Harmonizer Vacuum Multi-Tool -- It ain't your Daddy's Twinmax

Well, went to use my Twinmax for only the second time for my 24,000 mile service, and the sensitivity button has no effect.

MFer. Shoulda known when the label clearly states "Made in France".

I don't suppose there's anyone within a couple of hundred miles of Boston with a Harmonizer who'd be willing to hook it to my bike for the few minutes I need to synch things up? I'm thinking I'll just a ride in, hook it up, I'll bring m own 10mm wrenches, and a six pack of your favorite beer.

Dis you make sure your battery in your TwinMax s 'fresh'?

JJ

Battery was brand-new bought, DVM said 8.8+ volts.

When set to "low" sensitivity, if I sucked on a tube the needle swung halfway from 0 to 1. At "max" sensitivity, same. Also, unless my bike is already fully synched, trying various sensitivities at RPMs ranging from idle to ~5,000 led to no needle movement whatever. My recollection from the only other time I used it was that the needle basically vibrated back and forth across the zero, the task was to get the vibration centered on the zero (equal on both sides).

Using your mouth to create a vacuum usually isn't a consistent enough source to check for proper operation.

And a 'new' battery should measure 9.3+ volts so the battery may be a potential problem with an easy solution (try another battery).

But if you're not getting the needle happy dance at near max sensitivity then something is definitely wrong (duh).

JJ

Thanks for that tip, I'll try the new battery.

Andrew

Actually, I didn't bother with a new battery. For a bit more cost I made myself a home-made mamometer for the throttle body sync. I still plan on getting a Harmonizer as soon as one is available, but given that might not be for months I had to come with some way to finish my 24,000 service without waiting that long.

(And I certainly wasn't going to buy another TwinMax. )

I was quite nervous about the possibility of sucking fluid into the engine, so perhaps I went overboard--in fact, almost certainly so.

In the center of my garage is a floor-to-ceiling metal support column, and I used this as the backbone for my mamometer.

I took 30 feet of 3/8" OD-1/4" ID clear plastic tubing (US$0.35/foot at the local hardware store), and used a sharpie pen to mark the midpoint--that was the bottom of my mamometer.

I did not want to tape the tube directly to the column because I was concerned that would compress the tube at those points and mess up my reading. Instead, I took a half-dozen 3/4" threaded plastic pipe connectors (threading on the outside, inside was smooth), and slipped them over the doubled-over tubing, which fit quite nicely snug but not squeezed (or, if there was any squeeze it was identical for both tubes), and used them as protective collars at the points where I taped the mamometer to the column.

I slid one connector almost all the way down to the sharpie mark, creating a bottom loop for the mamometer. This left me with 15 feet of doubled-up tubing--one for each side/cylinder of the mamometer. I then spaced out the other five connectors atrough 12" to 18" intervals, until all the way to the top of the 8 foot column, at which point the remainder of the tubing draped down to the ground. At each "collar"/connector I used electrical tape or duct tape to hold the connecter (and the tubes within the connector) to the column.

I had purchased a small bottle of red food coloring from the local market, and poured that into a plastic container. Then I used a children's medicine dispensing syringe to suck up the coloring and "inject" it into one of the open ends of the tube. I then added sufficient water so that the water level was about 3' off the bottom of the mamometer. It didn't take much, maybe 30 or so ml of water added to the food coloring.

At that point I did end up with some water "caught" at various parts of the plastic tubing. By smacking/tapping the tubing I could break the water free and get it to flow down into the lower body of my mamometer. This still left me with some water droplets clinging here and there to the inside of the tubing. I let the tubing sit overnight, and the next afternoon it was much better--still a few clinging droplets, but nothing (I hoped) that would interfere with a 1300 cc engine.

I attached the adapter tubes from my TwinMax to the end of the clear hose (the connectors from the TwinMax fit perfectly), and hooked them up to the throttle bodies of my GS Adventure. At this point I was ready to start the engine and see what would happen. I had the bike on the center stand, in Neutral, and I was standing on the left side of the bike, ready to press the start button, and also ready to crush the kill switch if the engine suddenly sucked in all that red water. :eek1

I hit the starter and immediately saw one of the water columns rise abruptly--but only about 9". And I never had more than a 9" differential between the two water columns throughout the throttle body sync. Since I still had another 4 feet or so of tubing running up to the ceiling, that was more than enough safety margin--at least for the degree of differential vacuum on my particular bike at this particular service. I imagine an engine with a very badly synched engine could easily suck many more inches of water up either tube.

Using the usual throttle body adjustment technique for an '08 GS I was easily able to match the columns of red water at various RPMs (after, I should mention, letting the engine first run up to temp, with a big box fan blowing on the engine. According to my GS911, the engine temp was about 200 degrees when I started the synch proper, and about 240 degrees when I finished. I don't think the temp gauge on the dash ever got even 1/4 of the way up, but I didn't pay much attention to it as I was using the GS911 for temp info). It was quite easy to get the columns essentially exactly matched at various RPMs.

At that point my two-year-old woke up from her nap, so I haven't had it out for a ride yet, but I have high hopes for a smooth engine after adjusting my rocker arm gap, doing a careful valve adjustment, new motor oil/filter, and new air filter, new spark plugs (all four), and now a careful throttle body synch.

The brake flush, new trans fluid, new final drive fluid, and Wilbers suspension install also shouldn't hurt.

As I said, I still plan on getting a Harmonizer, if only so I don't have to worry about my engine inhaling 30ml or so of colored water, but I thought I'd share one guy's experience going the home-built route until the Harmonizers are once again available.

Grok -I know there is no list per-se but I'm subscribed and will buy one if I am fast enough on the trigger next time. Just posting up so you can get a sense of level of interest ... as if you need that.

From 8 days ago...

Just FYI...

Dallara



~

200GRLSWC, I made a home-made mamometer and used automatic trans. fluid in it . It's also red and easy to see. It might react slower than water and if you suck it in I don't think it would hurt anything, just make the engine smoke until it burned it out. Carl

Thanks for the tip--but hopefully by the next time I need to synch throttle bodies I'll have a Harmonizer in hand.

Yep, saw that but thanks. I'll kick it old school in the meantime but I like having the best tool for the job over the long haul.

Later.

I'm trying to buy one of these. The last I saw on the thread was new supply in June. Now it's the middle of summer.

Did I miss the production run?

If the latest batch has come & gone, how were the lucky few picked?

Jay-sus! Read the last couple of pages before posting.

There is also some interest here in the UK for the Harmonizer. Eagerly awaiting news of availability! Just don't post the news while we're all asleep over here

Is there any way to either preorder or get on a list to purchase.

cheers

Just curious...

Have you bothered to read any of the thread at all? Even just back a few pages?

It may take just a little bit of effort. I know that may be tough, but it really helps...

And it will answer all your questions, too.

Dallara



~

Well, thanks for your help, clearly you know the answer and instead of having a go at me could have just given me the answer but yes I did read the thread but not all 74 pages of it and I couldnt find anything about preordering only that they would be perhaps available in August, not quite the same thing but thank you for your interest.

Cheers

Ok, I found an answer in page 72, but its not from Grock, why wouldnt a a person have a list of persons interested, that would help with stock ordering etc.

My mea culpa

I apologise on behalf of most members for your less than friendly welcome to the forum.
Briefly, the very first post in the thread is the key - that is where you'll find the latest news as to availability. Once they are available, a price and order tab will be available on that post.
Due to the high demand and limited supply, it is run on a 'first-come-first-served' basis, so there is no waiting list as such.
Reading through all the posts is informative on many aspects of the Harmonizer, not just on how to get your hands on one. It worth taking the time one Saturday afternoon.
I hope this helps.
Cheers

See, that wasn't so hard, was it? Reading back just two pages, eh?

As for Grok... I figure it's his business how he runs his business. He designs and builds an amazing product. Some more reading in the thread might give you some insight into why he sells them the way he does.

Dallara







p.s. - you can tell from his post count and join date how much ol' GreyAl represents "most members of this forum"... Of course, you can also see how in just the past few pages of this thread how "most members" suggest reading the thread before asking about availability.

~

+1