BING "Alcohol resistant float bowl kit"???????

[randhall]

Hi,
Planning to clean/rebuild the carbs (64/32/11 & 12) on my '76 90/6. BING claims 5-7 mpg improvement with their alcohol resistant float bowl kit upgrade.
Research on the ABC site (Robert Fleischer, author) disputes this claim.
Looking for first-hand experience/advice on whether these work as advertised, or is it a waste of $$?
Thanks for sharing info. Rand

[tkpinsc]

Hi,
Planning to clean/rebuild the carbs (64/32/11 & 12) on my '76 90/6. BING claims 5-7 mpg improvement with their alcohol resistant float bowl kit upgrade.
Research on the ABC site (Robert Fleischer, author) disputes this claim.
Looking for first-hand experience/advice on whether these work as advertised, or is it a waste of $$?
Thanks for sharing info. Rand

I've heard several reports of problems and disputes about the mileage claims, but never a report confirming the claims.

[tghsmith]

have used the first style since 86, on my bike but not on my wifes r100, no differance in fuel usage seen,(when we gas up on long trip fuel fills are nearly equal) but i,ve replaced her floats at least twice over the years.

[Boxerkuh]

No way.... I have them and love them, but not due to mileage increase.... I don't believe that they increase your mileage.... not on bike in the last 4 years anyway... :doh

[skiteach]

The only way a carb float will change mileage is if it's saturated or replacing a saturated float. All they do is allow fuel into the bowl as fuel is used, they control the needle and seat - That's It!

[20774]

Bing's big claim on these floats is that they perform so much better to accurately meter the fuel when subjected to high lateral loads. If you're undergoing those kinds of lateral loads, you're not on a motorcycle but in an airplane... Lateral loads to this level IMO would be enough to overcome sideways traction. Generally, turning and maneuvering a motorcycle is very controlled and through the vertical center of gravity. Thus, the claim for better gas metering is probably not realized on our bikes. The stock float system is more than adequate for the job, is easier to set up, and retains the overflow capability that the carb was originally designed with.

[Bill Burke]

No way.... I have them and love them, but not due to mileage increase.... I don't believe that they increase your mileage.... not on bike in the last 4 years anyway... :doh
Ditto.

[cjack]

The way I read the replies, if you already have the float kit, they are as good as stock. If you don't already have the float kit, well maintained stock is as good.

[tghsmith]

good as stock is correct, but if you have stock keep a set replacement stock floats around....

[tkpinsc]

snip - If you're undergoing those kinds of lateral loads, you're not on a motorcycle but in an airplane...
snip.

Or on a sidecar rig.

[sumran]

...and retains the overflow capability that the carb was originally designed with.

:scratch

My carbs have not leaked. However, at tech days I have seen carbs leak from several places, but never from the overflow (maybe they were leaking some from the overflow and I was just distracted by all that other gas shooting out).:D I do still have mine and it is ready for action. :thumb

For that little tube to handle an overflow, it would have to be a well-controlled overflow. Still, it might drip on your boot to let you know your float level is a bit high.:whistle

[astroturf52]

I just got home from the Cascade Country Rendezvous and I met a guy there who told me that he installed this kit in 2 of his airhead boxers and "really smoothed them out." Has anyone had any experience that shows these floats will smooth some vibration in a boxer?

[jdmetzger]

I just got home from the Cascade Country Rendezvous and I met a guy there who told me that he installed this kit in 2 of his airhead boxers and "really smoothed them out." Has anyone had any experience that shows these floats will smooth some vibration in a boxer?

The only way I can see them smoothing things out is if he re-balanced the carbs after installing them, and THAT being the thing that actually smoothed things out for him.

[PGlaves]

I don't like the alcohol resistant float kit. It never worked as well as stock on our Airheads. But I detest alcohol fuel destroying the varnish on the OEM floats too. They get heavy, fuel level gets high, the engine runs rich, and eventually overflow, flooding, and non-starting happen.

Bing would do us all a favor if they would just make an OEM style float - ie just like the OEM float - that wouldn't dissolve and sink in alcohol adulterated fuels.

My two cents worth.

[AnnapolisAirhead]

Sounds like the increased MPH increase is pure marketing bull. Might increase MPG if you had saturated stock floats...but then so would a new set of stock floats, eh?

:lurk

[cjack]

Sounds like the increased MPH increase is pure marketing bull. Might increase MPG if you had saturated stock floats...but then so would a new set of stock floats, eh?

:lurk

Bing also has an alcohol resistant float which is black in appearance instead of white foam. It looks the same as the kit floats but mounts exactly as the stock floats. The Bing lady was at Gillette with them.
I have also heard of the kit being somewhat troublesome for a few persons.

[sumran]

Bing also has an alcohol resistant float which is black in appearance instead of white foam. It looks the same as the kit floats but mounts exactly as the stock floats. The Bing lady was at Gillette with them.
I have also heard of the kit being somewhat troublesome for a few persons.

Sounds like exactly what Paul was suggesting in his previous post. What influence!:D A mere post and Bing shows up at the rally with the goods. :thumb

Were the troubles you mentioned with the 2-piece float design or the new one that was on display at the rally?

[amiles]

I have had the kit in my R90 for about 8 years. After being laid up for many years the carbs were a disaster & I bit the bullet & had the Bing Agency rebuild them complete with the new style kit.

They run just fine, but the 5-7 mpg claim I have yet to see. Reportedly they are a bit more finicky to set the fuel level on (have not had to do this yet)

At the rally I bought a set of the rubbers that seal the CV piston about $80 bucks for the two OUCH OUCH I figured that if I needed them they would be hard to find at Wal*Mart. After 8 years the clock must certainly be ticking. I will put them in a jar and use my food saver to vacuum them down for longest storage. I can't help but wonder what their profit margin must be on these things?

I had been using the BAI urethane fuel line. Just recently the three or so year old line started to die on me, it cracked in one spot leaking heavily, I trimmed it & re-attached it ten minutes later a new leak. When that stuff dies it dies. I am now using auto parts store rubber fuel line, which incidentally forms a nicer curve radius and resists kinking better than did the thin walled BAI tubing. I have two of the conical plastic housing sintered bronze filters, which complicate the plumbing.