Gen 3 and 4 carberetors ? interchangeable?

I worked on and own both. I like the design of gen 4 better but have never tried to put a gen 4 on a 3.
I think it would work. Before I get into an unseen cluster ?? any advice . Thanks

 

dubious, but captain 80's will know 4 sure. if you need a good set of gen3 carbs, pm me as i have one for sale.

 

OK, a few things...

SM, he wants to put Gen 4 in a Gen 3, so he needs an extra set of Gen 4 carbs.

Bud, I gotta ask... why? What are you trying to achieve?

Yes, the Gen 4 carbs are quite a departure from how Honda configured the V4 carbs previously, but they are not going to do anything really any better than the Gen 3. If it's about servicing or adjusting, once you go thru a set of G3 carbs and replace the float bowl and fuel tube o-rings, you will likely never have to touch them again as long as you store the bike properly. Which is true for any carb bike.

G4 carbs are smaller diameter than G3 too. So if you were thinking, "I wish I had slightly more low and midrange throttle response on my G3" then that's a way to do it. I don't think anybody has thought that after a ride on a properly set up G3. I know people have put G3 on G4 when they have modded their bikes and are looking for a little more top end power. Why did Honda go smaller then? Probably because after the test riders EXTENSIVELY tried all the options and gave their feedback, slightly better throttle response was reported. Which is very Honda, trying to make a better street bike as opposed to a race bike. Just like the 86 VF500F from 85.

So yes, they will technically "fit". The engines (and cooling plumbing in the V) are virtually identical and the air boxes are the same from 1990 - 1997. You would need insulators for the G4. One thing I noted is that the throttle cables attach near the Left Rear carb on the G4, as opposed to the Left Front on the G3. I suspect where the Left Rear coil is mounted on the frame on the G3, it will interfere with the cables. Haven't looked at the cable part numbers, but G4 could be different (longer).

If your motivation is just, "I wanna try", then cool. Go for it. I'm all about experimenting and would follow along. I don't think you're gonna get much interest or response around here on that project tho. In the end, if/when you get done and the tank is back on, you go for a ride and come back and park it, I think it's gonna be a shoulder shrug at best. Was it worth it?

By the way... I work on, and own, both as well.

So enlighten me... why?

 

Thanks for the info. I'll have to digest that. Why? I should have elaborated in my post. After working on both , but not looking into details I thought i'd throw it out there. Mostly because I have more carbs and carb parts for gen 4. Looking ahead to keeping my gen 3s running. After reading your post , I agree. Probably not worth the trouble. As I'm a sucker for buying parts that are still available and have more gen 4 stuff.

 

you're wrong there, boss. bud12oz wants that, not me.

i agree that gen4 carbs are more solid, robust and industrial than other gens.

 

What?

I was correcting you. Why would you want to sell him Gen 3 carbs if you understood?

Jesus dude.

Edit: Cuz you want to sell those damn carbs to ANYBODY. I know.

 

i guessed that maybe he had trouble with his gen3 carbs and wanted to try gen4 as a possible replacement.