Carb question

[Dr. Frankenstein]

Hi guys, and thanks; I have a question though: I'm getting ready to tear into a carb rebuild on this bike, and I have done motorcycle carbs before, but not GL1000's. I've been doing a lot of reading on it, and thee Schizz-Nit carb kit to use is apparently the Randakk-Mega-Super-Expensive-Carb-Rebuild-and-Get-You-Closer-To-God-Kit - and it doesn't even come with new jets! Is it truly 'all that', or would something like a K&L work, with maybe the addition of the plenum gasket? It seems every time I've seen references to that Randakk kit, it seems to have gone up $10-15...granted, it has the carb pucks, and the Viton rubber O-rings - but he's not the only one making metric Viton O-rings and reinforced carb gaskets.

Don't get me wrong, the kit IS on my radar - although its mighty spendy for some O-rings and gasket seals...but I'm just wondering if it's 'GREAT' because he says it is, or it's Great because it IS...do you know what I mean? I've used K&L's and Keysters before with no problems at all - I think I just need a little persuasion here to drop that kind of cash on four carb seals and some O-rings.

[pidjones]

Mainly for the plenum and fuel feed seals. You do not need new jets, just clean the old - but inspect carefully the needle jets. One of mine was seriously wallowed out and causing that cylinder to run way rich. If you have a lathe, spin some quick tools for tapping out the emulsion tubes, because they are often fouled pretty bad in my experience. I'm not a Viton fan so much, but they are really good for the intake-to-head seal due to heat.

[Track T 2411]

If you'd like to do a bit of reading concerning carb kits, there's a good 'sticky' at the top of the technical discussions forum. Aside from that, some general advice on carbs that most experienced carb rebuilders will agree on: cleaning and reusing the OEM jets and needle, as well as float needles and seats, is best practice. Unless they've been damaged or are not stock to begin with, there's little reason to trust the quality and consistency of some aftermarket jets.
I've done three sets of gl carbs, and Randakk's kit does have everything you need for a top notch rebuild, and every piece fits exactly like it should. I'll spend the money again because I know it works, I'm not ordering from three different vendors, and if I do have an issue, it will get fixed... IMhO.

[rcmatt007]

aftermarket jets are not the same as OEM jets.... ya pays your money and ya takes your chances

[robin1731]

Or, if you really feel you need new jets the OEM jets can still be purchased. Remember they are Keihin parts. Not Honda. Not cheap either.

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[Fred Camper]

Does depend on the value you place on time. My time is expensive and the Randakk kit proved to save enough time to be less expensive for me.

[Old Fogey]

I've been using Randakk kits for 10 years of rebuilding these carbs. Admittedly Randall is no longer in the mix, but trust me, there was no-one more anal about what he supplied than him. So when these kits were developed all the seals were made to EXACT sizes. If I have a problem set, it's usually down to something I did or didn't do. I have never had any running issue due to that kit. That is worth it's weight in gold.
And, if you are in the States, you don't know what expensive is. When the £ was still at about $1.50 (before it went completely down the toilet!) a $650 Randakk order cost me around $195 in duties and VAT!

[tlbranth]

I've rebuilt the carbs with Randakk's kit and borrowed a friend's Randakk video to do the rebuild. The video is priceless. I would not recommend doing a rebuild without it. As for the kit.......I'm not impressed with viton. I had to disassemble my carbs for a reason not connected with Randakk's stuff. However, the viton disintegrated in many instances when I touched it. The new Randakk wielders of power refused to replace buggered seals. I bought replacements here: https://newmotorcycleparts.net/fuel_sys ... rings.html

I'm no chemist but I like the buna better than the viton and that's what I'll be using in the future especially in light of the Nuevo Randakk attitude. You can get all seals except the carb to plenum seals from the above outfit. For these you can make your own from buna 'string' and super glue. The fancy plenum to plenum seal can be made from buna string and a couple of o-rings. I haven't measured sizes for these yet but if I ever need one, I will.
All of the non-Randakk kits I've seen include jets. Don't use them if you have OEM jets already.
My opinion.

[low-side]

The jets thing is not hyperbole. Low cost kits contain low cost parts that have large tolerance ranges. Ok to use the orings and the bowl gaskets are (usually) passable, but you will very likely end up chasing your tail around tuning issues if you use cheap jets. I haven't looked to see if Honda made seal kits for these carbs like they did some models, might be something to look into. Likely more expensive than Randakk though.

[dontwantapickle]

I've rebuilt the carbs with Randakk's kit and borrowed a friend's Randakk video to do the rebuild. The video is priceless. I would not recommend doing a rebuild without it. As for the kit.......I'm not impressed with viton. I had to disassemble my carbs for a reason not connected with Randakk's stuff. However, the viton disintegrated in many instances when I touched it. The new Randakk wielders of power refused to replace buggered seals. I bought replacements here: https://newmotorcycleparts.net/fuel_sys ... rings.html
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THANKS for the link!
Their website looks pretty complete. I am going to use them for the next carb rebuild.

[Dr. Frankenstein]

YES!! I've been looking for a source for those O-rings for a while! I always thought $150 for seven teeny O-rings, four carb gaskets, an air cut-off valve and some bolts is a bit much, to say the least. You have to admit, it's absolutely BRILLIANT advertising, though; it plays on the fear of uncertainty in the consumer.

RE: the 'jet' thing - (and I'm being rhetorical here)- if I have brass aftermarket jets that measure identically to my stock jets and have the same orifice size as the originals, and are identical in ALL aspects of materials and size right down to the width of the o-ring channels - why shouldn't I use them? Granted, I will probably use the stock ones currently IN the bike, because they're still in good shape and Yes, originals are in general better as long as they are in good shape - but I've been using carb kits from K&L and Keyster for years in a wide variety of motorcycles without any problems at all- but then again, I also know how to tune and sync a carburetor.

Is there something inherently BAD in using aftermarket jets?? Is their brass worse than any other brass out there? Are Honda jets or other parts "only available here!" imbued with some paranormal power that makes them better than any other properly machined and measured jets or parts?? Meanwhile there's tutorial on here somewhere telling you to fill in the slow air jet with solder and go at it by HAND with a 1mm drill to make the bike idle better...like I said, it's brilliant advertising.

I've never had aftermarket bowl gaskets swell on me; I've never had aftermarket jets, needles or seats mess me up, tuning or otherwise. I have seven bikes in my garage right now that I've rebuilt, as well as the ones I've rebuilt and sold, and the great majority of them have 'aftermarket' kits in them, they run great and I enjoy them all. Am I just an anomaly?

[ericheath]

The jet question was due to so many suppliers selling kits with replacement jets and needles that were far from stock. I’ve had a few $10 kits that included everything. The needles were longer than stock. The float valves deteriorate rapidly. The gaskets swell. I had one float bowl gasket that would swell up enough to pinch the float and stop operation. Remove it, put it aside and in 15 minutes it looked like new.

One problem with using Randall’s kit may be that someone has already put inferior jets into the carbs and you won’t have the right ones.

Randakk documented some of the differences he was seeing, different tapers, etc.

Others have sought replacement oring to do their own, but the 1000 jets are pretty much one-off sizes.

There may be good kits still out there. There may be good replacement jets at cheap prices. It’s kind of like Roger said above: you pays yous money, you takes you chances.

[robin1731]

If you don't want to use a certain brand of kit that is of course your choice. Many have used other kits and ended up taking the carbs back off multiple times. Many people who have rebuilt lots of carburetors previously and know how to tune them. Only to find out that GL carbs can be very finicky. Many people who know how to rebuild carbs have ended up sending them to me after getting frustrated. Many people have sent me their carbs after other shops have "rebuilt" them. In all cases when the owner got their carbs back from me they were running like they should.

But like I said. You can use any kit you wish. Or spend time sourcing individual O-rings.


As far as soldering closed an air jet to get the off idle problem fixed that is the best way to do it. Ride a good running GL that doesn't have the fix and then ride one that does and you can feel the difference. Soldering a fuel jet would not be a good idea. The flow would never be the same as when it came from Keihin. Air jets are much more forgiving.

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[tlbranth]

When I originally rebuilt my carbs, they had unmarked aftermarket jets. I did have a spare set that was a goner except it had oem jets in it which I swiped and put in my rebuilt set.
Doc, I'm always suspicious of forum dogma. I've seen lots of instances of a 'fact' thrown out there, picked up by someone else and re-chucked and on and on 'til it becomes folklore which only the uninitiated don't know about. After a while though, you get to know who has real knowledge and who only thinks they do. In the case of jets, knowledgeable people on this forum have backed up the claim that oem jets are all you can really count on.
I thought by bike might be experiencing the 'off-idle' flat spot and while digging through my bag of aftermarket jets I found 4 air jets that were actually smaller than the #62 drill size recommended so I didn't need solder. I just drilled them out and it did indeed make a difference.
Regarding Randall's kit: if you have original jets, it does indeed give you 'everything you need and nothing you don't need' and to do a rebuild, I'd say it's your best bet. The little rubber plugs are unavailable anywhere else. I'd still prefer Nitrile though.

[pidjones]

I have yet to try these, but intend to on my next build. Note that they also have the plugs.
https://newmotorcycleparts.net/fuel_sys ... parts.html

And 4into1 has the plugs (and many other GL1000 parts) https://4into1.com/carburetor-rubber-pa ... 50-gl1000/ I have used parts from them, and been very satisfied.