Ok I have the carbs out and open and look at the first thing I find...
The needle falls out and it has a small wire wrapped around it all ghetto style and 2 shims also fall out.
The needle looks to have 6 lans where the clip is supposed to be clipped. The wire was wrapped around the middle, with 2 shims sitting on top.
The OTHER carb has the correct c-clip (in the 3rd land, the middle) but 2 shims UNDER it. So it looks like the level of the needle was the opposite for each.
This is what the 2nd carb needle came out looking like...
So again, they both had the clip (even though one was ghetto rigged with wire acting as a clip) halfway, the 4th land from the top, 3rd fron the needles point. The ghetto one had shims ON TOP, the other had shims ON THE BOTTOM of the clip.
I have read about "shimming" the needle as a poor mans jet job or whatever, but where are the shims supposed to go? Look to me like they weren't needed at all, as I could have just moved the clip up or down instead of shimming it. Can someone please explain the following.
What is THE BONE STOCK setup of these needles? I.E. one clip, halfway up with zero washers, shims whatever.
What is the proper way to adjust this needle to allow for more gas (a richer mixture) to accommodate for my straight pipe exhaust and K&N air filter?
I understand that every bike and carb is different, but I need a good starting point or I'm not gonna be able to do anything with this.
I'm pretty sure this is why my bike was running like crap.
Thanks guys- We have a hurricane blowing through so I'm stuck in the house and would like to get as much of this done as possible. I know I'll have to order clips to replace the wire... but any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated. =)