Ever since I got the RT I knew she drank more juice than the Bimbo averaging around the low 40's to the gallon but put it down to the combination of the extra weight of an RT fairing and pannier kit and the Lake Districts road conditions as the MPG on 100m plus journeys was not that much less than the Bimbo.
I guess with the way fuel has gone up in price, the Euro fascists insisting that we sell fuel in litres and my habit of tossing a tenners worth of fuel in the tank every 100 miles or so meant I was not really really taking much notice of the consumption.
Anyway come January (naturally.... since I just love working on bikes outside in winter... yeah right) I ran down to see my parents in Southport I noticed that she was down to around 35. Assuming it was knackered diaphrams I popped into Southport Superbikes bought a pair and replaced them... only that did not cure it and if anything made things worse as now the plugs were getting very sooty....
Since I used my bike most days in winter running the 4 miles each way to work and back each day I am used to having sooty plugs (lots of running on half choke) and tend to clean them pretty regularly.
Pulling the carbs apart (one at a time) both were putting it mildly not in the best of nick. The float were heavy, and the rubber tips on both were rounded enough to be knackered. The diaphragm needles were mismatched in both type and setting. The LHS was on position 4 while the RHS was on three. Internally they were full of 'sh*t'. I replaced all the seals rubber o rings and jets, put them back together and after a bit of fiddling got them set up, and balanced about right and boy what an improvement....
Just goes to show never trust what a PO tells you as I was assured that the carbs had been recently rebuilt when I got the RT this time last year....
