Hey Guys, I decided it's finally time to get my 550 running again after not running for about 5 years so I pulled the carbs yesterday. After seeing the state of things and and the #1 carb in particular, I decided I need to get all the jets out including the emulsion tubes. Yes those are bubbles. Very weird.
This is what modern gas turns into guys. Looks like Simple Green, but much more pungent. Keep in mind I'd drained the bowls of any gas at least a couple years ago, but the bit that remained had went bad. When I flipped the carbs some pissed out and got all over my pants and shoe. I immediately threw them in the wash, but they still have some of that smell after. And I was not selfish with the laundry detergent! Don't get this crap on your clothes.
It took me quite a while to get all the carbs apart, cleaned, and back together back when I first did them so I went about looking for a good how-to somewhere and found this page:
http://blacksquaremotorcycle.com/honda-cb550-carburetors-rebuild/It links to the attached how-to doc for the 069A CB550 carbs. I didn't see it mentioned anywhere on this forum so hopefully we can all use it. I know it would've helped me immensely back when I first got my bike!
