Few questions about cleaning carbs

[Mikos_24]

Hi,

My bike feels a bit uncomfortable in low revs (i.e. from 2000 to 3500) and I am having miss-fire (in carbs) as well, 2-3 times per hour. Sometimes I end up in the middle of roundabout with dead engine which is quite scary.
From information in this forum and from Honda dealer I should clear my carbs. I am worry to do it by myself (because I never did that before) but from the other side I don't want to pay £120 to someone every time when I will need to clean my carbs or anything similar.
I red everything I need to do this job but I have few questions before I'll start:
- do I need new gaskets and O-rings? If yes then when I can buy them? I couldn't find them on ebay
- Do I need to drain coolant? According to the manual I should but everything?
- How I will reset carbs back to factory settings?
- What else I should be worry about?

There is lots of information in this forum about maintaining carbs but I couldn't find answers on above questions.
BTW: My bike doesn't have any upgrades, so air filter and everything else are original Honda parts.
Thank in advance for your help

[benny hedges]

firstly check the condition of your air filter and plugs.
if in doubt just replace them.
you wont need to drain the coolant, you will only lose a very slight amount when you remove the carb heater tubes.
the vees do cough a bit at low rpm.... i'd suggest before you bother stripping the carbs, try increasing the idle speed to about 1500rpm and see how it goes.
chances are they will need balancing, not cleaning.
theres a few threads on here about baancing the carbs and its pretty easy to do.

if you do decide to remove and strip the carbs, just remove the 2 screws from the throttle cam where the cables attach and take them off as a pair.
you wont need to strip the diaphragms and slides off to clean the jets. (theyre a pain to get back on lol)

when you remove the 3 screws from each bowl, in the centre you will see the main jet... just to the side of it is the smaller idle jet.
remove it with the right sized flat screwdriver and make sure its clear... particularly the tiny side holes.
some recommend using compressed air to clean the jets but be carefull... i blew a jet out of my grip with compressed air and spent the weekend searching for it lol.
also be carefull not to lose the pin that secures the floats - it will drop out if you hold the carbs sideways.

i really dont think cleaning them will solve your problem though... as said above, before you do anything - plugs, air filter, up the idle and balance.

[tony.mon]

The misfire you mention is normal for this bike.
As Benny says, increase the tickover slightly, and balance the carbs, that should stop the engine stalling when it happens; then ignore it.

try searching for "airbox cough" on here.

[Mikos_24]

Thank you for your help

I also had feeling that cleaning carbs is the last think to do if nothing else will help.
There is nice tread on this forum about balancing carbs and I will follow that. I will even buy the same tool:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... 661wt_1297

Do i really need to have some new gaskets when I will decide to clean main and pilot jets in the carb? Because I understand that I don't have to clean entire carbs to fix my problem only those jets.

[benny hedges]

no, you dont need any gaskets or o rings.
just be sure to fasten the carb rubbers proper tight so there's no air leaks, and its worth using a bit of threadlock on the intake trumpet & airbox-carb screws.
have fun!