Frustrated with Stock Carb Fitment

[singletracker]

The stock carb on my 2011 250xc Race has a plastic spigot adapter on the airbox side that causes me fits. It slants slightly away from the carb, and the airboot never seats as well as it should. In fact the clamp has slipped enough in the past to cause an air gap, which I luckily caught before it caused any damage to the engine.

The length of the carb seems to be a few mm too short and the slight deformation of the plastic piece makes it very difficult to get the carb mounted with any confidence that the clamp will stay put.

Does anyone else have this plastic adapter or am I the only lucky one?

I'll probably ditch this carb and buy a Lectron just for safety reasons. APT is too long of a wait to fix this problem.

 

[GMP]

I've never seen anything like that before, maybe some crappy fix to make that carb work. Is that an Air Stryker II or something else? Pick up a used Air Stryker from a part out cheap, it will work fine until the APT is out. The ASIs are longer. If you have too, heat the airboot and stretch it out a bit. It gets soft when warmed, if you mount up the carb then it will take a perfect set and be easy to align in the future. You could also have an alloy extender made in a machine shop, shouldn't be that much $$ as I've had stuff like that done. Just bond it to the carb bell with JB Weld.

 

[singletracker]

I'm not for sure what an Air Stryker is, so I don't know if that's what it is or not. I also don't know how the adapter is fastened to the carb, so I don't know how much of a bear it would be to replace it with an alloy one.

GG could take a step forward in my mind if they had more consistency from one bike to the next. Maybe that's getting better?

 

[twowheels]

Does anyone else have this plastic adapter or am I the only lucky one?

It's just you

I have never seen a GasGas (or any other bike for that matter) with that adapter. Maybe call Girard and see if you can't get ahold of his ASII - he won't be needing it any more.

 

[GMP]

Something is really strange here. I know the ASIIs are shorter than the old ASIs but no one else has mentioned this. I wonder if the airboot was changed for the '12 and you have one on the '11? This is just a wild guess, nothing to back it up. Easy enough to check the part #s.

"Air Stryker" is the model of the Keihin PWK carbs used on our bikes. The newer ones with the two screws holding the top on are known as "Air Stryker IIs" or "AS IIs", and are a little shorter than the original Air Stryker with the screw on top.

 

[singletracker]

I guess mine is an AS II then.

 

[GMP]

Here is another thought that makes a lot of sense: In '11 and '12, the GG factory had a lot of trouble sourcing some parts from Japan, mostly the carbs. My bike came with an old ASI carb and a light 2K-2 ignition, different than other '12s. Perhaps this carb is a "special", a surplus built for another application, not a standard ASII. It was all they could get so they made due with an adapter. Measure it up and we can compare.

 

[singletracker]

Here is another thought that makes a lot of sense: In '11 and '12, the GG factory had a lot of trouble sourcing some parts from Japan, mostly the carbs. My bike came with an old ASI carb and a light 2K-2 ignition, different than other '12s. Perhaps this carb is a "special", a surplus built for another application, not a standard ASII. It was all they could get so they made due with an adapter. Measure it up and we can compare.

That's my guess also.

With the adapter it measures up very close to what a PWK is supposed to measure stock. OD front = 46mm, OD rear = 63mm, and the overall length is 90.5mm.

BTW, the airboot part number doesn't match the microfiche on Gofasters website for a 2010 or 2011, and it doesn't give a part number for 2012.

My part number is BE2501280017 & according to Gofaster it should be BE25012801712. It's also 12 characters vs. 13.

It was things like this that turned me off about my 08 Beta. It was a combination of parts from various years, and the dealer sent me the wrong parts most of the time.

 

[singletracker]

I reread the part number from the microfiche. It is BE250128017/2

So mine is probably BE2501280017/3, which is still different. The 3 comes from what looks like a clock with an arrow pointing to the 3.

 

[twowheels]

I reread the part number from the microfiche. It is BE2501228017/2

So mine is probably BE2501280017/3, which is still different. The 3 comes from what looks like a clock with an arrow pointing to the 3.

The little clock is a feature used to tell when the part was molded.

The 2012 part number is BE250128017/2.

 

[singletracker]

My part number has one more 0 in it and I'm not for sure about the "/3".

 

[GMP]

I have my '12 apart with the airboot out, I'll see what mine really is tonight.

 

[Jakobi]

I have the AS2 (same carb) without the plastic part. I agree that the fitment is tight. It was ok with the reed spacer in but with it out I had to do like Glenn suggested and use some heat to stretch the boot forward some. The issue resulting from this is now that I have some contact between the shock spring (TTX spring has a larger OD than stock as well) and the boot. Its not wearing the airboot but I can see where its rubbed the paint from the spring. I'll be doing a full inspection and try to reshape with heat next time the shock is off. I've had the shock in and out that many times in the last few months that I just can't bring myself to deal with it again right now. Needless to say its a tight fit.

It also seems to be that the part where it has trouble fitting up the most is on the rhs of the carb. I always have to get a torch and peek past the shock to make sure its mounted over the flange.

The other thing I noticed is if I mount the carb in the boot first its then a bit easier to bring the whole lot forward to the intake manifold.

Looking at this setup against the Yamahas boots with notches it really becomes evident how much more user friendly the japanese bikes are regarding fit and finish. I still love the GG and I'd still buy another one though!

 

[singletracker]

I have the AS2 (same carb) without the plastic part. I agree that the fitment is tight. It was ok with the reed spacer in but with it out I had to do like Glenn suggested and use some heat to stretch the boot forward some. The issue resulting from this is now that I have some contact between the shock spring (TTX spring has a larger OD than stock as well) and the boot. Its not wearing the airboot but I can see where its rubbed the paint from the spring. I'll be doing a full inspection and try to reshape with heat next time the shock is off. I've had the shock in and out that many times in the last few months that I just can't bring myself to deal with it again right now. Needless to say its a tight fit.

It also seems to be that the part where it has trouble fitting up the most is on the rhs of the carb. I always have to get a torch and peek past the shock to make sure its mounted over the flange.

The other thing I noticed is if I mount the carb in the boot first its then a bit easier to bring the whole lot forward to the intake manifold.

Looking at this setup against the Yamahas boots with notches it really becomes evident how much more user friendly the japanese bikes are regarding fit and finish. I still love the GG and I'd still buy another one though!

It sounds like you are having very similar issues. I should try your fixes, but I'm very close to buying a Lectron which is a little bit longer, and should provide some performance and MPG improvements as well.

 

[Jakobi]

Yeah I'm in for a smart carb! The setup I've got has worked thus far. Its just not as user friendly as it could be.

 

[Lonestar4x4]

I thought all the ASII's had this adapter? My '11 250 Six Days has one. Am I missing something here?

 

[fasteddy]

My 2011 250 Race has that adapter as well.. I've had fitment issues also.. Waiting on a smartcarb........

 

[mcnut]

These types of mysteries do not help the brand.

 

[andoman]

ASII: No Adapter Here

I thought all the ASII's had this adapter? My '11 250 Six Days has one. Am I missing something here?

I have an ASII with no adapter on my '11 EC300.
I, too, have fitment issues: The right side of the air-boot flange isn't square to the carb and the carb is a little too short. I have to stretch the boot a bit and double-double check that things are tight and aligned after I tighten the clamp.

 

[singletracker]

I have an ASII with no adapter on my '11 EC300.
I, too, have fitment issues: The right side of the air-boot flange isn't square to the carb and the carb is a little too short. I have to stretch the boot a bit and double-double check that things are tight and aligned after I tighten the clamp.

That is exactly my problem. However, I think the plastic adapter makes it a little worse because it seems to have distorted slightly after being tightened down a few times.