Weber Carb - Yes or No?

[murphus]

I'm finally getting ready to start reviving my new-to-me 1988 Paso. The previous owner installed Mikuni's in place of the Weber. The Weber and all associated parts were preserved and came with the bike, which shows just over 7,000 miles. This bike needs a thorough going through as it's been sitting (thankfully inside) since 2003. Anyway, for various reasons I'm drawn to the Weber and am thinking of going back to original, following a rebuild, of course. So the question to the experienced is, should I? From the little I know it seems the Weber's demons can be excised? Would welcome any insights, especially as concerns any suggested updates/changes to the Weber.
Richard

[Kmamac]

Oh no! You can’t ask that question! There’s going to tears - you mark my words. It’s like asking what oil to use on a Ducati bevel
Ducking for cover as I type
Keith MM (Weber to mikuni fan)

[Mc tool]

If you didnt have the mikunis I would say "sort the weber " but seeing as how you have them fitted I leave them there. If they are properly sorted they will work better. A few peeps have got all serious about the weber ,and good on them , and while there have been improvements I dont recall anyone claiming to have "fixed " it .

[murphus]

Ok, so far the vote is to keep the Mikunis. As fitted they have foam pod filters, which I hate. Is there a favored filter? K&N? I have to confess that one of my interests in the Weber is that is has a proper airbox. It seems most engines breathe better with an airbox than without, thanks to intake volume being controlled rather than just sucking the surrounding air. That said, I have had a few engines that really didn't seem to care, my old Norton Commando being one of them ...

[AndyK]

There are entire sections of this website devoted to the Weber and it does sometimes play nice but Ducati ditched it for the Mikuni on the later bikes and that should be enough to convince you.
Dont give to much thought to the foam pods either, they are only stopping crap getting sucked in and the weber air box wasn't of tuned length ie velocity stacks.
As a final comment I'm not sure what the weather is like in your part of US but the weber was dreadful in cold damp UK winter... The air jets would freeze up and the engine would act like it was on full choke. Many is the time I was sat at the side of the road for around 20min waiting for the carb to defrost.
Now I run Keihin FCR and wouldn't have anything else, twist and go whatever the revs and serious kick in the pants

[murphus]

Thanks for the added info AndyK. From what's been said and from researching the topic further it seems pointless to reinstall the Weber. Still plenty of work to do before I get my Paso running, but I'll report back once it's up and breathing again, which from what I know will be the first time since 2003!!

[Finnpaso]

I had all time plenty of problems with Weber in my 750 Paso no matter i changed/tested/changed/ tested again all possible. Most difficult was that typical "flat spot" in 90-110Km/h. Then i changed to 40mm Dellortos, but they were too big ones to 750cc Pantah. (36mm dells would work much better in 750 Paso). At the end i find very low kms Mikunis from 750 Supersport and it was huge difference that to Weber and too big Dellortos. Now it runs very well and no anymore any flat spot and it pulls all time allaround RPM area very well.

[ducskii]

Finn Paso what size Mikunis are you using ?

[koko64]

Those Mikunis would be BDST38 , so 38mm