I've got the next two days off and I'd like to get this thing sorted out so I can ride it before the season ends...

1. I've asked this one before and gotten mixed answers... When measuring valve clearances, should I line up the T mark and measure, or should the lobe be pointed directly away from the bucket? If I line up the T mark, how do I tell when the next cylinder is at TDC?

I already did the valves with the lobes pointed away, and that's when my problems started...

2. How should I go about getting the floats out of the carbs? I believe I have a leaky float but I can't get the float pins out. I have a spare rack of carbs that I tried to get the pins out of with no success (used a hammer and pin punch).

3. Has anybody else had problems after rebuilding their petcock? I did mine once (used Chacals kit) and it still leaked. Redid it thinking I wasn't thorough enough, and it still leaks a little bit. The plunger seat had zero pitting. I don't want to switch to a manual valve, are there any other vacuum operated options?

Thanks in advance for any help.

I found that when I rebuilt my petcock, that the plunger didn't quite seat, and the reason was that the metal disk was very slightly cupped. Some very gentle flattening of the disk fixed it. It was so slight that it was hardly noticeable.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into that...

Bump...

The cam lobes will NOT be in the correct positions for checking clearances with the cylinders at TDC; you check the clearances with the valves pointed away from the surface of the bucket.

If they're Mikuni carbs, the area of the float pin that binds/holds the pin in the tower is just under the head, not on the other end. I find the easiest way to remove them is to support the float tower right next to the head of the pin, and then give them a gentle tap from the other end; they usually pop right out.

If they're not Mikunis I can't help with that.

They are Mikunis, Fitz. This is how I did it.

As for the petcock, I too had a leaky one. Bought the rebuild kit. Still leaked. Putzed with it, broke the kit. Put the original pieces back in... and it stopped leaking. Go fig.

Thanks for the input guys!

I went ahead and measured the clearances both ways, there was virtually no change fyi and all are within spec, except for one...

I'll see if putting the old plunger back in stops the petcock from leaking, as well check to see if the new one is bent. When I ordered the rebuild kit I didn't get the spring shim washer (so I made one out of the old drain screw washer), just ordered one, along with a valve shim and some other stuff.

Schmuck I missed that you used the pencil torch in that tutorial, I'll give it a shot.

Thanks again guys.

UPDATE

I replaced my tight shim, made sure the cam timing was set correctly, bench synced the carbs using paper strips, and set pilot mix screws to 2.75 turns out. Replaced tensioner and valve cover gaskets.

Opened the petcock back up, gave it a scrub down, put the old plunger back in but still used the spring shim. Lubed all the rubber bits with silicon grease.

Put the bike all back together, and viola, she starts! The catch; it revs up to 6,000 RPM. Idle adjust does nothing...

Are the butterflies open too far? Should I turn the mix screws in a fuzz? Is it possible the idle circuit is plugged and I'm running on the main jets?

On a side note, I left it on prime when I was filling the float bowls and it started pissing gas out of the overflow tube between 3 & 4, but not 1 & 2. I would assume either 1 or 2 float valve is not seating? (oil change is next on my list)

Thanks again for all your help guys!