Whats worng with these carbs - and a question.

It was no good. I have been dodging around the issue but decided there was no way of avoiding cleaning the carbs.

I am a bit worried as to what I will find, though, judging by what I have found so far!



First off, these are the carb rubbers with plenty of gaffer tape and RTV sealant on them. The stupid thing is, they are in pretty good condition. Not perished at all and only a slight sign of wear where the clamps have dug into the rubber.



Try getting these drain screws out with the rack on the bike!! I will swap 1 and 4 float bowls.

I hope at least they are complete inside!!!

 

Re: Whats worng with these carbs - a visual check!

Yuck! Tape looks nasty. Bet it is nice and baked on!

My carb rack was similarly messed up by a PO. #1, #2, and #3 all faced left, #4 faced right. My guess is that he replaced the bowl on #3 at some point...

At least it looks like all your bowls are there. That's a good sign!

 

Re: Whats worng with these carbs - a visual check!

"Try getting these drain screws out with the rack on the bike!"

Doesn't look too much easier with the rack off! I was REALLY dreading cleaning my carbs. It was more than worth the trouble after reinstalling and it ran like a new bike. Good Luck with it :wink: ...

skillet

 

Re: Whats worng with these carbs - a visual check!

I inherited a set of inaccessible drain screws too, on my '83.

Chances are, the intake manifolds were all visibly cracked, and not realizing the cracks didn't go all the way through, PO did the nasty duct tape and caulk job.

You can probably clean that mess off, and replace only the ones that actually need it. Seal the others back up with some black high-temp RTV.

 

Re: Whats worng with these carbs - a visual check!

C.S.I. -- XJ

Just the fact that the Carb Bowls are on the rack "Bass-ackwards" is a good indication that the last time the Carbs were off the Bike and worked-on; they were in the hands of an inexperienced person.

I'd go through those Carbs with a fine-tooth comb and do them right.

 

Well. I have checked the inlet rubbers (can I say that?) and cannot find any holes and no signs or cracking.
The onlt fault is a couple of marks where the carb clamps have cut into the surface of the rubber, about 1 mm deep. I did notice the clamps were tightened all the way but not actually "Tight". I think I will add a ring from an old bicycle inner tube to pad out the clamp or fit some new jubilee clips.

Anyway - to the question. The bike started fine and ran well at speed but acceleration from idle was poor as she tended to bog down. There was no air filter - now replaced - but where to pay particular attention in the carbs? Pilot jets? Or pay attention EVERYWHERE!?

Thanks

 

Everywhere. Be sure to polish the slide bores if corroded at all; cleanliness, cleanliness, cleanliness.

Do not submerge the rack in carb cleaner, you can damage the butterfly shaft seals (if you weren't planning on replacing them.)