351 with stock carb here, runs like a champ.
Well except the hole in the bottom of the motor but that's unrelated. haha

 

First day with 351 and stock carb. It WILL lift the front wheel in first. This is the SF model, so its geared a little taller than the dirt counterpart. I had the dynojet spring in it. I took it out and drilled the hole to 7/64. The original spring is in now. I think it responds faster than before, but its hard to say because I also changed the piston/sleeve.

David

 

I got a good place for the CV carb. The landfill. Smack it with a hammer and toss it in the trash. It gets better when you close off the vacuum hole going to the smog pump and do the dynojet kit but it's still crap compared to the TM33. The TM33 is a lot of screwing around with making sleeves and fabricating the cable bracket but it's so worth the trouble and expense. The TM33 isn't as smooth with the power delivery for me so far because I don't have the jetting quite there yet. I got a little more tinkering to do. But at least it doesn't run like a Honda Spree anymore. My butt-dyno tells me it makes better, more usable power for riding off road. For the street, the CV will work fine. You don't need a sudden burst of throttle to climb you over a surprise obstacle on the street. If you're using it as a cool looking Honda Spree, then the CV is just fine. If you're riding on stuff that makes you think "oh crap! I shouldn't be here!!" then you'll be REALLY glad you have the pumper carb.

Another thing: The CV carb has a choke that's either off or on full. I hate that. The TM33 at least has 3 positions to the choke. That doesn't sound like a big deal until you want to go riding and it's 40 degrees out. The KLX is a cold-blooded SOB and when you're a few seconds into warming it up, on full choke it'll idle super fast like it's going *****-out standing still, and when the choke is off, it'll stall. There's no in between setting on the CV. Then all the neighbors are looking out the window at you like "what the hell is he doing?!"

For where and how I ride, I like having that burst to power-out of the occasional "Oh crap! That log wasn't there before!!" that we run into out in remote places. For that reason, that pumper carb is more like a cheap health insurance plan. It can keep you from falling down on a pile of sharp, pointy rocks. Having enough power when you really need it is a good thing. Not having enough power and crashing sucks and really hurts if you're not lucky. You ride off road, you will have a scary surprise sooner or later. Are you ready for it?

 

Hey Donkey,

regarding your jetting, did you look at this thread here:
https://www.kawasakiforums.com/forum...t=10297&page=4

Lot of good TM33 jetting info there, and details about my own jetting too.
The Q-0 needle jet seems to be important for best mid-range, so is properly adjusted AP.
Like some of the others, I also cut the AP rod length down to ~68mm and that improved the response when you open the throttle.

Airbox lid makes a HUGE difference in what size main jet you need for running best at WOT.
In the mid-range the lid makes virtually no difference to jetting.

All my jetting data is collected from real-world riding with a wide-band A/F meter hooked up to monitor the A/F ratio.

--
Mikko

 

i have had both, and in my humble opinion, I did not notice any great difference between the stock and bill blues tm33.

I did notice, that i did not need to use the choke anymore to start the bike, nor did I need to prime it with a couple of twists of the throttle after it sat for a long time.

Other than that, I saw no significant power gain.

Steve

 

The reason for CV carburetors' existence is that they are so "forgiving" for non-optimal jetting. The vacuum controlled needle position makes the jetting very flexible.

Direct lift carbs not so. The jetting has to be tuned very carefully for that specific application (airbox, motor cc, cams, exhaust etc.) If that's not done the direct lift carb will indeed show very little if any benefit over a CV.

 

Thanks for the info, Mikko! I think that needle jet might be the missing link.

 

I'm thinking I've been fattening up the main too much and the pilot a little more than I should to overlap in the middle enough to make the mid-range run right. I'll try the fatter needle jet and back the main jet down to 135 and see if my WOT comes back and it goes smoother through all the ranges.

 

Wow...backing down to a 135? That does SEEM like you're running a very big jet to me. But, I'm no expert. Be sure and let us curious types know how it goes!

 

I'm running a 132 and I thought it could still go to the next lower.. If you came down to a 135 I'm guessing you were running real rich, and probably still are.