Carb Jetting question

Just ride the bike
Or if you are snowed in etc just start it now and then
In 47 years of riding I have never drained a bike down for the winter

If you run non ethanol gas which you should, a lay over of a few months hurts nothing. I do add stabilizer under the why not principle. Didn't do that for many years, but since I have, everything does start far easier in the spring. But advising to start the bike periodically over the winter, is bad advice. unless your plan is to run it long enough to get to full operating temps for at least a short extended period. To just start and rev bike a few seconds, does more potential harm than good.

trappnman said:

If you run non ethanol gas which you should, a lay over of a few months hurts nothing. I do add stabilizer under the why not principle. Didn't do that for many years, but since I have, everything does start far easier in the spring. But advising to start the bike periodically over the winter, is bad advice. unless your plan is to run it long enough to get to full operating temps for at least a short extended period. To just start and rev bike a few seconds, does more potential harm than good.

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Yes I understand your point about the bike not reaching full temperature
Luckily in the UK there is not that much layup time in the winter
If I'm not riding I start my bikes and warm them up

10drum said:

Yep, it's also wise to spray carb cleaner &/or air through pilot circuit.

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In the US, and any place dealing with ethanol blended fuel, the anti-corrosive properties of fuel stabilizer are important to stop the corrosion that is caused by ethanol.

Gets in places we can't reach without disassembly.

The usual reason some people do not get good results with fuel stabilizer, is, they fail to run the engine long enough to dilute the untreated fuel in the lines/filter/bowls with treated fuel.
I always recommend 10 miles. If it's impossible to ride, add Sta-Bil to the tank, then drain the bowls/lines/filter and then open the petcocks, re-fill the carbs with treated fuel and start & idle until fully warmed engine.

(Boats are the worst, a big water separator/filter of 1-2 quarts takes a whole DAY of idling. Best to run it under load,

I did try some 3 slides, didn't make any difference. Then the bike started popping in the left exhaust, ended up going back to the ethanol fuel, still popping, WTF? So I pulled the carbs, and thought I'd pull the blanking plug opposite the pilot jets in hopes of blowing out what might be in there, low an behold the left one was loose, and sucking air, changed the o-rings on both carbs snugged the blanking plugs, switched back to the 3.5s, set the needle back in the middle notch, put the av gas back in it, and now it's running great throughout the whole throttle range.

This is what I'd refer to as, "Barking up the wrong tree".

Maybe in the spring I'll report back with a "don't run av gas in your Norton". Who knows?

Thanks for all the replies, it's been a fun discussion