RS36 tune-up.

This article is based on Mikuni RS flatslide carbs but most techniques can be applied to other carbs also.

Whenever you take the carbs of for engine cleaning or other tasks you should allways give them a quick once-over to make sure their settings haven't ran out.

As Mikuni RS carbs are shipped from the factory their float level is out of spec so be sure to check them first. Don't start with schecking the height but make sure the floats are equal first by placing a ruler along the carbs. 9 out of 10 times you'll see that the floats pairs aren't equally matched so you need to carefully bend them bit to get them aligned.

When the pairs match up you can proceed with checking the float height. As I said before the RS's come mis-adjusted from the factory. Mine were set at 19+mm whereas the manual says they should be set at 17mm. This makes them run too lean from the factory (greater float height = leaner running).

The next part doesn't apply to CV carbs!...

Synchronizing flatslides is best done on the workbench instead of using vacuum meters. I once tried doing it using vacuum meters and it was a real pain to get them equal and the slightest pressure on the adjustment screws would mis-adjust them again.
Synchronize them by turning in the stationary screw untill you can just manage to slide a small (+/-2.5mm) drill-bit underneath the fixed slide and then adjust the other three slides so the drill-bit slides beneath them with the same amount of pressure. Then fully open and close the slides and repeat the procedure above to double-check.

Last thing to do is check if the airscrews are all still equal by counting the turns you can screw them inward.

Smooth operators!

Checking if float pairs are equal.

Checking float height.

Check slide height (synchronization).