R69 Sidecar carb settings

[EuroIron]

food for thought

the fastest wearing part in the carb is the needle jet

if you can see that it has wear

it's been worn out for a long time

and for quite some time it's been running lumpy

distinct hard bucking/jerking on part throttle light or over-run loads

when they get really bad, the engine will 8 stroke



the Bing is quite crude, the limited selective tuning bis have huge steps/increments between them, and to truly dial them in

can easily requiring putting holes in jets for sizes that you cannot buy

getting frisky with the idle and transition discharge

maybe soldering up to drill smaller........ something like an air bleed

possibly convincing the needle jet it can perform a bit of emulsifying

and maybe even filing a spot on the needle

or perhaps even filing at the slide cutaway



better...... slap some Mikunis or Dellortos on it and have all the selective tuning bits you could ever worry with and in very fine increments

I cannot say I see much merit in the pre-70 bing carbs

I rank them right there with Amal concentrics and only marginally better than the concentrics which have the hidden and virtually non-serviceable pilot jets

at least the amals have intelligently sized float needles and very good floats

[saintclair2703]

I used to use factory specs and toss an ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil in the tank.

[thaemlitz3321]

Seeing the rant on Bings I don't feel so bad asking if anyone tried to mate up side float CJ carbs to a 60/2. $40 a pair, figured it was worth a try.

I got them to mate to the BMW heads. I've been tinkering with them. Thought I'd see if anyone had tried em?

[tricyclerob]

I was thinking about mikuni's, but I like the Marvel Mystery Oil idea, or maybe I just like the look of the can.

[VBMWMO]

In reading the shop manual regarding setting up for a sidecar, ['59, R69] I noticed it indicated the carb needles should be raised 1 notch. I assume to enrichen the mixture to account for the load put on the engine by the car.
Does anyone know if this is necessary or is a plug check for color after a run under a load sufficent?
I raised the needles and seemed to lose a noticable bit of power esp. on inclines.
I moved the needles back to the top position, and it felt like I gained 5-6 H.P. Pulled the same inclines much better with a higher speed.
I did a plug check and the plugs were light, but not white. I am concerned about running too lean, or better put, due to the s/c load, not rich enough.[But the extra power is v.nice]
I was thinking about a slightly leaner main jet, and moving the needle back up a notch as a "compriomise", I have the jets but I thought I would throw it out to the forum, and collect some thoughts first. , thanks, rj