VL1500 Rebuild Service Turnaround:

Allow 5-7 working days for regular service.
Rush 2 working day service, add $40.

Packaging:
Pack carefully.
It's best to assume that the carbs will be dropped onto the surface of Mars and are supposed to bounce around for a while before opening.
3" to 4" thickness of  "bubble wrap" around the carbs works well.

Do NOT throw loose carbs in a box on "peanuts" - they will be bent when we get them.
Be careful - Remove any loose parts, like idle adjusters and cables and cable clamps before shipping.

Insurance:
Insure carbs for full retail $900 to $1000 value + whatever else you can think of.

Shipping:
Ship either "Overnight" or "Second Day".
The less time that the carbs are in transit, the less the chance of damage or loss.

Include a note:
Return shipping name and address info
Telephone number
email address
What exhaust and air intake and anything else that you think might affect the tuning.

Even after jetting 1000's of bikes over the last 40 years, we won't be able to guess exactly about the "perfect" jet settings, but, extra info always helps (anybody who claims to be able to specify "perfect jetting" for every bike in every location, is a bit "to sure of themselves" or not very picky.  :-)

You can include credit card information in the note (not our preference) for payment - but we would prefer calling you and getting credit card info when we are ready to ship back to you.

Paypal is also an option.
If you want Paypal, tell us in your note and include email address and we will bill you when ready to ship.

Thanks -

Marc Salvisberg

Mikuni 36mm carbs This is an emulsion tube, (of which includes the needle jet) from a 36mm Mikuni carburetor. There are basically 2 types: The set for 3mm (.118") series needles and the  set for 2.5mm (.098) needles.

Mikuni 36mm carbs IDENTIFICATION Factory Pro replacement number fits Mikuni size markings 100102k1221 3mm series needle Y-0, Y-2, Y-4, Y-5 100102k 2.5mm series needle O-6, O-8 "Square in a square" This is the official Mikuni stamping. It is on almost every jet that Mikuni makes.   Also, we can make larger needle jets upon request.   Note! If you are replacing worn needle jets (emulsion tubes) and the tubes have no markings on them, they are probably dynojet tubes and they will not work with normal needles.

This is a worn 38mm Mik needle jet - It doesn't take too much to make a big difference!

This is a picture of the WORN needle jet area of an emulsion tube from a stock 38mm CV Mikuni carb as installed on Ducati,  Yamaha XTZ/TDM/TRX 850, YZF750, FZR/YZF1000, etc.. It has approximately ~5000 miles or  8000k usage. Notice that the center hole is noticeably worn at the "V", the 12 o'clock position, which would be towards the engine, as installed in the carburetor. This causes 2 conditions. First, it allows more fuel to enter the carburetor, as in using a needle with a small base diameter AND the fuel that enters the carb - it enters in larger droplets, resulting in poor combustion. We carefully check needle jet condition on the vehicles when we create and install carb recalibration kits. If you install a kit and it is much too rich at low rpm, and lowering the fuel level 1mm doesn't fix it, check the needle jets for any wear - it's not uncommon. Additional:  Eventually, the carb body, where it holds the slide from rattling back and forth will wear out - allowing the slide to rattle and bang the needle into the needle jet orifice - causing accelerated wear. Example: The original needle jet lasted 5,000 miles. After replacing the worn emulsion tube / needle jet, they only lasted 3,000 miles or less. That's because the slide guide slot in the carb body is worn - not because of the emulsion tube or needle is bad. Note! Be famous (for something!) Have an emulsion tube that's worn? Send it in (in a padded envelope) with make, model, mileage, usual use (in-town, commute or sport), your name and the difference between running before and after replacement. We'll put some of them at the bottom of this page. (08/23/99)

Feedback
 

(partial, edited response to FZ1 Owners Group - April 5, 2003)

It a well known FACT that more experienced tuners know that NEEDLE JETS WEAR OUT!!!!!! They wear out on EVERY Japanese CV or slide type carb that has a needle - stock needles, stainless needles, titanium needles, bare 6061 needles and anything else that anybody else has made -

 It's a mileage and usage thing.

The more the mileage - the worse it is -
The bigger the cylinder - the worse rate it is -
The lower the rpm the bike is usually used at - the worse rate it is -
The worst rate are low rpm engines operated at low rpm - as in in-town -
The least worse rate - small engines operated at highway speeds -

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what happens if they have enough empirical data and a set of carbs in front of them.
The basic problem is that, at low rpm, the intake tract pressure fluctuations simply bang the slide back and forth in the carb's "slide guide" -
That rattles the needle in the bore of the needle jet and just bangs the needle jet, and if the needle is very soft - the needle AND the needle jet just rattle to a slow death - Ya takes your choice - one or both - Titanium seems to be the best choice - esp. over ss.
Mikuni knows that - that's why most CV Mikuni carbs have a step in the slide that spring loads/cocks the needle to one side to discourage deadly needle "rattle".
That's also why Keihin FCR's have actual bearings to keep slide rattle to a minimum (but noisy!) amount - Yep - needle jets STILL wear out in FCR's - and even wear out in the carbs of 250 GP bikes, like RS 250's, TZ250's and Aprilia 250's, too - amazingly enough!
If the slide guide in the less expensive CV carbs didn't wear out - that would make it "less worse" - but as the guide wears - the needle jet wear rate continues to accelerate as that slide rattle increases in amplitude -

We manufacture replacement:
FZR400, 88-89
FZR600 needle jets
gsxr / katana 36mm 2.5mm needle jets
gsxr 36mm 3.0mm needle jets
Triumph 900/1200 Mikuni 36mm needle jets
Ducati/TDM/TRX/XTZ 38mm needle jets
YZ/YZF 750/1000 38mm needle jets
FJ1200 needle jets
VL1500 needle jets
RF900/RF600 needle jets
cbr900 needle jets
Kaw zx900 (and other Kaw models)  needle jets

It would not be cost effective to make all these parts just to fix carbs with a specific brand of needle in them -
In an  informal poll - it looks like our needles were only in maybe 1 in 10 of these carbs - majority were unjetted - with stock needles - and the owner was going to rejet and experienced tuners would catch the wear before trying to jet a set of worn out carbs -

In addition - we are the only people that I know of that have a patent on needle jets that actually make replacement needle jets - We've probably looked at more worn needle jets on more different models than any one single facility in the world - We probably "should" know more than a chat group! Hopefully! :-)

Some wear can be compensated with by fuel level changes and we do specify on the website on models that are prone to wear  to CHECK before jetting -

Open eyes and open minds are terrible things to waste.