Topic: CV carb operation

[bowhunter]

I have an '82 GL500 Interstate and the carbs are giving me fits. It barely idles when cold unless I stand there and blip the throttle
every couple seconds. After warm-up, the idle climbs to 3K and stays there. Where do I start looking. I've had the carbs apart twice
so far, all ports appear to be clear. Is there an on-line explanation of how these carbs work?

Thanks in advance,

Bowhunter

[dusterdude]

i think you may have an air leak,either thru the intake/carb mounting area or perhaps a torn diaphragm in a carb or three.the cv is the best style of carb to have,it merely works off of a vacuum signal,it doesnt give the engine more gas than it needs,very good design.

[HondaMan]

It's gonna be a pain, but...pull the tops off those carbs and clean the slides and bores with brake cleaner. In each slide (piston), look for the little tiny passages that control the vacuum flow: some are in the carb body. Clean them all with fine wire and brake cleaner (spray) until they flow freely.

Vacuum piston carbs are great when they are all clean, but if one is sticky, it can make all of them act strangely together. Our gasolines these days have more impurities than normal because of the shortage of supply right now, and some marginal fuel qualities are getting into the flow of things.   

[cadler]

dude , i am having the same problem with a cb450 restore.
i cleaned the carbs 3 x's and finally decided that they were not going to get any cleaner and to look elsewhere. after i got this running a got it to idle at 1 k i reved the engine and it stayed at 3k no matter what. i started spraying wd 40 around the carbs and the idle knocked back down. so i figured a leaky intake, removed the intake manifold and no gasket!. right now i have them on order and will let you know what happens.

[bowhunter]

It did turn out to be a vacuum leak. Put in all new gaskets, including the manifold to cylinder o ring. After re-assembly, hit the starter button for about 30 seconds, and she fired up! No need to tweek the throttle or anything. After she warmed up a little,
I closed the choke fully and she settled into a nice steady idle at about 1K rpm. I still need to sync the carbs, but she's ridable now.

Bowhunter

PS I got the kits from http://www.randakks.com. He specializes in Goldwings and also sells kits for the CX's and GL500's
     Great service and the prices seemed very reasonable.