cleaning a whole rack of carbs?

Yep, I just did a set yesterday after hearing about it from a buddy who's used lemon juice on a couple dozen racks of carbs. After a couple of minutes at slow boil the lemon juice starts to foam up a little (careful not to boil over) and you can see all the sh*t just dissolving. After boiling them for 15 minutes (might have to roll them around once to make sure you get the entire carbs) rinse them really well and blow them dry with compressed air. The carb bodies will be kinda chalky looking at this point. I used a toothbrush and PB blaster to put a little luster back into them and then put my internals back in. I had pulled the bowls off, removed the floats, float needles and seats, jets, and air/pilot screws as well as the top covers and slides just to make sure no crap got itself wedged inside those passages.
After putting the carbs back together and bolting them up not only do they look great but the bikes running MUCH better with all the jet passages finally cleaned out.

Someone, perhaps here on KZR a while back, mentioned some sort of Yamaha dip that the carb assembly can be dunked into without removing anything.

JMKZHI wrote:

Someone, perhaps here on KZR a while back, mentioned some sort of Yamaha dip that the carb assembly can be dunked into without removing anything.

I'm listening.... haha

I read about that Yamaha dip on the GL forum I frequent too. Someone over there posted that Yamaha changed the formula to be more "green" and it's basically crap now. The new stuff is still available through any Yamaha dealer I guess, not sure if it's worthwhile anymore though.

WHOA these things are dirtier than I expected... haha...
What have I gotten myself into???

if the jets and emulsion tube are really dirty just take your bowls and fill them with carb cleaner a let them soak overnight then come out in the morning and spray them off with more carb cleaner and then wipe then down with a clean lint free rag. blow them out with compressed air andviola clean jets and bowls at the same time then start on the pilot circuit passages re assemble and you'll be good to go once they are all together spray the bodys with the carb cleaner that is let and the will somewhat clean on the out side and clean on the inside when you are blowing out the passeges make sure there is air coming out of all of them.

do you think vinegar would be a sufficient substitute for lemon juice?

Bicycle Lee wrote:

do you think vinegar would be a sufficient substitute for lemon juice?

Boiling vinegar is nasty. You will gag as it will irretate your throat. If you did it and I am not sure if you can it would have to be done outside...Russ

I was planning on doing any sort of carb boiling outside. Shit, I may just have to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner... haha.
What about jets? Can I just soak them in carb cleaner? Will any sort of solvent work?

If you left the jets in the carbs when you boiled them in lemon juice they'd come out shiny and clean. That's how my buddy does his carbs, just pulls the top and bottom covers off, doesn't even remove the slides in some cases, and boils them.

Bicycle Lee wrote:

I was planning on doing any sort of carb boiling outside. Shit, I may just have to invest in an ultrasonic cleaner... haha.
What about jets? Can I just soak them in carb cleaner? Will any sort of solvent work?

Use this stuff you can get it at Auto Zone or Advanced Auto Parts. It is by far the best product I have found. BERKEBILE 2+2® GUM CUTTER

...Russ

well, I got some carb cleaner and I'm spraying them down while I am at work today. In looking around it seems like boiling is the last resort, but we'll see....