- Sun Jul 08, 2012 6:04 pm
#768
Gave my 612 conversion its first run today. Just 40 gentle miles to bed things in and see whats what. Glad to say its completely oiltight so far! Surprised how easy it starts - first kick most of the time, hot and cold. After what I had read about these, I was expecting some pinking, but there was none! Admittedly I was not pulling it very hard (running in) and I deliberately avoided hills. It would seem my initial settings aren't that far out though. I have the 3mm barrel spacer with a total of three base gaskets (one extra for luck!) and set the ignition timing to 28 degrees fully advanced (points ignition) and have fitted our hosts (stronger?)advance/retard springs as a precaution. Low speed behavior was excellent, just as docile as a standard 500 and no spitting or hesitating. Exhaust header is a nice light-straw colour. On the minus side, it shakes a bit more at tickover (not what I would call a vibration as such, more like stronger firing pulses - a "bigger bang" if that makes sense!). I won't know how "viby" it really is until I venture into the mid-rev range. Carb is set up as supplied (240 main jet, 106 needle jet, 3.5 slide) except that I have raised the needle a notch, as advised, for the running-in period. Pilot screw seems right at three-quarters out. Next I'll re-torque the head (I'm going with 20 ft/lb when cold) and reset the tappets. Observations and/or advice from other's who have 612's would be most welcome.