Author Topic: Carb Cleaning/ Rebuild (Read 11549 times)

import_tuner13 · « **on:** November 09, 2010, 04:59:23 PM »

some guy on ebay is selling this service:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170561880949&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

was wondering if it was worthwhile? seeing how i know NOTHING about carbs. to me it sounds fair. any comments?

Gordon · « **Reply #1 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:19:03 PM »

Didn't even look at the link. I don't care what the price is, in my opinion it's not worth it to pay somebody else to do your carb work. Not only do you stand a decent chance of not getting what you're paying for, but what's worse is you have learned absolutely nothing about a very essential (and fairly easy to understand) system of your sohc4. If you want to ride an old motorcycle, it's in your best interest to know how to repair it yourself. Not only to save you money by working on it yourself in your own garage, but also to save your butt if/when it breaks down on the side of the road.

Something that would be an easy 5 minute fix for a rider who works on his own bike could cost someone who doesn't many hours on the side of the road and several hundred dollars in towing and mechanic fees.

None of us here, except maybe HondaMan

, were born knowing how to work on these bikes. We learned, and you can, too!

Nortstudio · « **Reply #2 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:36:04 PM »

Having just started my very first tune-up on my very first SOHC, I have to agree that half the magic is in the learning. Although it can be intimidating, diving in really does show that you too can do this, and if you hit a snag, I have yet to come across a resource (for anything I have tried to learn) that rivals the help that you can obtain here.

How about giving it a shot yourself, and if all goes horribly wrong, and these fine folks here can't help, you ship it off. Believe me, I know that you will end up doing it yourself.

import_tuner13 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:37:54 PM »

i'm pretty good at destroying things. and these parts are pretty good at being hard to find. never even had a car that was carburated before ( i can work on cars in general pretty well though) I also have no general concept of how carbs work. chances of success? lol

Gordon · « **Reply #4 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:41:41 PM »

I knew nothing about carbs either before I tore into my first rack of four off my '81 KZ550. They're really not intimidating once you actually get in there and see how they work.

And if you're really serious about getting to know your carbs well, bolt on a set of pod filters and then try to tune them!

SOHC Digger · « **Reply #5 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:51:12 PM »

I destroyed the first set of carbs I tried to rebuild mainly because I was impatient and I had not discovered this forum yet. I have rebuilt many sets since then and I believe the knowledge I have gained is well worth a set of busted carbs. The nice thing now is that I have extra parts for other carb sets.

Do it yourself. Be patient. Take pictures. Ask questions. Be organized. Stay away from all kinds of power tools. There is never a need to reach for that electric or air tool. Don't throw ANYTHING away until you are completely done and your bike is back running. That o-ring/screw/spring that you overlooked and threw away will come back to bite you.

You have hundreds of fellow members here who have been there, done that, and will not hesitate to help in any way.

tango911 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 09, 2010, 05:55:47 PM »

yeah i agree with everyone. I mean, your username is "importTUNER13"

SO TUNE THAT IMPORT SOLDIER!!!!!

MoMo · « **Reply #7 on:** November 09, 2010, 06:15:48 PM »

Agree, do it yourself-the knowledge gained will be invaluable, especially if you continue with sohc Honda. Carbs are pretty simple, the pilot circuit controls idle to 1/4 throttle , needle jet controls 1/4 to 3/4 and the main jet full throttle. Do it, Larry

going4speed · « **Reply #8 on:** November 09, 2010, 06:19:48 PM »

$195 is a good deal. Cleaning snotty carbs is not for the weak at heart.

That said I spent close to $100 getting all my kits and supplies to do mine and it started on the first try.

The question is subjective and the answer will likely be different for people in different situations.

For me this bike is a hobby and I build it because I want to and right now have no intention of riding it. I think that makes me a restorer.

Quote from: importtuner13 on November 09, 2010, 04:59:23 PM

some guy on ebay is selling this service:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170561880949&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT

was wondering if it was worthwhile? seeing how i know NOTHING about carbs. to me it sounds fair. any comments?

Stev-o · « **Reply #9 on:** November 09, 2010, 06:37:07 PM »

How many hours did it take you as a rookie to do this job properly? Be honest.

SOHC Digger · « **Reply #10 on:** November 09, 2010, 06:42:37 PM »

To disassemble, clean everything REALLY well, reassemble, disassemble, install spring I forgot, reassemble, disassemble, install spacer I forgot, reassemble, disassemble, etc... it took me probably all of 6 hours. Now that I have learned from my mistakes, I can turn a set around in about 3.

Nortstudio · « **Reply #11 on:** November 09, 2010, 06:46:44 PM »

ImportTuner,

Is the bike running right now?

bender01 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 09, 2010, 07:20:55 PM »

Before the Internet I threw away a real nice cl 360 cause i got it for a buck . The carbs were dirty for sure. The chrome was great seat exhaust! No one wanted to help or knew how. This was 1995? You can do it!!!

going4speed · « **Reply #13 on:** November 09, 2010, 07:49:59 PM »

Took me about 8 but I started out without a compressor. Went much faster when the compressor showed up.

Quote from: Stev-O on November 09, 2010, 06:37:07 PM

How many hours did it take you as a rookie to do this job properly? Be honest.

bender01 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2010, 10:05:43 PM »

I looked at the $195 e-bay service. What Bike do you have? Search here simple green and or carb cleaning. I would like to have a compressor! Do hours really count for you? Is this bike taking you to and from work 6 days a week? If so you Must to do it yourself!! If not you must do it anyway and in a week you will have a tuned up CB!( that includes ravaging the internet for parts you probably dont need ) You can do it! The parts are available and once you get the carbs apart youll know what.. if anything ..you need to buy! Take em off !! go for it!

Blueridgerunner · « **Reply #15 on:** November 10, 2010, 03:20:30 AM »

I will have to respectfully dissent. My CV carbs were so nasty from PO letting them sit for eight years that I was unable to properly clean them. Wasted the money that I spent on rebuild kits and finally sent them off as exchange for rebuilt, ultrasonic cleaned set. (decided that life's too short for the aggravation).
The price and terms that the guy lists seem pretty reasonable, much less than I paid. Now before everyone gets themselves all worked up I say that if you feel that you would like to try this yourself then by all means go ahead. They are right about the knowledge and satisfaction gained. I just didn't feel like fooling around with the carbs. Good luck with your project.

import_tuner13 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 10, 2010, 05:19:12 AM »

Thanks for all the comments so far. Bike does not run right now...may have to have engine rebuilt because of rings haven't even got it to start yet. I have two sets of carbs. Maybe I will tear one down to see what I am dealing with. There's so many x factors with this bike right now and I know so little about it I just feel like the carbs are a realm I don't want to get into.

wrenchmuch · « **Reply #17 on:** November 10, 2010, 05:52:16 AM »

If the person doing the work does his job well you will get back a clean set of carbs . He doesn't seem to replace any jets , float valves ,or gaskets/ o rings , in that price . OEM jets , if undamaged , should be re used . After market kits from Keyster and K&L include needle jets that are not the same as the originals . If your carbs are really gummed up then you will likely need new float valves . These have a spring loaded plunger on the back of them and once the plunger is gummed up they don't seem to ever loosen up again no matter how long , and in what they get soaked . Its my belief that any good servicing of a gummed up carb rack should include new gaskets and o rings (unless you are taking them apart again after replacing all this stuff because they are still not clean

).
I have 2 750's right now . They both belonged to a friend of mine . One was a parts bike (now undergoing restoration ) and the other a green K1 . He loves old bikes but doesn't want to work on them ,and doesn't want to pay someone to do it for him . He buys them in near mint condition and rides them into the ground . I rescued these two . He has a kz 650 and a xs 650 that are being destroyed right now . His neighbour has a cb 750 k4 that he paid to have done as a cafe . It cost him a lot of money to have it built and still costs him to keep it running . If I had to pay to keep my K1 running I couldn't afford it . Good thing I like working on it

.
Have someone clean the carbs if you like but you will still likely need to sync them when you get them back and if you have non stock exhaust , pod filters , ect. They will need to have their jetting set up .

Nortstudio · « **Reply #18 on:** November 10, 2010, 06:07:35 AM »

ImportTuner,

The bottom line is: if you want to get them cleaned by someone else, for whatever reason, best to do that then.

I hope you understand that my original suggestion was not meant to be pushy. I am just really excited, personally, by the DIY possibilities of these bikes. I bought the cheapest CB550 i could find, which obviously came in the condition you would expect from the price, knowing that I was interested in doing a lot of these things myself.

I would never try to impose my view on you, and (hoping not to speak out of turn) I think it's probably the same for most of the people that replied to your post. Without a doubt, to each his own, but realize that you came to a place where people [virtually] gather to [primarily] discuss working on their bikes. So you can understand the enthusiasm, and the encouragement with which we would suggest you give it a shot.

You mentioned having an extra set of carbs. I am jealous! That means you can completely take apart, mess up, and destroy one whole set and still be OK

Whichever way you choose, I hope you get your bike running great, and know that the people here will help in any way they can. That has been my overwhelming experience so far. Soon, I will start my first carb cleaning, so you will probably be able to see me cursing, hemming and hawing about my decision to do it myself

MoMo · « **Reply #19 on:** November 10, 2010, 06:33:02 AM »

You just opened a can of worms with the problem with the rings comment. Check compression, should be 140ish with throttle wide open while cranking or kicking. If it is low, try adding an ounce or so of Seafoam to each cylinder, let it sit for a couple days or a week and then check compression again. But make sure you have a rag over the plug holes or you'll have Seafoam all over your garage-lesson learned the hard way. I have rescued several 750s that came into my shop with low compression. With one of them the highest compression was 90, after a couple doses of Seafoam compression came up to the required 140 range and the bike started, actually is still running to this day-strong and smokeless. Best of luck with your project, Larry

import_tuner13 · « **Reply #20 on:** November 10, 2010, 11:23:39 AM »

Can't check compression engine is not set up yet. Don't know how anyways lol. You think I can really get the rings unstuck if they are?

Bike turns over but I don't have a battery yet to see if it runs plus carbs are guarenteed gunked up. Anyone have a step by step on how to rebuild them? I did a search but couldn't find anything. Keep in mind I need a step by step written for a first grader lol 77 750k carbs by the way.

Really? · « **Reply #21 on:** November 10, 2010, 11:36:52 AM »

Cleaned mine twice use the instructions here - http://www.salocal.com/sohc/tech/carb/carb.htm

The total cost was a gallon can of Berrymans chemdip. The first time took me eight hours. This was due to doing one carb at at time, letting things soak for a while, dealing with life, three kids...I think you get the picture. Next time was much quicker.

These carbs are crazy easy to clean.

going4speed · « **Reply #22 on:** November 10, 2010, 03:49:21 PM »

Really the hardest part of rebuilding carbs is getting them back on with old rubber boots.

Do yourself a favor and buy new boots.

The lesson I learned:

Clean paint gallon can from home depot.
Gallon on simple green with spray bottle from home depot.
Rubber gloves.
Mix 50/50 simple green and water.
Disassemble carb bank and take pictures along the way
Disassemble carb one only.
Soak carb body in simple green mix for 48 hours.
Soak carb bowl in simple green mix for 24 hours.

The time above is because the simple green will discolor the bowls.
Find or buy toothbrushes and scrub scrub and then scrub some more.
Find a scrap of wire and strip of the insulation. Take out one wire from the strip to use to chase all the small openings in the carbs. Use nothing harder than copper wire.
All the disassembled parts should not be soaked in simple green in my opinion as it oxidizes the brass. For this I would recommend a can of carb cleaner and blast and scrub poke through with wire. This will lead to no oxidation of the brass.
Go on ebay and buy some new carb bowl gaskets.
Search for o-rings on here for in-between carbs 1 and 2 as well as carbs 3 and 4.

The above is what I did without the air compressor. If you have an air compressor blow all the small opening clean and dry.

Now remove the bowl from carb two and use it as a reference to assemble carb one and so forth. YMMV.

The way I figure is that you could keep your 200 bucks and spend $85 on new boots and $15 on new gaskets. The cleaning stuff with cost you $15 bucks between simple green, gallon can and carb cleaner.

So $115 and you do it yourself and learn a heck of a lesson and have new boots.

The ebay deal $200 and you still have old sh!tty boots. Did I mention I love my new boots?

MoMo · « **Reply #23 on:** November 10, 2010, 10:24:49 PM »

Restate, before you do anything, check compression and, yes, Seafoam will free stuck rings. Also, I think it may clean some of the crap that builds up on the cylinder walls of a bike that has sat for a long period of time. You only need an inexpensive gauge, the type with a rubber nozzle that will go into the plug holes, to check compression. Pull the plugs, hold the gauge tight to the plug hole and have a friend kick the bike over while holding the throttle wide open. See earlier post, Larry

tango911 · « **Reply #24 on:** November 11, 2010, 07:06:27 AM »

great ideas guys, hey i just pulled off my first 750 carbs and have them soaking in simple green. I think i like the 750 carbs better than the 550's. mine is off a k2. good luck dude if you ever do this. havent seen you post back yet, maybe he was scared off

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Author Topic: Carb Cleaning/ Rebuild (Read 11549 times)