I hereby nominate RickCoMatic for Sainthood

I'm not a religious man but I think RockCoMatic should be given automatic sainthood for his divine like ability to give people the skills to return carbs from the dead!

I have worked on bikes for years to some extent or another, but the one thing I have never messed with is carbs. They were too easy to screw up, or so I thought. This time I didn't have the option of taking it to the dealer for a tuneup (doesn't work on "old" bikes) so I took the plunge and tried it myself. All I can say is the bike pulls like a freight train now, and I haven't even colortuned it yet. Thanks RickCoMatic!

For pics of the cleaning process, go here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/TJames1979/XJ700

It's mostly after cleaning. I was too excited and grossed out to take before pictures.

 

It's shameful that the Dealers are turning-away customers who own old bikes.

They are just interested in keeping their Tech's content and servicing the new models that don't require a lot of intensive labor to remove the Carbs and strip them down and do an elaborate cleaning.

Nowadays, it's just a matter of unplugging a Fuel Injector and plugging-in a new or refurbished one right out of the box.

Unfortunately, the places that will work on your bike ... charge you an hourly rate for doing the job ... and, anyone who has done the whole tear-down will tell you ... the time adds-up fast when you consider that you'll be doing some time consuming work getting them done right.

Thank you for the kind words.
I have received a lot of thanks from those who read the Carb Article and dove-in to do it themselves.

I feel good know I have helped you get the Bike into fighting shape and getting the Carbs Cleaned for a season of Bike riding fun and enjoyment.

I do like the feedback from the success stories.
Especially, when they are so enthusiastic after the Bike gets running again real good!

Thank you very much, indeed!
Sincerely,

Rick Massey

 

It's even more shameful when they take your money and don't do the job right, or at all.

 

My local shop and I get along pretty well. I do a little computer tech work on the side for them and they give me a deal and a helping hand whenever I need it. Their reasoning for not working on bikes older than 1990 is so many things can be wrong that most of the time the customer wants the 30 dollar repair for the bike that needs a $300 overhaul. And if they only do the $30 repair, then when the next thing breaks, the owner is back in the shop demanding free labor on something that should have been fixed before.

I'm not saying it's right, that's just how they justified it. They are always willing to give tips etc, and when I need tools (carb sticks, YICS tool) in a hurry, they let me borrow them. Saves me the time having to make them myself.

But...There's no substitute for doing it your darn self. The feeling of pride in knowing you took this dirty non-functioning p.o.s. bike from some guy too lazy to work on it himself and made into a smooth running powerful machine again is great. In my case that means I get to drive it to work and have the coworker who sold it to me cry since he was the lazy one.

 

Sometimes it pays to do it yourself - as others have said. I once dumped over 1000 on a bike I couldn't get to run (before I found this site). At the end of the day, I know that it was the valve shims that were preventing the bike from starting (long story how I know - but I know).

I did value for my 1000 with a lot of new parts (that I didn't really need) but I could have saved myself a lot of time (shop had the bike for 2 months working on it "when they could") and money.

I tackle most things myself and only defer the stuff that requires machine shop equipment these days.