Topic: Help... '76 550 carb rebuild

[greenjeans]

I'm cleaning / rebuilding the carbs of my '76 CB550 & my CB500  both bikes had been sitting since '91. After a good soaking, they clean up real nice...   but... Is there a trick to getting the throttle valve off to change the needles?  Could they be stuck from all the years of sitting?  I've looked through my manual and I'm able to get the throttle shaft linkage but can't really get to the clip that holds the needle in.   All it says is "remove the jet needle from the throttle valve"    What's the trick here?
I'm going to ge get a sandwich and check back.... This is all I have on my "to do" list today.  Thanks in advance.

[greenjeans]

Problem solved......    soaked the carbs in seafoam spray/lube   heated the outside of the carb with a heat gun.
finally it came loose....did have to put a little wrench to it.

What the previous owner thought was a stuck throttle cable was actually stuck / gummed up throttle valve.

So...if you think your cables are bad if the bike has been sitting for a while, your throttle valve may be gummed  up and stuck

[anparkinson]

I had to do a major rebuild on my 550K3 carbs when I got it as they had sat for 12 years in old fuel. Couldn't get the bike to run smooth until I realised the idle jets were a bit furred up. They should be .42mm dia so I reamed them out with a .40mm modeller's drill. Loads of white powder came out. The bike runs beautifully now.