Gardiner carbs

billj

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Does anyone have any information on Gardiner carbs? My Rapide originally came with a set, and I have often wondered how they work and how to properly tune them.
 

Albervin

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These Gardner carbs are a black art. A few locals use them but they have become very expensive to buy and a lot of the new boys are going Mikuni flat slides.
It is a shame but you will be able to sell them for big bucks to those with money. I have thought about fitting them to my Rapide as a local guy has been using them for
30+ years. Unfortunately he is now losing his mind and I would have no idea how to set them up. Maybe try Molnar in the UK? They can deliver real power to those
who have the "knowledge".
 

Bill Thomas

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Hello billj, I used Ron Gardner carbs for a time, Just sold a pair, Ron is still active, But his son has taken over so I am told. Ron told me many years ago to always use float chambers, But i was going for top speed, Sprinting in the road class and riding on the road and had trouble with carbs passing petrol, So just had a pipe out of the tank to the carb,Only trouble was that a full tank was a click richer than a low tank.There are many needles you can buy and you must turn the needle till it goes click i.e. A full turn, In for weak Out for rich. I had a lot of fun with them but found them a bit messy, Because of how they worked there was always petrol leakage, I don't think they are very good for the road, Slow running is not the best, But if you do a lot of fast work they may be OK. Good Luck Bill.
 

Albervin

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I did not want to bring it up but Ron was always adamant that his carburetters were for "going fast"!! He could have cornered the market with the right patents but that is life. No doubt the carbs are more suited to open pipes, at least half throttle and high octane fuel. Some use them without a float bowl but there is a problem with gravity there. Some float bowls are more suitable than others and then it depends on whether it is a 4 stroke or 2 stroke....
 

nobby

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Hartmut Weidelich from Dominator Engineering produces his own Gardner-like carbs and uses them on British bikes, and ofcourse also on Vincents. What I have seen and heard, these carbs are not messy.
Here's a nice pic...

wealcarb3.jpg

And a link.
 

nobby

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Greek? You mean you also need a lot of Euros and have found a way to let the money disappear so you can ask again?
 

nkt267

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You mean you also need a lot of Euros and have found a way to let the money disappear so you can ask again?
Bought a Vincent and got married:D:D..John
 

roy the mechanic

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i have used gardner carbs on several projects. they are good for performance, alas not so good on the street. for a start- they have no cold start enrichment (choke device) . intended for racing-NOT on the street! Mr Renwick has also had good results,again in competition. for my money they are not suited or intended for "ordinary use"
 

vibrac

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Its a good carb I belive however that the key thing is the float height
In Vintage racing a TT in 1 -3/16 or 32 mm is the biggest thing you can have in upto 48 except Gardner's (GP came out in 1950 stretching 49 but never 48)
A good Friend lent me an 1 -1/4 Gardener It was fitted with the recomended Vincent jet and needle and tried this on the comet mid season last year on a rolling road (where else?) with a mixture analyzer once I got it right at lowish throttle/ revs it was too weak at the top. Once I got it right at top it was too rich at the bottom.
I think I would need to raise the float more but without a datum to start with we ran out of time and stuck the TT back on
I also used a cut down pre-monoblock chamber wich is not ideal so I would need a good remote float all available at the moment are matchbox jobs and they are far too modern Burlen don't make the old type again yet, and the hoarders have the rest so the price is too high for an experiment
 
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