Topic: $300+ parts to rebuild carbs?

[stevenmgrr]

I just got a couple of quotes to rebuild the carbs on my CB500.  While I am a pretty good DIY auto mechanic, other projects prevent me from having the time to delve into learning to do a proper carb rebuild on a motorcycle.

I got quotes of $275-300 plus parts with a five day turn around.  These were independent Honda service shops that specialize in older bikes.  The dealers around here pretty much turned me away ('We don't work on that stuff anymore').

Most of these places are saying they need them for 5 days.  My bike currenly runs, but it is pretty temperamental.  Sometimes the carbs leak, sometimes they don't.  Sometimes it runs well, sometimes it stalls.  Sometimes it will idle with no adjustment, sometimes you constantly have to adjust the idle screw.

Anyway, I don't know if these quotes are high, but I just can't see giving anyone $400 of my money, so it looks like I am going to be doing this myself.  I'm just curious as to how big of a job this is. 

[.RJ]

Does that include removal from the bike?  If so, the labor is pretty fair assuming they do the rebuild correctly and sync them when they are back on the bike.

If you want to do the job yourself its not that bad as long as you are organized and patient

[greenjeans]

Gotta figure they are going to have to charge around $75 an hour or more...cleaning the carbs thoroughly takes time.
Hate to say it, but you should try it yourself.  Get 4 big coffee cans and some of that yamaha carb cleaner and go at it
yourself.  It's tedious, but it's not really that bad of a job.   I just got 4 big coffee cans, labeled them 1 -4 and put each
carb in it's own can with some of the carb cleaner diluted with water.  Take the bowls & floats off and remove the jets &
needles and let them soak.  Get a couple of cans of spray carb cleaner to spray through every hole you can find.
Compressed air is a big help as well.  One thing I noticed is that it actually took me 2 cleanings to get everything out.....
Do it once, and then go back and do it again (much faster the second time) make sure everything is sparkling clean.

About the needles and jets etc...most times those don't wear out so after a good cleaning, you can re-use them. 
Make sure that you take them all out and clean and inspect closely.  That  way you only have to order gaskets for the bowls.
Get the ones that are shaped to fit vs the big o-ring type.  It will make your life easier.

[Gordon]

Honestly, that sounds like a pretty good price for a shop to do your carbs.  Carb work is not really all that technical and doesn't require many special tools, but it does take time and patience, two things that cost a lot for a shop to offer. 

Do it yourself.  You'll be much, much happier in the end. 

[stevenmgrr]

Does that include removal from the bike?  If so, the labor is pretty fair assuming they do the rebuild correctly and sync them when they are back on the bike.

If you want to do the job yourself its not that bad as long as you are organized and patient

No, that quote was for me to remove them and walk them into the shop.

[.RJ]

Get 4 big coffee cans and some of that yamaha carb cleaner and go at it

50/50 Simple green/hot water mix is cheaper and works better in my experience.

[Gordon]

No, that quote was for me to remove them and walk them into the shop.

IMO, that's not really a good idea.  If the shop can't put them back on the bike, run them and synchronize them, then not only do you still have more work left to do on them yourself, but there's a decent chance that there will still be some things wrong with them that you won't discover until after you've spent the time putting them back on the bike yourself. 

[rshelbert]

I think this is generally the reason carbs can get expensive to get worked on.  A shop does not want to work on your bike, spend the time and give you a poorly running bike back with the 700.00 bill.   Also depending on what you will need for parts, it could get very expensive in parts.  I would not be suprised if you at least doubled the labor in parts

The carbs are not that complicated and are pretty easy to clean and adjust.  If you take your time, not get in a hurry it will be a pretty easy job.  Unless you break something carelessly I am pretty sure you can only make things better by trying.  With that said cleaning them well does not ensure your bike will run any better.  You will probably have to clean them a few times, adjust them a good bit, possibly replace worn parts.   When I think of working on carbs, I generally think of a week to fine tune them.

One thing to keep in mind, carbs are not always the solution to

"Sometimes it runs well, sometimes it stalls.  Sometimes it will idle with no adjustment, sometimes you constantly have to adjust the idle screw.

I have found that ignition and electrical problems look a whole lot like a carb problem over the years.  make sure you are up on your maintenance and tune up procedures before you start working on carbs or you could be trying to adjust a electrical problem or ignition problem away with the carbs.  It will never happen.

Oh and consider yourself lucky the dealers turned you away,  If they let their mechanic at them they would probably never work again. 

[Frankenkit]

I've actually found brake-kleen (the stuff in the green can) works well for blasting out the wee little passages. Depending on the type of carb, you might be able to get away with just taking the carbs off, (the whole rack off), taking your float bowls off, examining your gaskets, and *one at a time*  unscrewing the jets etc, cleaning everything out with the brake-kleen (won't harm rubber in the long run, might make it swell a little temporarily)  and checking to fiche that all your stuff is *there*  (I've noticed that on a lot of these older bikes, we, as 2nd, 3rd or so owners inherit a long list of jerry-rigged chickenwire fixes...)  blast out the little passages, learn which passages go to which little jet within the carb, make sure your accel. pumps are working, if you have them) (take the top (bottom?) off 2 and blast through those little passages until you get a small jet through all four) etc etc.  I've never soaked my carbs, for fear of what the stuff would do to any rubber I may have accidentally left in place.  That, and I'd recommend the minimalist approach first, then more and more involved as you see fit.  If your carbs are leaking, it may be due to your float height, or stuck floats in general... sometimes you can give the carb a good knock with a rubber hammer or the handle of a long screw driver for a quick fix.

[goon 1492]

YOU CAN DO IT! just come here ask questions, check faq's start with doing one and then repeat process on the other three, then move onto sync etc. make sure if your velocity stacks are rock hard and not soft anymore you can put them in the oven at 250 degrees for a minute or two and it will soften them up, but you have to work fast because the cooler they get the harder they get again. It took me three or four tries before i was successful reinstalling them.  And wear safety goggles when using compressed air, you only get two eyes and they are not replacable

[mlinder]

Where are you?

I'll remove them, clean them, reinstall, tune and synch them for far less.

Or you can do it yourself for even less. Way less. No one should charge more than 250 bucks for that ENTIRE process, sans parts needed.

[winnipeg550guy]

but it does take time and patience, two things that cost a lot for a shop to offer. 

Do it yourself.  You'll be much, much happier in the end. 

 Totally agree, I rebuilt mine over the winter, never did one before did 1 carb at a time took lots of reference photos and got a lot of advice from internet. Took a month due to Very cold weather, work and other family things but hell no rush in the winter.
 When I got em done and back on the bike I was quite happy with myself and the money I saved

 And if Synching not included, whats that going to cost if it's not something your equipped to do.
 

[cleveland]

Where do you live?  One of the local SOHC members may offer to do it for less.

[stevenmgrr]

Where do you live?  One of the local SOHC members may offer to do it for less.

I live in Canton, MI, just outside of Ann Arbor.

[Johnie]

Hey....I think Bob Wessner likes carbs...   He's near there...

[greenjeans]

With the money you save doing yourself, you can buy a carb sychronizer (I bought a Morgan Carbtune at $100 - very easy to use)
The carbs MUST be sychronized to run good.  There are other, cheaper carb synchs out there...you'll need one eventually

[GammaFlat]

Hey....I think Bob Wessner likes carbs...   He's near there...

nice