Carb Holders

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

Hey everyone -- I'm looking at Mike's XS, Part #20-6038, a set of carb holders with vacuum barbs on them. They're supposed to work with "Stock Mikuni BS34 CV Carbs on 1980-84 XS650's + Mikuni aftermarket VM-34/36 & 38mm. roundslide carbs."

But 650Central claims that only his carb holders will work with VM carbs. What should I do? Where does the smart money go here? 650Central wants $57 apiece for his carb holders, plus extra for vacuum barbs, plus extra for vacuum barbs installed. I can get the set from Mike's XS (with vacuum barbs) for $37 the pair.

Is either one better than the other? Do both of them work with VMs?

Somebody steer me on this, please. I don't know what I'm doing. Sad

royfisk · Posted: April 23, 2008, 8:33 am Post subject: Re: Carb Holders

650 centrals are supose to be stronger incase your running pods. with pods you loose the support of the airbox. I have run vm's with stock manifolds. personally I would use 650 centrals extended racing manifolds. Builds better tork with a longer plenum. and you can utilise your airbox if so desired. But ther 50 bucks each. one could make these pretty easy

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

Thanks, Roy. I believe that's what I needed to hear because I'm running pods. My airbox is MIA. The PO shitcanned it -- or sold it -- or something. Anyway, I don't got one o' them thangs. So I figure it's this way, then: $114 is a lot for a set of carb holders, but it's probably cheaper than having a machine shop build some for me, and it's certainly cheaper than buying a machine shop and building them myself. And it's better to do that than to spend $37 for something that won't do the chore and THEN have to spend $114 to buy something that works. So I guess I'll spend the dough -- and then go rob a liquor store for next month's rent.

And oh, btw -- are Mike's spiffy, chrome "XS" oval pods a good choice? My old ones are pretty bunged up.

royfisk · Posted: April 23, 2008, 9:02 am Post subject: Re: Carb Holders

yea there ok, good size too, dont know if they will fit behind the side cover or not but they should perform good. Almost any filter material made today is better then what was available 30 years ago. remember the paper elements???

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

This'll be my first experience with pods. All my Japanese bikes had air boxes on them before. So no: I never ran paper pods.

5twins · Full Member Joined: Aug 05, 2006 Posts: 1616

The heavy duty manifolds from 650Central are $57.90 a pair, not each. He also sells those same "XS Performance" air filters as Mike. You could get everything from 3M and pick his brain a little while on the phone. He's a wealth of knowledge. He has all the jets also if you think your carbs may need some tweaking. Tell him what your current jetting is and he may be able to suggest some better sizes.

jimmythetrucker · Full Member Joined: Mar 12, 2008 Posts: 1283

Hey! Thanks 5twins. I guess I misread the ad at 650Central. Duh!

I still don't have the carbs off the bike yet, so I can't say how they're jetted. I wanna get them torn apart and in the soak. Then I'll order everything at once. Thanks again for the tip. I don't know how I made the mistake but I surely did make it.

rparkinson · Posted: August 1, 2009, 12:41 pm Post subject: Re: Carb Holders

I have a set of stock airboxes if you need them....

Mikesxs · Full Member Joined: Feb 06, 2007 Posts: 134 Location: FL

Special Carb Holders from 650 Central fit the Mikuni VM34's better than our BS34 stock CV type Carb holders ( we are having specific VM34 types in the BS CV style made ). But Note: ALL XS Performance Parts originate/are made by Mikes XS.

Mike Lalonde Mikes XS

What Happened to 650rider.com?

Yamaha xs650