Introduction to Tuning Your Bike!
If you purchased one of the performance products from TJ Brutal Customs, then you will need to tune your machine properly to get the most out of our products. Any time you change the intake or exhaust on a motor you will need to adjust your fuel and air metering to account for the change in air/exhaust flow. The following applies to The Honda Shadows with CV carbs, non-EFI models.
You will need one of our Performance Tuning Kits to properly tune your bike as our kits are assembled specifically to work with our products. Our jet kits are not a "stage" kit as offered by some companies. Our tuning kits are assembled
Your Performance Tuning Kit will contain pilot jets, main jets
When installing the jets there is no need to crank them down with much force, a gentle turn to snug them down is all that's required. They are brass so they can break or shear very easily.
There is no magic formula to tune a bike, so yes you may need to pull the carburetor several times and make adjustments. If you are at a higher elevation you will most likely want smaller jets, if you are closer to sea level you will want to use larger jets. Start with the smaller jets and work your way up.
If you are replacing your mix screw with our
The diagram below shows you which tuning parts (jets, needle) affect the different throttle stages. Thus if you are having a lean condition at wide open throttle then you may want to increase the size of your main jet.
Begin by tuning your idle to 1/4 throttle, once the bike starts and gets to 1/4 throttle well, move to the next throttle stage. When tuning it is helpful to use a bit of waterproof grease on the inside of the carb boots and the rear