Total Motorcycle Community Forums

hondanewbie wrote: But I STILL don't know if the carb clean was successful

Who did the carb cleaning and what did they exactly do? If the bike still only runs with the choke on even after warmed up, then the carb still needs cleaning. It could be any of the jets or any of the passages. Old evaporated fuel leaves a very nasty coating of residue in the carb passages, jets, etc.

How do I balance the carb? I've never heard that before. Also, I had it cleaned at the Kawasaki dealership up by my place. They took it apart, soaked it, and blasted it with air. The guy mentioned that the bracket that holds the choke cable in place, was really bent. He said he straightened it out as best as he could. There was still JUST a little play in the actual choke lever.

hondanewbie wrote:How do I balance the carb? I've never heard that before. Also, I had it cleaned at the Kawasaki dealership up by my place. They took it apart, soaked it, and blasted it with air. The guy mentioned that the bracket that holds the choke cable in place, was really bent. He said he straightened it out as best as he could. There was still JUST a little play in the actual choke lever.

Balancing or syncronizing the carbs is setting the vacuum in each carb so they are all even. That being said, you only have one carb, right?

How long did they soak it for?

Yup. Just one carb. And they didn't soak for long. An hour at most. It was done at a shop, but they only charged me $30 bucks, so possibly not the best job.

hondanewbie wrote:And they didn't soak for long. An hour at most. It was done at a shop, but they only charged me $30 bucks, so possibly not the best job.

Well there's your answer. It should be soaked overnight at the very least. I don't know how a shop could legitimately clean a carb for only $30 and make money.

There is no time like the present to learn to be a mechanic. Your manual has a section all about your carb, and how to clean and adjust it.

Johnj wrote:There is no time like the present to learn to be a mechanic. Your manual has a section all about your carb, and how to clean and adjust it.

Agreed! And I've done it before on my own old dirt bikes a few times. But those were old beaters I didn't really care about. This is a Vintage Beauty!! But ya, I got the book from the library today, and I'll try it again myself in the next couple days.

Fingers crossed!!

Johnj wrote:There is no time like the present to learn to be a mechanic. Your manual has a section all about your carb, and how to clean and adjust it.

Yep and a simple single carb like this one is the perfect one to learn on.

hondanewbie wrote:

Wrider wrote:Sounds to me like the pilot jet was plugged, so when you kept it on choke it probably fouled out the plugs. If you put in a new set of plugs, let it warm up for about a minute or two, then turn the choke back off.

And yes I vote put in a new set of plugs.

Ya I figured I'd have to get new plugs to replace my 28 minute old plugs!! It's all good. I'll get them in the am, and see what happens.

Thanks!!

I am new to this site but not to riding eagerly wanting to learn,share knowledge of bikes. Once you've changed your plugs and you are happy with them and your carbs are working and the plugs are not fouling up, I like to make a suggestion this may sound more expense but in the long run you be saving money and spark plug problems. Normally plugs go for around £1.50-£2.00 each but look at Irridium plugs see the benefits as they have a set for your bike with letters like EIX at the end of your spark plug number they go for around £30-£40 for a set of four that's 75% more expensive but if you read up about them you'll see the benefits and it is noticeable when fitted to your bike and the life is much longer and starting from cold ain't that bad a problem with these plugs they are very much worth reading about their advantages nothing to lose researching them lots to gain when on bike Happy riding and safe and be seen

I dunno about that. I have seen many many bikes that run like crap with iridium plugs. Most run better with the autolite or ngk plugs in my experience.