10 Things to Consider When Buying 36mm Tacker Clips

Hi Ron

I have a mikuni 36mm carb myself fitted to my 850 commando, I have only had this carb for about a year and found that the bike was running rich, I have posted before on this forum about jetting and it appears to be a lot of trying different jets is the answer, as I have been told that no two bikes are the same. My carb came fitted with a 290 main jet and a 35 pilot, I was told by the company that I purchased the carb from that every thing was correct for the 850 commando including the slide and cut away.

My bike had the engine re-built during the winter and again I have found rich running problems, I haven’t reached the main jet yet when out riding as I am running the thing in and still on pilot jet however I changed the main jet to a 260 and the pilot to a 30 as recommend by someone else and did a few plug chops to find that things were better but still a little on the rich side. I have bought myself a 27.5 pilot and will try this next.

Overall, the bike is running very well so I have no regrets of changing to the Mikuni. I still need to sort out the rich running problems out.

Hope this helps.

Neil Hi all, only just found this site ...looks interesting. I have a '75 Mk111 with a 36mm Mikuni. It is also running a Megacycle 560-NSS cam ( higher lift, longer overlap) and Boyer.
The jets I'm running are:
Pilot 25
Air Jet 2.0
Main Jet 270
Needle Jet 159
Needle 6DH3 on 2nd clip up
Slide cutaway 2.5
K&N Airfilter ( oval pancake)

This is all as I purchased the bike , with about 20,000 miles on this setup.
Always starts by a half kick with enrichener on, but no ignition, then a full kick with ignition on ( I try to save the starter for hot starts only). In warm weather it doesn't need the half (priming) kick.
It seems there is no fixed formula...... every engine seems to need a slight change of jetting. Hope this is of interest
Jay in NZ Neil
Not sure on the pilot jet as i have not taken it out.The carb came with two spares , a 3.5 and a 4.5.. The idle is very good and low speed acceleration is fine. If you want i can open it up and find out for you. My biggest issue was black sooty plugs even after some good hard riding . That i believe i have now figured out .

Just did 60 miles of regular riding and pulled the plugs . Things look very good indeed. 280 main , 3rd notch up from bottom on needle. Most people are finding that the new less volitule gas we buy in the States has a tendency to run rich. Many are running smaller idle jets to stop idle speed plug fouling. This does make it so that you have to run the enrichner to start the bike. The pay off is a bike that will idle down and run right after runnig it hard and than run slow like you have arrived at the camp ground a are searching for a camp site (slow). If you live were it gets cold you may need to flip back to a richer idle jet in the fall it will pop back to let you know. I have seen people run all the way down to a 27 or so idle jet. I run a 15 because I have a UFO on the bike.

Ron Hulton said: Neil
If you want i can open it up and find out for you. My biggest issue was black sooty plugs even after some good hard riding . That i believe i have now figured out .

Hi Ron

No need to open your carb for pilot jet size when you have things running ok but thanks anyway.
i have not had time to try my 27.5 pilot jet in yet but if things dont improve after doing this i will try the set up you are using, i have never looked at what position the needle is set at yet.

Thanks
Neil Slight update. After trying the 27.5 pilot jet and seeing no major improvement, I decided to go to Ron's configuration. I removed the 260 main jet and replaced it with the 280. I also checked the needle position and found it was 3 notches from the top, I moved the "E" ring to the second from top position then turned the air screw two and a half turns out from the closed position.

Gave it a quick blast up the road and checked the plugs to find no sooty deposits whatsoever! They seem very clean so I think, thanks to the input I’ve received, I'm finally getting somewhere.



Thanks,

Neil Ok here goes. Been lurking for a bit and I find the info here is great. so thanks guys, you've been a great resource. I just went through my VM34. and the bike is a 750 Commando with a Boyer Mk III ignition. The carb has the stock jets. I've set the clip on the second from the top. The float height is at 23mm and the air jet is about 1 3/4 turns out.
The plugs are that lovely brown colour now.
The float height needs to be between 22 and 24mm. It will have a direct influence on the fuel mixture. With all the bouncing things do over time there is no guarantee the original setting is correct so it's worth a look.
The lower the clip on the main jet needle, the richer the setting. (it raises the needle off the seat letting more fuel through). I'm not racing mine, but if I were looking for more top end I'd be inclined to drop the needle clip a notch to open it up further at the top end.
Most of us think of jets in terms of fuel where turning it in is leaning it. The jet on the rhs of the bike is AIR not fuel, so if you turn it in you're enrichening the mixture.
Hope this helps.
Cheers,

Simon To check the float height you should remove the carburettor from the bike. It can be done in situ but its easier on the bench. Remove the float bowl from the carburettor. (4 screws) This will expose the arm that moves against the float needle. The floats themselves will come away with the bowl as they slide up and down on a couple vertically mounted rods. If you're doing this in situ, back off the clamp securing the carburettor to the rubber flange and rotate the carburettor to give you better access. I use a set of calipers to measure mine but a decent small straight edge should suffice. If you do it on the bench turn the carburetor upside down so the float arm is resting on the float needle and the float needle is seated. Measure on the air inlet (filter) side of the carburettor vertically and project square across to the float arm. The VM34 you want 22 to 24mm. The VM36 and bigger you want 17 to 19mm. The bigger the measurement here the leaner the setting. ie. the floats close the float needle sooner, keeping less fuel in the bowl. To explain it, the lower the fuel in the bowl the greater the elevated distance the fuel must be raised by the pressure difference between atmosphere (high) and venturi (low). If yours needs a tweak there is a tab that touches the needle move this tab, NOT the two arms. They should be straight and parallel with each other. Be gentle here. Bits are fragile and malleable. Measure more than once and take your time.
Hope this helps.
P.S. just checked out LAB's link. +1 here!

Simon. A lean burn at wide open will hole a piston no one needs this. Most of the time your not running on the main jet. Once you are running on the main you read the plug way up inside and all the color from running the lower circuts will be long gone. Reading the colors visible by useing the eye alone is only good for setting these lower circuts. Since your not going to hole a piston using the lower circuts you need to set these as lean as you can and still have a bike that starts nice and picks up off idle well. When I hear people saying things like "I don't need a choke to start my bike" and "My plugs are a nice brown color" I know that they don't get it. With Mic's you will see a dry black ring at the bottom of the threads from the idle circut on your plugs. But if you have color seen by eye you could go leaner and find more power. A two mile trip around the block won't give you a read you can use. MPG should be your guide to some degree. with a Mic you should get min 45 and on a trip for 300 miles last summer at 55MPH I got 59 MPG.

Intended Use

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Another extremely important factor to keep in mind when looking to invest in a new tripod is what you plan to use this tripod for. There is no such thing as a perfect tripod, and the ‘One size fits all’ approach does work with tripods. Different tripods are designed for different uses. The best tripod is the tallest and most stable tripod, but this will also be the heaviest and most cumbersome, so it would not be ideal for travel or long hikes / camping trips.

I specifically have an ultralight tripod (Sunwayfoto T2C40C) for long hikes where I am carrying camping gear, this tripod has a maximum height of 132cm and weighs just 1.5 Kg. The problem with this tripod is that it is not very tall or stable, so it is not great to use when it's windy or on steep inclines. 

I then have an everyday tripod (Sunwayfoto TCM), this is my main workhorse, it has a good maximum height of about 150cm and weighs 2.0 Kg. 

Finally, I have what I consider to be a specialist tripod (Gitzo GTXLS), it weighs 2.3 Kg but has a maximum height of 202cm which is perfect when working on steep terrain.

As you can see, there are different tripods for different uses.

Number of Leg Sections

The number of leg sections of a tripod affects both its minimum and maximum height. The ideal number of leg sections I have found to be 4 (Meaning 3 leg locks), this is because I can grab and unlock all 3 leg locks with one hand (Making it quicker to set up the tripod) and also maintains a good amount of rigidity (The more leg sections that a tripod has, the less stable it is, this is because there are more ‘joint’ which can flex, but also because the smaller tubes tend to be narrower and less stiff.

Leg tube diameter

Leg tube diameter is crucial for rigidity and stability. Thicker leg tubes are stiffer, but they also weigh more than thinner leg tubes. The ideal diameter of the top leg tubes (The thickest ones) is between 32-36mm.

Leg tube  diameters vary significantly from one tripod to another, below is a breakdown of each of the tripods listed above and their respective leg tube diameters from thickest to thinnest:

Sunwayfoto T2C40C - 28mm / 24mm 20mm / 16mm

Sunwayfoto TCM - 36mm / 32mm / 28mm / 25mm

Gitzo GTXLS - 32.9mm / 29mm / 25.3mm / 21.7mm

Leg tube material (Carbon Fibre / Aluminium)

Leg tubes are generally made out of one of two materials, either Aluminium or Carbon Fibre. Previously all tripods were made out of Aluminium, with Carbon Fibre tripods being pretty rare and extremely expensive. Nowadays Carbon Fibre tripods are much more common and more affordable too. There are several advantages to using carbon fibre to make leg tubes instead of Aluminium, these are: 

• Carbon fibre is much lighter

• Carbon fibre is more rigid

• Carbon fibre is less prone to corrosion

• Carbon fibre is less likely to jam / seize

• Carbon Fibre is not a good conductor of Electricity, making it safer to use in inclement weather

• Carbon fibre is better at dampening vibrations

• Carbon fiber has very low thermal conduction, meaning it will not get as hot or cold as aluminum.

All these features make Carbon Fibre a superior material for making tripod leg tubes out of. 

Spider / Apex

The spider is the central point which the legs connect to (The apex). The spider forms a platform for mounting a head and is usually where the centre column is run through. In tripods without a centre column, the spider is the point to which the platform or video bowl is attached. In professional tripods, the spider is reinforced and machined out of billet aluminium and then hard anodised to prevent corrosion and scratches.

Material Treatments (Type 1, 2 or 3 Anodizing)

There are 3 main anodising, most commonly referred to as Type I-Chromic Acid Anodise, Type II-Sulfuric Acid Anodise, and Type III Hard Anodise. The type of anodising will depend on the  intended use of the tripod and the manufacturer’s choice of budget / specification. All three of the tripods mentioned in this blog are Type III Anodised.

Hardware quality (Bolts / O-Rings / Leg-Locks)

The quality of the hardware used is also important in the smooth function and long life of a tripod, most manufacturers use 304 Grade Stainless Steel for bolts and fixings due to its superior strength and corrosion resistance. The quality of the O-ring used to seal the leg locks and keep sand / dust out is also extremely important, excessive dust and dirt will wear down the shims and bushes prematurely, leading to ‘Sticky Legs’ which will not be smoothe to operate and will eventually mean a full rebuild with new shims and bushes is required..

Maximum height

Tripods come in all sorts of different lengths/heights. More compact ‘Traveller’ tripods are marketed as an option to make it easy to carry and pack into a suitcase, however these generally tend to not be very tall and are usually slimsy and unstable due to their very lightweight and thin leg tubes. The ideal height of the tripod will also depend on what it is used for and your own height too. The ideal maximum height for an everyday tripod for me would be in the range of 150cm - 180cm, you also need to take into consideration the height added by any long spikes, but also the size of your tripod head.

Minimum height

The lower the tripod can go, the better, as it will enable you to capture the ulta low angle shots where you need to get close to the foreground. Most professional tripods can get as low as 10cm which is pretty good!

Maximum load

The Load capacity of any tripod is crucially important as it directly impacts the tripod's stability and what gear that can be safely mounted to the tripod. 

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The load capacity of most professional tripods is over 15 Kg, this is plenty for any DSLR or Mirrorless system, even if using large lenses like a 600mm or 800mm. Putting that into perspective, my heaviest setup is the Nikon Z7II camera body, FTZ Adaptor, Nikon 300mm F4 Lens, Sunwayfoto PNL-Z6II L-Bracket and the Sunwayfoto EB-44 Ballhead, which add up to roughly 3Kg, that’s just 10% of the maximum load capacity rating for the Sunwayfoto TCM. 

Weight

The weight of a tripod (Like any other camera gear) is vital, especially for landscape photographers as more often than not, a hike is required to reach a location. 

A heavy and stable tripod is great when you can shoot from a carpark and don’t have to carry it far, but let’s be honest, very few shots are going to be epic from a carpark, so hiking is generally required, and this means lighter is better, especially when travelling overseas, on planes with limited luggage space and weight!

The ideal weight for a full size tripod would be anywhere between 1.7 Kg to 2.0 Kg.

Speed

The speed with which a tripod can be set up and a composition chosen is critical. At first, I thought that since I am using a tripod, I had all the time in the world to set it up and find a composition, but the reality is that every second counts, especially when chasing the light or in the middle of a storm chase, taking an extra 5 seconds to set up could be the difference between getting the shot and missing it. Light, weather and wildlife don’t hang around and wait for you to set up, so speed is crucial. 

Stability

A tripod’s job is to stabilize the camera and lens as much as possible. Sounds simple enough, but in reality, it’s much more complicated than that. The ideal tripod would literally be ‘As solid as a rock’, with absolutely no movement or vibrations transmitted into the camera. The reality is different though, external factors such as howling wind and waves crashing into the feet of a tripod will all impact its stability and also introduce potential camera shake / movement.

Cheaper and smaller travel tripods will never be as stable as full size professional tripods. The design of the tripod and the quality of the components makes all the difference here, and this is where you get what you pay for.

Centre column (Yes / No)

The simple answer is a resounding NO. Centre columns are terrible and should never, ever be used! Centre columns tend to be flimsy and introduce a huge amount of vibration and movement, which is the exact opposite of what you want from a tripod!

There's a reason that all professional tripods don’t have centre columns, and it's because they are terrible and no professional photographer would use one! 

Leg locks

All telescopic multi-section tripod legs will have some sort of locking mechanism, allowing the user to extend the legs to the desired height as needed. The two most common types of leg locks are the flip lock and the twist lock.

I have used both types of locks in the past and prefer twist locks as they are much quicker to use and much more reliable, they also have the added bonus of not trying to pinch your finger every time you try to set up your tripod in a hurry.

Twist locks are usually covered with soft rubber or silicone which make it easy to open and close them quickly when setting up, but also ensure they can be operated with cold and wet hands without slipping. The leg locks themselves house the shims and bushes which are there for smooth operation, and in most professional tripods they have rubber O-rings to keep dust, grime and sand from getting into the leg tubes. 

Leg Angle adjustment Locks

The leg angle adjustment locks are what enable you to adjust the legs to different angles. These are pivoting locks or levers which connect the top of each leg to the spider / apex. These adjustment locks allow the user to adjust the spread of the legs to allow the tripod to be used at different heights, but also move the legs independently of each other to use the tripod in uneven terrain. 

The leg angle locks are usually around 25 Degrees, 55 Degrees and 85 Degrees, the 85-degree setting allows the user to open the legs almost perfectly flat to the ground, allowing a really low shooting angle, ideal for including foreground elements. 

There are different types of leg angle adjustment locks, these vary by brand and design, some are push type buttons and others are pull-out type levers, meaning you just pull out the tab to adjust the angle and release it to lock the legs at the desired angle. 

Ability to attach accessories (Magic Arms, etc)

Most professional tripods have multiple points to which you are able to attach accessories such as magic arms or brackets, these can be used to attach video lights or flashes, but can also be used to mount mobile phones or other cameras like a go pro to shoot BTS footage or timelapse.

Durability

A really good tripod will cost an arm and a leg, so that's why durability is extremely important, as you want it to last as long as possible and continue to function smoothly and without issues. Even with a lot of care and frequent maintenance, there will inevitably be some wear and tear of the components in your tripod, and these will need to be changed at some point. Therefore it is important to consider whether the brand you choose has spare parts readily  available  to order.

Availability of spare parts

As mentioned above, choosing a brand of tripod which has spare parts readily available is an important factor. There are 2 main reasons you might want spare  parts.

1. Your tripod is damaged accidentally in a fall or by being run over by a car (Trust me it happens!), or even damaged in transit whilst travelling.

2. Your tripod is not functioning as smoothly as it used to and you just want to do some thorough maintenance on your tripod, such as going for a full rebuild where you change the consumable parts such as the shims, bushes, leg locks and bolts.

Price

The price of the tripod is also something to consider. This is a very subjective point, as it varies depending on your individual views, priorities and budget. I made the mistake of underestimating how important a professional and high quality tripod was when I first started out, and this led to a terrible experience in Iceland in where my Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-70 F2.8 were ruined due to a cheap tripod. From that point on I decided that I would only be buying professional tripods, irrespective of the price. As with many other things in the photography world, you get what you pay for, so a top notch professional tripod does not come cheap, but from experience I would say that a professional tripod is worth every penny!

You might also find the following interesting:

Review of the Gitzo GTXLS

Review of the Sunwayfoto TCM

Blog - Is an expensive tripods worth the money?

Blog - A Practical Guide to Tripod Maintenance

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