Jet kit, needle and shims

[resqguy]

I have a Stage 1 jet kit installed in my 2002 1200 Bandit.  I recently moved from the Denver area, where I had the carbs dialed in, to Western NC which is about 2500 feet lower elevation.  I got into the carbs this past weekend (man I hate that throttle linkage) to clean things up and to document the settings from many years ago when I last worked on it.  (I lost my notes from 8 years ago and wanted to get a baseline)

Reading through the notes from Holeshot and other instructions from before a strange thought occurred to me.  Did I put the needle shims in the right spot?  I don't have a clear diagram on where they should go.  Here is where they are currently located:

Top - plastic keeper w/small O ring - spring - washer - shims - clip - plastic spacer - clip - Bottom.

I guess my question is should the shims go on top of the plastic spacer or below?

[resqguy]

After 34 views and no response I figured either no one has ever shimmed their needles or it was a really dumb question.  Either way I decided to try the shims in both positions and then measure the height of the needles.  Problem solved, the shims go between the plastic spacer and the bottom of the slide.

I must have really had a senior (Doh!) moment the last time I had the carbs apart because I had shims on both sides of the spacer.  No consistency across the cylinders.  Man it sucks getting old.

To compensate I decided to treat the bandit to some tuning and general maintenance.  After some back and forth between tweaks, driving, and reading plugs I got it close.  I then replaced the oil with some fresh Mobile 1, added one more shim, and then went through the sadistic process of syncing the carbs.

I just got back from a test ride and I think things are dialed in.  The midrange is absolutely spot on.

[txbanditrydr]

Sorry I missed this post.... Here's a picture for future reference and complete installation directions can be found in the download section.  Glad you got things working right again....   

[resqguy]

Nice write up txbanditrydr.  The step to add the extensions to the sync vacuum lines was a good suggestion.  It makes the process less "sadistic"  .   With my other bikes I would always sync the carbs after every oil change.