FAQs

DO I NEED TO SYNCHRONIZE MY CARBS ?

Cables will stretch, rods and linkages that connect the throttle to the carburetors will stretch and change their tolerances.  Resulting in the carburetor sliders or butterflies operating at slightly different times from one another,  causing an imbalance in the carburetion of the engine due to unequal amounts of air entering the cylinders.

WHAT ARE THE EFFECTS OF UN-SYNCHRONIZING CARBS ?

Imbalance in the amount of throttle opening between the carburetors will result in reduced performance.  If you have poor throttle response, excessive fuel consumption, and increased vibration, a Twinmax will fix that!

Why a Twinmax?

The Twinmax is the most accurate and user friendly unit on the market.  Other methods require you to interpret the information, usually bouncing liquid or rods , make a small adjustment, look at the liquid bouncing up and down again to see if any difference the adjustment you made, and then do it all over again, until it is about right.   The Twinmax is accurate enough that as you are adjusting the carb or fuel injection you can see the results.   The results are visible as you adjust the carbs!

DOES THE TWINMAX WORK WITH ANY ENGINE ?

To the Twinmax, size doesn't matter!!  Yes, the Twinmax is suitable for both carbureted and fuel-injected engines of 2, 3, or 4 cylinders, with 2 or more carbs or fuel injections throttle plates, 2 cylinders motorcycles (BMW, GUZZI, URAL...), 4 cylinders motorcycles (HONDA, YAMAHA, KAWASAKI, SUZUKI...), snowmobiles, classic cars, motorboats, 4 cycle outboard motors, light aircraft, ultra lights (ROTAX...), etc.. 

HOW IS THE TWINMAX DIFFERENT ?

Other balancers use either dial gauges or tubes containing mercury or spring-loaded weights with one gauge per cylinder and any adjustments to the carburetors are made according to the readings on each of these gauges. This means that not only is there the potential for errors due to the moving parts of each gauge, it is also very difficult to ensure that each gauge gives exactly the same reading on a given amount of vacuum, when the liquid or gauges are moving, and also  due to variances in manufacturing tolerances, friction differences, volumes of mercury or tension of springs.

The Twinmax is different. The Twinmax works by comparing the vacuum present on either side of a single pressure sensor and electronically shows this difference as a meter reading. Synchronizing carburetors with the Twinmax is simple, quick and gives professional level accuracy every time.

HOW EASY IS THE  TWINMAX TO USE ?

The Twinmax is a precision electronic tool, contains no mercury, has no moving parts, it is compact, portable, and can be used in any orientation or position and can be used on the road for real world checks.

WILL I NEED ANYTHING ELSE TO USE A TWINMAX ON MY BIKE?

We ship the Twinmax complete to do any engine with vacuum takeoffs.  The Twinmax comes with:  two hoses that connect to the Twinmax (these are for classic British twins, such as, Triumph, BSA, etc.), two small hoses with reducers, a 9Volt battery, and instructions.  Older Japanese  and some European bikes have vacuum takeoffs blocked off by screws.  They are 5 mm for most Japanese and 6 mm for some mid 1980s Yamaha 's, Moto Guzzi and some Ducatis.  These are available separately.

WHAT IF I NEED HELP WITH MY TWINMAX?

You can call us 9 am to 9 pm MST 365 days a year.   We have been selling the Twinmax in the US since 1969 and have personally used the Twinmax on over 600 motorcycles, cars, PWC, etc..

If you have an issue, please let me help.  We are eager to help! Frank at 800.217.3526.

HOW LONG IS THE TWINMAX GUARANTEE ?

The Twinmax is guaranteed for 2 years but don't worry, some of our Twinmax are still in service after 20 years.

CAN I USE THE TWINMAX ON AN AUTOMOBILE?

Yes, on cars with two or more Carbs with vacuum takeoffs.  Or vacuum takeoffs on the intake manifolds for each carb.  We have sold a Twinmax to a Ferrari restoration shop who was very pleased with its ease and accuracy of use.

I HAVE A TWO STROKE, CAN I USE THE TWINMAX?

Yes,  the Twinmax is more than sensitive enough even for use on 2-strokes.   Four strokes have a compression ratio of 8-12 to one,  the 2-stroke is 6-6.5 to one .  A 2-stroke has about half of the vacuum as a four stroke but the Twinmax is sensitive and accurate enough in that range as well. 

HOW IS USING VACUUM DIFFERENT THAN OTHER METHODS?

The only accurate method is vacuum!   The amount of vacuum  pulled into a cylinder is determined by many factors.  Among them: compression ratio, compression, valve timing, slide or butterfly position, etc..  By using a Twinmax you can compensate for these small variations.  For example, if the compression is unequal the slide or butterfly can be opened more on that side so that each cylinder is producing the same amount of power.  For the past 80 years we have used manometers.  many of them only approximately accurate.  The thicker the liquid the less accurate they are.  For pin point accuracy we now rely on electronics which provides you with a single visual reading.

The Twinmax was designed by an Electrical Engineer, Eric Mansard, who owned a Harris Triumph.  Using conventional means he could not get the carbs adjusted to his satisfaction.  In his frustration he created a more accurate and user friendly tool, the Twinmax.