The road to having a fine tuned carburetor is going to be a long road!
This is part 2 of my stories on how to fix the carburetor of my dad’s Indian Scout motorcycle. If you are new here and are wondering what this is about, you can check out the main Indian Scout page to understand.
The short story is that my dad has a vintage Indian Scout 741 bike and we are restoring it. One day, I’ll go on a road trip with his bike, because I’m a road trip type of gal. For now, I’m sharing with you the restauration project… kind of like like others are sharing their van fitting!
Want to help me? Here are 10 ways you can help me rebuilt my dad’s Indian Scout. Most are free and will take just a few seconds! You want to see me going on a road trip with this bike, don’t you?! Go ahead then, every penny will help!
Status following part 1 of the carburetor fix
As you may have read in the carburetor fix – part 1 article, I had received various parts for the carburetor and was feeling optimistic that changing the throttle shaft and bushings, was going to fix, at least partially, the air leak problem.
Yep, you can guess right now, that things didn’t completely go as planned!!
It’s Christmas, let’s take the carburetor apart!
Christmas day came and as any normal human being would, I decided it was time to take the carburetor of my dad’s bike apart! He wasn’t thrilled, but he knew it was coming and had no choice.
Taking the carburetor from the bike is a piece of cake. Only 3 screws and there it is in your hand. It’s best to remove the gas pipe & empty the gas bowl first but other than that, it’s easy.
I had already prepared my chirurgical tray as I had intended to work on the carburetor in the kitchen, to not freeze in the garage and not loose any bits and pieces. The tray had screw drivers and wrenches lined up. Paper towels, fine grade emery clothes, a small wire brush and of course the new parts to be installed.
Let’s scrub and dismantle carefully
The first day, I just scrubbed and scrubbed some more. As you can tell from the pictures, the carburetor body was very dirty. In addition, despite having looked at Pacific Mike video again and again, I was still fairly intimidated.
My dad was roaming around, looking nervous…
Ok, so I did take the speed needle out but that’s almost all I took apart. And the throttle valve control, and the choke cam… But I put everything back on when it was time to prepare diner!
The second day, I took a few more pieces out. Dad didn’t notice at first, because he was irritated but in his garden! I scrubbed some more. I tried to unscrew the 2 valve discs but couldn’t. Darn, I’m going to have to ask him to help…. OK tomorrow!
By the 3rd day, I had gain confidence from taking things apart one by one and putting them back on again and so this time, I took everything out! Dad was silently fuming but it had to get done. The fact that I could put everything back on in less than 5mn should have been a little reassuring? Not sure, he saw it this way.
The hard part
He helped me unscrew the valve disks so the throttle shaft and choke lever came out as well.
We were almost there, I thought! Just got to get the bushings out. But dad was pissed by now. I’m not quite sure if it was just about the carburetor or if it was just taking too long. Or maybe there was something else. I couldn’t tell and he wouldn’t tell.
So we tried to remove the bushing but they wouldn’t budge. And I got stressed that the new ones might not fit and I would get in all sorts of troubles, as New year was approaching….
At least the carburetor went from quite dirty to pretty clean!
Giving up
So I gave up. We argued and I got mad too.
I got really pissed that my dad didn’t recognize all the efforts I was making.
The efforts in learning mechanics. All the time I spent studying and trying to understand.
The efforts in respecting his old ways. I could just send the carburetor to a pro and get it cleaned and fixed. But no, I scrubbed it meticulously instead. Got my hands dirty and broke some nails. I know, no big deal. Irrelevant actually.
I got pissed he didn’t listen. When my brother had come last time and had confirmed that the throttle shaft needed to be changed, he had agreed. He suddenly didn’t remember. He remembers what he really wants to remember and that was not part of it. I know he is getting old but he is picky about what he wants to remember.
I’m trying, I’m really trying. I could be traveling to Petra or doing a safari in Kenya but instead I’m there, with him, working on his bike. Yes, I mostly enjoy it. But I never dreamed of having a bike. I want a Defender! Yes, when I’m on his bike, it feels great and I totally can see myself riding it. But I’m doing this for him and that day, I got really mad that he didn’t recognize it.
Carburetor back on
So we didn’t replace the bushings, and I didn’t change the throttle shaft. No need to mention that the venturi hasn’t been changed and nothing inside has been cleaned. I rebuilt the carburetor in 5 minutes top, and we put it back on. Not kidding, I got really good at it!
I did manage to change a couple easy pieces. The main nozzle spring, some gaskets. I had adjusted the float level which dad had replace but was completely off.
And we started the engine and it worked ok. Not great, still running too fast.
I had anticipated it and had completely closed the idle needle and gave only one full turn to the speed needle. Just a couple clicks to adjust the gaz and the engine run ok.
Dad wasn’t pleased because it continued to run too fast and kept on saying that it used to work better.
I wasn’t pleased because we had not fixed anything. Air leak was still 100% there!
No one was pleased and now we’ll have to wait for part 3 and maybe even a part 4!
What I’ve learned from this “carburetor fix – part 2”
It’s going to be a long road. Not just to get the carburetor to be in tip top shape.
This restauration project is a life project. The last big project my dad will ever start. It is painful to write but unfortunately so true. For me, it’s a way to be there with my dad. But it is also a sort of life project. One that is teaching me things I didn’t expect.
Grown up men can be stupid
Yeah, ok, that’s hardly news! 😉
As I’ve mentioned before, my dad had his carburetor tuned by a pro decades ago and never, ever touched it again. Before you judge him, you must know that he is far from the only one! I’ve read countless posts on forums, of guys in the same situation. And quite frankly I don’t understand it! Why not learn? Why not try?
Most importantly, I refuse to do the same. With the carburetor and the rest. There is not one bit of this bike that I will not understand 100%. It will get dismantled 100 times if needed, but I will learn everything there is to learn!
I’m on an emotional roller coaster
I had no idea that this restauration project was going to be such an emotional roller coaster.
I knew it wasn’t going to be easy to “manage” my dad’s old ways. I knew I didn’t want to act like my brother.
In addition, I anticipated frustration about mechanical failures and was ready to see the best of these and take them as learning experiences.
But this work cession was different. Not sure why, so I can’t explain yet. It was tough, that’s all I know for sure and for now.
I’m learning but I’m still so stupid!
I do feel like I’m learning but I still feel so stupid at the same time. How in the world could I have imagined, there was only one type of Linkert carburetor? That anything I ordered, would magically fit? I didn’t mention this yet, but the throttle shaft I had ordered, was not the right size! grrrrrr!!!!
I got lucky with some of the parts but I got to be more careful because this project is already costing me an arm and it’s just the beginning. And I do need to have both (arms and legs actually) to ride this bike.
Indian Scout motorcycles have what is nicknamed a “suicidal shift” as you actually have to let go of the handle bar to shift gear. Luckily there are only 3 gears! So yeah, I definitively need both of my arms!!
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