D.I.Y.

Drilling carb slides for improved throttle response. - by Mischa Hof
Best paint for Brake Calipers. - by Mike


Omigod!... what did I start with?!
Drilling carb slides for improved throttle response.
A good way to improve midrange throttle response is to drill the carb slides. Mischa Hof wrote how to do it on the 40mm carbs on a '91 1100 gixer. "There is only one hole in these slides, next to the needle. On the other side of the needle, there is no hole, but you can see a kind of casting mark. If you drill another hole there, 1.8mm, you do (can) get a better throttle response. The slides will open faster. Probably the hole you drill could also be 2mm, I just know I've used a 1.8mm drill, and it works pretty well. I don't know if this is the same with smaller carbs or later models, and of course you should take care that your carbs are not already modified. Maybe somebody has already installed other springs in the slides to achieve the same." Some Dynojet kits come with softer/harder springs to change the throttle slide speed. And ofcourse there is a way of over-doing it so be careful... but if you have gone over the top you can always plug the second hole and increase the diameter of the first one.

Best paint for Brake Calipers.
On the subject of how make paint stick to your brake calipers Mike wrote; "I sucessfully painted the brake calipers on my gixer 11. I first used a mild degreasing agent to clean the calipers. Then I gave them a good once over with a wire wheel to get any of the flakes of paint and other remnants off. After that I wiped them down thoroughly with some industrial grade isopropyl alcohol, making sure I left no residue behind (used an old tooth brush)! Then I used the most expensive paint I could find on them which was an acrylic urethane, it seemed to stick like glue. The guy I bought it from told me it had the highest gasoline resistance of any paint (which does not mean it is brake fluid resistant). It was made by a company called "PPG" and the paint was called "CONCEPT"."