Topic: Frustrating '78

[dnewman417]

Hey guys:

Been away from my 78 CB550K cafe racer project for awhile.  My wife has been ill.  Since she is doing better, I went to the garage today to find out where I stand.  Here's the deal:

1978 CB550K
Mac 4-into-1 exhaust
Rebuilt carbs:  105 main jets and 42 slow jets, Unifilter pods, 1 1/4 turns out on the IMS, clipped jets in fourth groove from the top.

The bike runs, but the idle eventually decays to a stop.  The plugs look too rich to my eye.  The MAC exhaust header shows high temps in cylinders 1 and 4 but cooler temps in 2 and 3.  I am not sure that the carbs are working properly because I'm getting overflow gas through the tubes.

I am at the point where I want to remove the engine to do the frame mods, but I am hestiant to pull it before I am confident that the set up runs well.

Any suggestions, pointers or hints would be greatly appreciated.

[moham]

Clean carbs?

[gene03079]

I pulled the carbs on my 78 CB550 three times. You really need them clean to get the bike running right. If you have gas out the over flows you have cleaning and setting to do. Don't forget to pull and clean the slow jets. the are pressed in but do come out easy.

[TwoTired]

I am not sure that the carbs are working properly because I'm getting overflow gas through the tubes.

Problem solving is eliminating variables or known deficiencies.  I'm pretty sure carbs aren't supposed to overflow.  So, maybe if you fix that problem, there won't be others to deal with?

Maybe your eyes won't bug out of your head when you look inside the carbs?
Maybe you won't smack your forehead with the flat of your hand when you look inside, and say; "Of Course!"

Cheers,