TOPIC:

Hi could someone tell me if draining each carb bowl into a measured container would work to check height of fuel in bowl ? I have drained all three and they seem to measure 57-60 ml. I have not taken the carbs off the bike yet but just wondering if anyone has measured ml after adjusting to correct float levels and would the bowls vary?

Assuming the fuel is shut off (the automatic fuel valve should do that for you but you could shut the tank valve to be sure) it seems like a simple way to check. Sorry don't know what the measurement should be but given that the three bowls are similar, I'd say that's a good sign.

Thank you, I can't understand why I have not seen this idea before for a quick check unless there's too many variations .May save time? I can turn off at tank and fill again with prime on petlock easily. I also have a drain at bottom of ea carb.

I'll throw in a thought here. There will be a certain amount of fuel still sitting in the common fuel rail between the carbs and also a certain amount of fuel still sitting in the fuel line. When the carb bowls are drained, the fuel in those 2 supply areas which are above the float needle, will start to drain into the float bowls and not necessarily evenly. Also the length of the fuel line is not necessarily always the same, so one member may measure 57-60 ml and another might measure a different amount so "what would be the standard? "
A more common way to check the float level without removing the carbs is to install a clear piece of fuel line (RC airplane fuel line comes to mind) on the nipple on the drain screw on the float bowl and raise the other end of the fuel line up beside the float bowl. open the drain screw and view the fuel now in the fuel line and reference it to the float bowl.

Yep you've got me there an excellent answer!!! So just another thought if I drained one bowl totally and checked the other two, then filled up again drained one already checked and measured the last one? Just wanting to see other non standard methods yep will try the tube method it does say the carbs have to be vertical to test float height on the bike they are leaning forward- do I try to jack up the front of bike? When I even try to start bike on a good car battery it also won't start just keeps turning over! Perhaps if my float heights are too low it evaporates over a few days to the true level, when it runs it lets a bit more in due to vibration so it will start every day. Thanks for any comments .

For the record, your issue is a no start issue after leaving the bike for a period of time and that's a head scratcher. so at this point you should be trying to determine what exactly the problem is. Checking the float level at this point should only be to find out if you have fuel in the carbs. The choke circuit doesn't really care that much about the float level only that there's fuel in the carbs. Doing a quick check with the tube on the end of the nipples on the carb bowl drain screws will tell you if there's a serious problem like dry float bowls. If the carbs are level you could also tell if the floats are set reasonably close to the required level using the tube method but I would only do this to decide if I should be pulling the carbs and adjusting the floats for "other" drivability issues, not a starting issue.