Carbs and Flathead Woes

Seriously, Honda used philipshead screws seemingly everywhere on the VFR except in the most tedious location: carb sync screws. I’ve got myself a 90° driver that can use the standard bits, philips, flat head, and has an adapter for sockets. Be it a deep well or standard 7m socket, I can’t get them to squeeze into the cramped space to fit onto the adjuster screws. So I’m just left with the option of a flathead bit.
My struggle is keeping an eye on the gauges, and keeping the bit lined up without slipping out of place. Press on the tool at all to help hold it in place and it’ll rev the bike. Start making adjustments and the bit slips out of the groove. Needles to say this is my first time working on carbs, wanted to see if anyone had tips or advice to help making it easier and prevent the bit from slipping off the screws?


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If they were Philips (JIS) you couldn't apply enough pressure for them to bite. The bit would just keep jumping until the screw head was worthless.

Maybe sacrifice a socket and grind the outside down super thin. That has helped me in other applications.

I know it's frustrating, but it is obviously possible with the blade.

 

Hey, Captain back at it. Thanks for the response man. I’ll give till this weekend to see what some of the other guys say. If it comes down to it, there’s an auto zone right across the street so I can pick up extra sockets to grind down. Thanks for the idea.


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trick is if you have the luxury of having a bike lift, you get it high as it goes, then you get your squat stool, and make that the lowest, then you need no fewer than three flash lights and a head light is imperative. There is definitely spot to look through when your doing your "synch" I have 4 dedicated carburetor adjustment tools and the one I go to hands down is a right angle one that has a handle in the middle, with the adjusting wheel on the end (you know what they look like) its blade configuration btw. I have tried using sockets on the end of an old Snap On carb tool and it sucked, blade is the way to go. I bench synch my carbs and now I can do the synch in less than 5 minutes. No bragging, just stating the facts. oh, I like the Morgan carb tool too.

 

Yea, a lift is a bit out of budget at the moment. Especially living in an apartment I don’t have such space. I was contemplating on the Abba Skylift but that think looks kind of sketch. Bought 2 different 90° tools one slightly thinner that the other and both take different bits..figured keep them rather than send them back just incase. I’ll look into a blade config tool, though I’ll probably sacrifice a socket at well simply so I’ve got one prepped if needed. As far as being able to whizz through the process, I’m sure it comes with experience and the right tools. None of which I’ve got….yet. At least I’m learning little by little. Thanks for your response!


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Something I did was install the brass plenum nipples on all four of the carb bases, they have a nice little honda rubber hat that resides on them. When a service comes into play, I remove them and install the vacuum lines. Makes things go faster, and came from having time to think things over, when you own something for 30 years, you become very familiar it. That lift you mentioned I have seen and would not go near it. Peace

 

Yea, may need to look into following in your footsteps on the brass nipples. The hoses that came with my gauges were a little to big so needed to remove the built in adapters and use the adapters that came with the gauges. Also found that I need to replace one of the clips that holds the headlight bulbs in place. Along with the rubber boot. My grandfather used what looked like shoe goo to hold in the right had side bulb. Problem being I haven’t been able to find them.
If you’ve seen that Abba in person and say it’s as sketchy as it looks, I’ll take your word for it. Thanks for that. I’ll avoid it like the plague.


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never saw the lift in person, saw it on video, they make good stuff Abba, I think they make some robust bike chains and such. If you put your hands on one and it looks ok, maybe its an option for you. I would not want to start using the frame holes to lift a bike, that is just me. You can glean some knowledge getting on a Honda parts list for your bike, I go on and look at the exploded views of sections and get part numbers to go on ebay to order. Peace

 

I hear nothing but rave reviews of Abba Skylift users.... if I didn't have a lift table, I'd consider one.

 

I really like the copy that I made.
It makes a great way to unload the suspension over the winter months.

https://vfrworld.com/threads/made-my-own-lift.54447/