Anal! carb springs

Happy New Year to you all, can the throttle slide return springs be shortened slightly to reduce fatigue? Or buy lighter springs?
Thanks in advance for your replies, Paul.

Heh heh, that just depends on if you want them to close most of the time or just part of the time. Some people have done it and gotten away with it. Jim

I do like a challenge!

The springs themselves shouldn't be making the carb action heavy. I'd check cables and the condition of any junction box first. In my opinion the standard slippery cramp-inducing grips don't help either but I'm a Tommaselli rubber fan.

I'll get shot down again for suggesting it but I find that a fair amount of friction comes from the choke slide binding inside the main slide and my throttle action is lighter without them.

79x100 said:

The springs themselves shouldn't be making the carb action heavy. I'd check cables and the condition of any junction box first. In my opinion the standard slippery cramp-inducing grips don't help either but I'm a Tommaselli rubber fan.

I'll get shot down again for suggesting it but I find that a fair amount of friction comes from the choke slide binding inside the main slide and my throttle action is lighter without them.

Click to expand...

I'll hang with ya, 79x100. No one should have to go down alone.

Loose the choke! This will also tidy things up a bit. I live around the 44th parallel. No issue with starting. If it's too cold to start the Norton where you are, ride the Suzy.
I added a choke once and took it right off.
Although I had been using a 34mm Flatside, I have a set of 32's (sleeved) I will be trying out with a stage one cam kit. Pulled the chokes right off, of course.
Put a little blob of JB or pc7 in the farrels to seal. You can also get blanking screws just for this situation. The choke is optional.

If you have the orginal throttle on the handlebar it has a friction screw on the bottom, I set this so the throttle only slowly closes and this helps lighten the effort required for a steady speed.

I found that replacing the throttle cables and the junction box made a big difference. That and correct routing, which you can experiment with. I still have the chokes slides in mine and I reckon I need the choke below about 8 C (46F). The carbs are bog standard Amals for a '73 850, including the springs. The action is now light and smooth.

Strip off the stock cables and choke stuff and chuck them into the cornfield. Venhill cables transformed smoothness and no lube required. There are capping screws for the old choke cable entry holes to plug 'em. Another idea ,it is possible to accidentally fit carb top covers spun backwards producing a not so linear up down pulling action creating slight drag. Fit extended tickler kit in lieu of stoopid chokes , overflow on a cold morning startup for first kick action ( like today for 0 degree Celcius start n' warmup, then short drive over to winter cocooning cave). Sort out the new cables and their smoothest direct routing path ,junction box ,twistgrip tightness and life will be sweet again. peter

Cornfield?.... ||shudder|| ||shudder||