What would be best?

[kpiper]

I have an 81 fl250. Im in the midst of refinishing it to make it look better. The previous owner set it up as a gravity feed but I have been kicking around the idea of lowering the tank back down as original. I've seen them set up both ways, and since this is my first odyssey I was wondering which is best. There is also some issues with the way it runs and a guy said that the carb may need replaced. Im looking deeper into that. But.... if it does need replaced, I have been looking at a mikuni 32mm vm round slide carb. Would this work good as a replacement? Any help and info anyone can give would be great. Thank you.

[LiveWire]

Although my experience is with the 350, I would think keeping the center of gravity low is good on any machine. You can simulate gravity feed fuel pressure to the carb by putting a tee in the line to the carb that goes up high before going back to the tank. If you don't have a return fitting and don't want to drill for one, you can tee the return back into the input for the fuel pump. So the fuel just goes in a loop until needed by the carb.

[kpiper]

Thanks for the info Livewire. Since it is already set up for gravity feed, there is not a fuel pump on the machine. Should there still be one even tho its set up this way? I've heard it go both ways...... As for the carb that I am looking at buying... is anyone here familiar with it and would it make a good replacement?

[LiveWire]

If the bottom of the tank is not high enough, you can have fuel starvation problems in which case, a pump would resolve. Making the return line go to the top of the tank or loop up as high as the top of the tank will make it so you get the same fuel pressure as a full tank gravity feed.