Good news

missionkz wrote:

stokes wrote: Even in 1st and 2nd,if you rev it high it clears up.I had gumout in the tank and it got a slight improvement now with the stuff the mechanic recommended it seems to be clearing up a lot.I'd like to hear car5cars reasoning on why carb cleaner cannot clean "slow jets"

LOL.... Carb cleaners work fine for soft gum or some varnish deposits. What I find in slow jets and other tiny passages is hard deposit crud that only a .009"-.012" wire will chase out.
There is NO SUCH THING as mechanic in a can!
It is as close as you can get to a fool's errand trying clear those tiny holes with over the counter carb cleaner.

Yes,and nobody expects it to dissolve a solid grain of sand,if that is what is clogging it,the stuttering wont clear up and he will clean it when he adjusts the jets,not the end of the world.I'm not a mechanic,but I would think if there was a piece of grit clogging a jet it would be completely closed and not pass any gas at all,the bike would run a lot worse.

I've rebuilt dozen's of sets of UJM carbs and just about every set I've touched were full of hard and brittle O-rings. In particular the O-rings for the fuel transfer tubes that feed the float bowls. Mechanic in a can is well and good but it doesn't turn back the clock and make the O-rings new again. The only thing that can do that is proper maintenance and replacing old worn out parts.

If the bike were running real bad I might worry that it wasnt maintained in the past,its exhibiting minor stumbling in 1st and 2nd gear,thats all.Its getting better as I run it.Aint gonna start completely rebuilding carbs that arent troublesome,if the cleaner dont clear it up,we'll look further into it.

I'd check the valve clearances just to be sure. When I did my valve job, the exhaust valves were seating on carbon left by the bad valve guide seals. The bike ran but it now runs much better, doesn't use oil and the valve train sings like they did new.
Steve

The only right way to clean carbs is to tear them down, unless you have real good x-ray vision that is. And yes, check the valve clearance.

missionkz wrote:

stokes wrote: There is NO SUCH THING as mechanic in a can!

You are right, he's in a bottle.

www.homedepot.com/p/Mechanic-in-a-Bottle...ve-2-004-1/202580655


Seriously, valve adjust, then thorough carb clean and adjust is the right way to go.

Taking it to the mechanic tomorrow.He's gonna pull the carbs and give 'em a good going over.Right now the cleaner seemed to do a lot.The bike is running much smoother in 1st and 2nd,but the idle is still rough,but much better than it was before the "Mechanic in a bottle".When I called him today,he actually suggested running it for a while longer,but agreed pulling the carbs and cleaning them and checking rings and seals is best.He suspects the jets werent adjusted when the 4 into 1 exhaust was put on,he's gonna check that as well.

Small stumbling in lower gears usually means too rich at those carb opening ranges, possibly lower the slide needles a little. Engines need more fuel as load increases, and there is less load on them in lower gears.

Okay,got a call from the mechanic,he cleaned the low speed jets and its running good,but he says it has some dried rubber and recommends a re-build.He says for him to do it would be $150 for the kits and about $200 in labor.Doesnt sound too bad,but looking at rebuild kits,it looks like there isnt a lot to it.Is there a place to see instructions for the procedure?Do the carbs need to be completely seperated from each other or can they be left together? Thinking it would be a good winter project to do myself,maybe.I'm waiting for a call back from him,he's going to get me a price on sending them out to be done so I have a choice.

I'd get the bike back and do it myself.
Steve

swest wrote: I'd get the bike back and do it myself.
Steve

WHAT? $350 to rebuild the carbs AFTER he allegedly, already striped the carbs down and cleaned the "low speed" jets!!?? Drivel.
Screw that BS! I think he might be a hack.
Buy yourself a REAL factory service manual and get that thing back home. Then ask here what "rubber" parts you can replace (probably for less the $15, no doubt).... then you can learn how to do it right yourself.

Paying someone to work on your bike is a fast way to get upside down. Learned that when I paid a guy to sync my carbs and do a valve adjustment. He handed me a bill for $600 and I have never went back to anyone.
These are simple things to do with borrowed tools and some time with the FSM or a Haynes. The carbs don't need to be "rebuilt". Clean the jets and replace rubber bits like missionkz says.