After rebuilding my carbs

[Gene]

I just rebuilt the carbs on my '85 Honda 650cs Nighthawk. I also rejetted it using a kit from Carbjetkits.
The bike runs really good now, (the rejetting actually cured the flat spot just after idle.) But the carbs need to be synced and the pilot screws adjusted. So, according to the official Honda shop manual, I need a tachometer that can read down to plus/minus 50 RPM. Check, I sourced one. Next, I need a manometer. They are commonly available, however, some designs get negative reviews. I could also make my own, however, the commerically available kits contain the proper adapters, which might be impossible to get otherwise.

Considering the age, and it's carbureted, i'm not sure a shop is willing to take this bike on and if so, will it cost more than doing myself. The only thing that bothers me about doing it myself is I might never use the equipment again.

[Bob H]

The only thing that bothers me about doing it myself is I might never use the equipment again.

You can buy one for a fraction of the cost of paying a shop to do it, and resell it.
9 years ago I bought the Morgan Carbtune Pro, and used it for the 2nd time when rebuilt carbs again this year. Ebay is full of them. They have metal rods that float in the vacuum. They don't make the "mercury" ones anymore.

Even if you get a modern fuel injected bike down the road, if it has more than one cylinder it will need a sync now and then.

The Morgan Carbtune has a small fitting that they say to place 10 cm from the end of the tube furthest away from the engine. I was a bit foggy on the process and recently just "connected the tubes" and some of them had the fitting (a small restrictor baffle) closer to the engine, and those cylinders were fluctuating wildly yet the meter showed other cylinders fairly stable - it was the placement of the baffle fitting that made the difference.

My point is that you can jury rig something together with Kool-Aid and do a sync, but it is money well spent to get a proper tool where they have figured things out.

[mollusc]

Bench sync should be done before the carbs go back on the bike; the rest of it is tuning.
I second getting yourself a manometer or gauge set rather than trying to find someone who's going to be willing to willing to work on it for more than you will pay for the equipment.
You will also need some kind of tool to be able to adjust the mixture screws.  There's not much room between the bottoms of the carbs and the top of the engine.

[Gene]

 Ok, I am ready to sync my carbs, and after looking at ebay, (I guess they or Amazon have the best price) I'm confused. What is the difference between the newest version compared to the older version? From a quick perusal, the only difference is a bag. I'm sure there must be more differences than that.

[mollusc]

Do you have some links that we can look at to understand what you're referring to?