MPH F7's Fabrizi engine.