Single Carburetor Conversion on 78 GL1000

[JackLeach]

I recently pulled the original 4 carburetor set up off my 1978 GL1000 because I had someone tell me they make a single carburetor kit that really makes the bike run great and it's so much easier and simpler. So I bought what I was told was the nicest one, all stainless steel, no sharp turns real nice looking unit. Comes with the VW Carb. I took the other original one out. And installed the new one. After about 3 hours of messing with it I couldn't get it to work. I take it all apart, turns out the float was stuck. I then get it to run. And the following is my thoughts on it all.

The idle is very hard to get set. It's either 2k or basically dying. You get alot of carburetor freezing all over the manifold. When you are actually driving it's very smooth and consistent. In my case it eliminated the need to synchronize the Carburetors. I can definitely feel a loss in horsepower, nothing drastic however when you're really gunning it you'll notice.

I think if there was a way to get the idle to be consistent at around 850-1000 then it would a really great option for certain situations.

I'd like to know if anyone else has had success with these or not.

[Bzrut]

Hi, I've just done the same, ideals around 1300 to 1000 my issue is at take off it stutters and feels like no power. Don't know if it's too much fuel or not enough, what did you do with the vacuum line where the you connect it to.Not sure what to do.

[Rambozo]

Hi, I've just done the same, ideals around 1300 to 1000 my issue is at take off it stutters and feels like no power. Don't know if it's too much fuel or not enough, what did you do with the vacuum line where the you connect it to.Not sure what to do.

Add some choke, if it gets worse you are too rich, if it gets better you are too lean.

[Bzrut]

Thanks for the update, one more question, when installing the throttle cable to the carburetor what position must the carb be at? Thanks again.

[Rambozo]

Make sure the carb is on the idle stop screw and no fast idle cam is holding it open. Be sure the cable has a little slack and turn the handle bars lock to lock and make sure the carb doesn't move. Add more slack if it does. Then check wide open throttle and see if the carb can reach the open stop. As long as it's pretty close you are ok. Better to not quite reach WOT than to have it not reach idle. If it's no where near WOT, you need to modify your cable location closer to the pivot.

[Jeffwing]

I have the same setup. It is running lean i am using the oem feul pump and it show 2pound of pressure ,what does the vw carb require,

[Bzrut]

What I've learned from a old VW mechanic is the carb needs max pressure of 2 lbs and carb needs to be rejetted because it's getting too much fuel. I've ordered my jets from Jbug. I'll let you know how it goes.