Topic: Taking the carbs off.

[78_SaltLick]

hey you guys, i need to take my carbs off to fix the broken slow jet, i found this link in FAQ section, http://www.salocal.com/sohc/tech/carb/carb.htm  its for a 750 would it apply to a 550 as well? First time taking them off, i just need to know if this is the right way.

[needswork]

I drain the float bowls first (open screw at bottom of bowl) rather than get covered in gas. and I don't bother with detaching the overflow drain tubes. Also not mentioned; disconnecting the choke cable. You'll probably have to pull quite hard when you're ready to pull the rack off.

[BobbyR]

Salt, the carb rubbers should be pretty hard by now. I would suggest you get a piece of wood and find a place to pry the  carbs from the engine. If you can sneak some silicone or even WD 40 under the edges of the rubber before you pry them off. It is more of a wiggle than a full force prying.

[crazypj]

If you loosen or remove the air box screws (under seat) you get an extra 1/4" to play with. Its still not easy though.
PJ

[78_SaltLick]

If you loosen or remove the air box screws (under seat) you get an extra 1/4" to play with. Its still not easy though.
PJ

i took the carbs off last night, didnt remove the airbox just loosened the air box screws under the seat like you suggested. It was a little tough trying to wrestle them out of there, but by what i saw there is no way to remove the airbox on a 74 cb550 before taking the carbs off, so does anyone know if the carbs CAN go back on the bike with the airbox on? Like i said i dont see how the airbox could go on there after the carbs are put on.....

[Mark M]

The carbs must go on last, You can soften up the rubbers a little by soaking in a bucket of nice Hot (from a kettle) water
and a hairdrier (or electric fan) to keep them warm once back on the bike. It's just a question of a little brute force and patience.
Once you get the hang of it you can sling them back on in less than a week with most of the skin still attached to your fingers.
Good luck! 

[cmorgan47]

if it's anything like the 400, so long as you take the boots that connect the carbs to the airbox off the airbox, it just a matter of a bit of force.  slide the carbs into the engine boots, then wedge the airbox boots in one at a time..... they're #$%*.

[volthause]

That's one good thing about not having an airbox. I can remove my carbs in under a minute.

It's unfortunate that I've had to take them off so many times in order to get that proficient at it however. 

[supersport_CB400F]

If only these people would buy a manual I’m sure they would not have so many problems 

[TwoTired]

Be sure to remove the band clamps on the air box couplers rather than simply loosen them.  This allows the couplers greater flexibility while the carb inlets deflect them during installation, or removal, for that matter.

The couplers are often glued to the air plenum.

Cheers,

[DammitDan]

Yup, once you take em off and put em back on as often as I do (I think this is my 8th or 9th time this year) you learn all the tricks.

On my 650, you leave the airbox and air manifold connected together, but unbolt the airbox and bunjee the manifold as far back as it can go.  Then loosen the clamps on the manifold and on the carb side of the intake boots so that the screw is almost all the way out (while draining the float bowls).  Then, sitting on the bike, rock the carbs down, right, then up, and they pop right off.  Wiggle and push it out to the right, remove throttle/choke cables, and you're home free.

I just did this again yesterday in anticipation of my new jets coming in.  Took about 10 minutes from start (taking off seat/tank) to finish (replacing seat/tank).

[flatblack]

If only these people would buy a manual I’m sure they would not have so many problems 

Amen. Especially when one can download a lot of the factory manuals from here:

http://www.manualclub.com/

fb

[g8ts]

I have had the unfortunate task of removing my carbs. about 5 times this summer.But the more you do it the easier it gets. Still can't figure out where that last washer came from 
I find after you have everything disconnected leaving the boots tight on carbs. and removing clamps from the intake. You simple push them up and then down with a little back pressure and they come off much easier. When re-installing a little silicone spray or WD40 around I.D.of boots makes the job a lot easier.Re-install the same way start the boot on the bottom of the intake then bring up with pressure. I usually stand in front of exhaust for leverage, first I push one side on then move to other side of bike and push the other side on. Make sure if any boots fall off Air box you put them on the same place, If you look close they are differant lengths. When you get the carbs. back on intake. The Air box boots should easily line up and slide on carbs.

[78_SaltLick]

Im finding it tough to get a #38 slow jet from the MC salvage yards, i wound up just ordering the darn thing from honda, have to wait a week oh well. MC salvage yards want you to buy the whole carb or set of carbs. One MC salvage yard said it was okay of i took a slow jet off for $10, i can buy a new one for that, but thought what the hell i can have it now so there i go diggin through a huge pile of carbs and everytime i find one that looks like a CB550 i open up the bowl and unscrew the jet to find its a #35 stamped on it....dammit. oh well. What does a #35 go to anyway? what year bike? i sure saw alot of them.

[DammitDan]

A #35 will fit in your bike just as well as a #38...  The number is the size of the jet, or how much fuel it lets through, not the type.

It all depends upon if you need to richen or lean your low end (1/8 to 1/3 throttle) mixture.  But if you're just changing one, then stick with what all your other carbs have

[TwoTired]

Seems to me that $10 to get your bike running was a reasonable expenditure.  I probably would have offered him $5 for this "little, tiny $2 part"!?

Might have worked. 

Cheers,

[needswork]

Seems to me that $10 to get your bike running was a reasonable expenditure. I probably would have offered him $5 for this "little, tiny $2 part"!?

Cheers,

I bought 4 (main) jets from the Honda dealer for $2 canadian each (that's like $1.75 US). I did have to wait for 4 or 5 days though.

[78_SaltLick]

yippee, i got the broken slow jet out......just drilled out the center like twotired suggested, it fell to pieces and i was able to blow it out with compressed air. okay.....so now im just waitin on the slow jet to come in, then ill put it all back together put the carbs back on, and probably find out that i have the same problem.....