This past weekend I decided to synchronize the throttle bodies on my 6th gen. I'm no stranger to this having completed many of these over the years, both carbs and TBs. Sometimes I find weird things others have done, sometimes I find that the OEM service manuals are wrong or at the least misleading, sometimes I find my own bench syncs were spot-on the first time, and sometimes not. But the reason for doing this was that a chattering noise from my clutch area during neutral was not only annoying as hell, but the first step in hunting down what could have been a problem with the clutch assembly or basket itself. A personal note: A few things to consider when beginning a sync. If you rebuilt the carbs/TBs always bench sync prior to re-installation. Bench syncing not only sets a tighter baseline once the carbs/TBs are installed, but it can also help you find any potential problems with your rebuild giving you a last chance to look things over and adjust. If using mechanical gauges, always test them prior to any syncing by connecting all of the vacuum hoses to a single vacuum source. If using a homemade manometer, dampen the fluid-flow so that it doesn't accidentally get sucked into the carb/TB when making adjustments, and just like the knobs on a mechanical gauge help control the needles from bouncing all over the place, dampening the lines on a manometer will reduce fluid bounce. On a TB sync, I leave the MAF unplugged so as to get a much truer idle reading without the computer trying to adjust fuel delivery. On some vehicles you'll get a error code and just need to reset the computer. This was not my case here. Why am I saying all this? You probably don't even need this and know what your doing. Good for you! But I like to talk, LOL! ... The previous owner of this bike was the original owner having bought it new and put over 68,000 miles on her. All maintenance was completed by several well known shops in the area over the years. Good thing, yes? Well, maybe. Career mechanics are people too. Mistakes happen for various reasons, more often than not whereas the "get-em-in/get-em-out" mentality of the business pushes for faster service, pressuring the mechanic to work at a quicker pace which can lead to mistakes. My experiences anyway. There were two mistakes made by a mechanic or two on this bike. What I found during my process here was that Murphy's Law will and always seems to rear it's ugly head whenever I work on something. Haha! At least I expect it and come prepared...usually. The last screw of the eight that hold down the four velocity stacks in the bottom of the airbox was stripped. The head of it, not the thread. C'mon! It's a screw that connects plastic to aluminum and there is NO excuse for over-tightening that! I've seen the brass jets all chewed up in carbs too. No...damn...excuse. Whatever. A quick speed-out and done. Anyway, that and the rear throttle bodies were adjusted out so much that a simple 1/2 turn of the starter valve knob dislodged it from the threaded stem. Wow. Both of them. Maybe they loosened up? Nah, not that much. No way. In any case, I reset all of them, front and rear and completed the synchronization. The outcome is beautiful and no more "clutch" noise at neutral with the lever out. Sometimes it's the little things that make oneself happy. Thanks for reading.
