Vacuum Gauge

RockerGuy

RockerGuy

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Hey guys,

looking for a vacuum guage to sync my throttle body. I've heard about the home-made ones, but prefer to get one commercial. I've never done this on my bike yet, so I don't want to figure out throttle bodies + manometers :rolleyes:.

If anybody is willing to lend that'll be great. I return all tools!
If you have a used one that you don't use anymore, even better.
If you can walk me into making one, I'm all ears. I love learning about the bike.

Thanks
 
Princess auto sells dial vacuum gauges for <$20. Personally I prefer a manometer, so you can see all cylinders at once, but it is a pain to store.
 
RockerGuy said:
Hey guys,

looking for a vacuum guage to sync my throttle body. I've heard about the home-made ones, but prefer to get one commercial. I've never done this on my bike yet, so I don't want to figure out throttle bodies + manometers :rolleyes:.

If anybody is willing to lend that'll be great. I return all tools!
If you have a used one that you don't use anymore, even better.
If you can walk me into making one, I'm all ears. I love learning about the bike.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Vacuumate. That way you can rent it out to everyone else too cheap to buy their own and recoup come of the cost. I bought one years ago and never looked back.
 
Jeebus, vacuumate is really expensive. Other than the obvious (no mercury to leak) what makes this worth more than 5 times the price of a manometer?
 
RockerGuy said:
Are you saying any vacuum gauge can work? I have no experience with this.
Click to expand...

Any vacuum gauge can work (given suitable resolution, if it's a digital gauge that only reports full inches, it won't help you much. Tenths of an inch should be good enough). The manometer and vacuumate are just 4 parallel vacuum gauges. Having a single gauge would be a pain as you would have to move it around while trying to sync things, but it is definitely possible.

The oldschool way (that actually gets really close) was to find a drill bit that just fits under the carb slide and check it under the other slides to make sure they are all at the same height.
 
GreyGhost said:
Any vacuum gauge can work (given suitable resolution, if it's a digital gauge that only reports full inches, it won't help you much. Tenths of an inch should be good enough). The manometer and vacuumate are just 4 parallel vacuum gauges. Having a single gauge would be a pain as you would have to move it around while trying to sync things, but it is definitely possible.

The oldschool way (that actually gets really close) was to find a drill bit that just fits under the carb slide and check it under the other slides to make sure they are all at the same height.
Click to expand...

Ok, cool. I will try to get some gauges at Princess auto. After reading my bike manual, I think I have an understanding of what the objective is. My bike is fuel injected
 
GreyGhost said:
Jeebus, vacuumate is really expensive. Other than the obvious (no mercury to leak) what makes this worth more than 5 times the price of a manometer?
Click to expand...

Depends on how often you use it. Battery powered which is handy on boats where I can't reach/don't want to go to the battery(s). Waterproof, shock-proof, you can hold it upside down, flick of a switch to cycle back and forth between RPM and vacuum, 2-stroke to 4-stroke. 3 different scales of vacuum for the bizarre engines that never seem to have the right vacuum levels for the gauges. Set-up time is reduce as it automatically dampens out the pulsations always viewed on the needle gauges. You can rev the snot out of the engine and not have to worry about sucking the mercury through the intake.... Oh and it has an "active mode" that can diagnose leaky intake and exhaust valves too.
 
yo rockey, you will still need the adaptors to screw into the manifolds. unless you make them, with the right thread, you can get them from your dealer, have fun.
 
GateKeeper said:
I guess one learns something new everyday,,,,,

I didn't realise one had to sync a fuel injected bike, I thought it was only done on a bike with carburators...

but what do I know...

but I do have one of these

morgan carbtune

http://www.carbtune.com/

.
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You've gotta sync the throttle bodies
Stewart said:
yo rockey, you will still need the adaptors to screw into the manifolds. unless you make them, with the right thread, you can get them from your dealer, have fun.
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I've heard that you can get adapters from a hardware store. I will look at the connectors when I get a chance
 
Make sure to install dampen valves in the lines otherwise the gauges will bounce like mad.
 
kneedragger88 said:
Make sure to install dampen valves in the lines otherwise the gauges will bounce like mad.
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Hey Ken, I had that problem with bouncy needles with the 4 vacuum gauges I was using a few years ago, where can you get those valves to dampen the effect so the needles stay steady to get a good reading? OP - 4 years ago, I bought 4 vacuum gauges from ebay from a place in Canada, placed them on a wood board next to each other and hooked them to the throttle bodies, but didn't get a good sync on my last bike because of the needles bouncing excessively like Ken mentioned. Apparently, you need some fittings that reduce the hose diameter to the vacuum gauge to allow less air through the fitting to have a stable needle. I tried looking for those fittings 4 years ago, but I couldn't find anything and I just gave up cause I sold that bike 2 years ago. End result from an improper throttle body sync job was rpms going up and down at idle. Let me know if you find a place to buy those fittings, I need to do a sync on my bike soon the mileage is getting up there again...
 
Rossi86 said:
Hey Ken, I had that problem with bouncy needles with the 4 vacuum gauges I was using a few years ago, where can you get those valves to dampen the effect so the needles stay steady to get a good reading? OP - 4 years ago, I bought 4 vacuum gauges from ebay from a place in Canada, placed them on a wood board next to each other and hooked them to the throttle bodies, but didn't get a good sync on my last bike because of the needles bouncing excessively like Ken mentioned. Apparently, you need some fittings that reduce the hose diameter to the vacuum gauge to allow less air through the fitting to have a stable needle. I tried looking for those fittings 4 years ago, but I couldn't find anything and I just gave up cause I sold that bike 2 years ago. End result from an improper throttle body sync job was rpms going up and down at idle. Let me know if you find a place to buy those fittings, I need to do a sync on my bike soon the mileage is getting up there again...
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You can put carb jets in the hoses and do the same thing
 
I have a motion pro I'll lend you for a Tim hortons gift card... I may even show u how to use it!
 
Rossi,

You need something that fits tightly in your hoses. Look for something plastic (air soft pellets?) and drill a small hole through each one. To ensure your pellets dont get sucked through the engine, make sure they can't pass through all the way through, the fitting on the carb probably works, but check before you run the engine.

Another option is the put a coupler in the line (gauge end full of epoxy with a small hole drilled). Overfill with epoxy so you get a mushroom of it (again to keep it out of the engine)
 
Rossi86 said:
Hey Ken, I had that problem with bouncy needles with the 4 vacuum gauges I was using a few years ago, where can you get those valves to dampen the effect so the needles stay steady to get a good reading? OP - 4 years ago, I bought 4 vacuum gauges from ebay from a place in Canada, placed them on a wood board next to each other and hooked them to the throttle bodies, but didn't get a good sync on my last bike because of the needles bouncing excessively like Ken mentioned. Apparently, you need some fittings that reduce the hose diameter to the vacuum gauge to allow less air through the fitting to have a stable needle. I tried looking for those fittings 4 years ago, but I couldn't find anything and I just gave up cause I sold that bike 2 years ago. End result from an improper throttle body sync job was rpms going up and down at idle. Let me know if you find a place to buy those fittings, I need to do a sync on my bike soon the mileage is getting up there again...
Click to expand...
Does it bounce that fast?
I was thinking of putting a ball inflation needle & glue it to the hose
mastahjay69 said:
I have a motion pro I'll lend you for a Tim hortons gift card... I may even show u how to use it!
Click to expand...
Will keep that in mind, where do you live?
 
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