Multi-problemed bike (electrical + ???)

[5th_bike]

Originally Posted by ImaginativeFig

...what would you use to lubricate?

The manual says to use motor oil. I put some in the bottle cap and use a match, dip it in the oil and drip it on the inner cable. It will slide down by itself. You can also do that with the throttle cables.

[ImaginativeFig]

I'm really not that worried about my choke cable right now. It's moving all they way, just with some difficulty, but that's no different from how it's been the whole time I've owned it. I want to get my bike up and running. What's the next step?
Various things I'm reading/being told tell me that I should take my carb apart and clean shit. Which some of you seem to advise against (In this thread entitled 'request: How to clean the Carb' posted by itamarmo in 2008 ), but it's sat in Chem Dip and still there's visible gunk places (such as the starter plunger hole), so it's not hard to imagine that the jets are clogged or the float's gummed up or something (I've been watching carb videos--I only half know what I'm talking about here).
What else could cause turn over but no start? (Checked spark, checked battery, new gas, new oil)

[jonathan180iq]

If there is visible anything in the carb, then it has to be cleaned. You need almost a surgical cleanliness in there, at least to the eyes, to have a properly functioning bike.

The only advise against diving into a carb disassembly is for those who have no idea what they are doing and start to change 13 different variables without making sure whatever was most recently cleaned is put back in the position it was in before removal.

For example, a pinched gasket or seal somewhere and POOF! Just like that all of your work was for nothing before there's not an air leak and even a clean carb won't solve a mixture problem. Or people go in there and turn screws they don't need to be turning, in 100 different directions, or they can't remember what they did or didn't do. Trying to help those situation from over the internet is basically impossible.

If you're thorough and do things in a procedural manner, then don't hesitate to clean the carb the way it needs to be cleaned. A couple cans of spray cleaner and compressed air will go a long way. Also, don't use brass bristles. If you want to use a brush, nothing more stiff than a toothbrush or Q-tip.

EDIT: Sitting in chem dip is essentially leaving a pot of baked on lasagna in the sink to soak overnight. It'll loosen stuff up, but not do any real "cleaning" on it's own.

[ImaginativeFig]

That makes sense, but now I'm imagining that my carb is filled with lasagna...

And a gunky carb could make it not start right? I don't want to be chasing irrelevant ghosts.

Any recommended carb cleaning tutorials? (edit: ok, reading the one in the service manual, so I guess I just want to know if y'all have any tips aside from that)

Also, I coulda sworn I saw someone mention a way to drain the carb somewhere. Last time I took it off, it randomly spat gas at me a few times. I don't really want to become highly flammable.

[blaine]

Yes....was me.There is a drain on the bottom side of the float bowel.

[jonathan180iq]

Originally Posted by blaine

Yes....was me.There is a drain on the bottom side of the float bowel.

Yup. Just a screw and the bowl will drain. You can catch this seeping jaundiced water or you can let it spill all over your garage floor for huffing, which makes for a happier work environment, albeit a bit "fuzzy".

A couple of things. When you do the drain and the removal of the carb, make sure the petcock is not set to PRI (which it never should be anyway, unless you're...)

About to refill the petcock that you just drained. PRI is motorcycle code for "Niagra Falls" and it will free pour all of your gas either into your carb/airbox/engine case or, again, all over your garage floor. You will, however, be using PRI when you reinstall your freshly cleaned carb.

And yes, a gunky carb will absolutely cause the bike to turn over but not to start. It's the main culprit of no start issues on these bikes, after the bad battery sceanrio that you've probably read so much about.

Carbs are very simple. There is a bowl at the bottom (the thing you're about to drain) which is the reservoir that the bike will draw from. Inside the the bowl is a float, which is mechanical device that won't allow the carb to keep too much or too little fuel in the bowl. The bowl is filled via vacuum caused by the running engine, sucking fuel from the tank and petcock down into the bowl. From the bowl, fuel is drawn through these little itty bitty passages and through things called slides and jets. Those passages are like arteries. If they are clogged or gummed up in some way, you're looking at the equivalent of a bike heart attack, and that fucker won't come back alive until you've performed the gearhead version of putting in a stint [blowing all that crud out of the passages so blood (fuel) can flow in and out of the heart again.]

Once the stint is put in (passage ways cleaned up), you have to recharge the heart by shocking it with some defibrillators (PRI) from the petcock. This refills the bowl and the engine vacuum should get everything purring again like Garfield eating his favorite dish.

Make sure you don't reverse the vacuum lines under the tank. (There are only two. Lable them)

And be careful not to pink or misalign any of the gaskets and seals that you come across as you open things up.

~~~~~~

I have lots more advice but I tend to over speak anyway.

Have properly sized screw drivers. Nothing sucks worse than stripped carb screws halfway through the job.

You'll also want some vice grips, for that moment who you know you're about to strip one and you need to stop immediately and use a real tool.

Go ahead and buy a repalcement carb gasket set off Ebay. They're like $5.

Once you remove the bowl from the carb, you'll see the main jet. If there is any varnish at all, the bike won't run. Spend most of your first can of carb spray in this area... and keep it out of your eyes...

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by ImaginativeFig

Any recommended carb cleaning tutorials? (edit: ok, reading the one in the service manual, so I guess I just want to know if y'all have any tips aside from that)

Here's a good tutorial. It's written for Keihin carbs, but Mikunis aren't that much different.

Here's another one on general cleaning techniques.

If you have access to an ultrasonic cleaner, they're good for getting deposits out of tiny passages.

[Water Warrior 2]

Jonathan, very well written and informative. The added humor is a bonus and sticks in the memory cells.

[ImaginativeFig]

Originally Posted by jonathan180iq

Make sure you don't reverse the vacuum lines under the tank. (There are only two. Lable them)

And be careful not to pink or misalign any of the gaskets and seals that you come across as you open things up.

Under the tank? Are you talking about those two that hang free (whatsit, overflow and air or something?) And what's pinking a gasket? Sounds weird.

Originally Posted by jonathan180iq

Have properly sized screw drivers. Nothing sucks worse than stripped carb screws halfway through the job.

You'll also want some vice grips, for that moment who you know you're about to strip one and you need to stop immediately and use a real tool.
blah

Ah! That was another thing: I considered looking into the bowl when I had the carb off so I could wrestle with the starter plunger (which removing the carb was completely unnecessary for, but I only know that through the magic of hindsight), but all of the screws seemed like they wanted to strip more than a liquored up fratboy. I had a driver head that was fitting pretty snuggly, but soon as I tried to turn it I could feel the screw giving. After that nightmare with the drain plug, I really don't want to mess up anymore threaded stuff's heads. I don't suppose anyone already knows the specs on those screws so I can start a preemptive replacement search?

Carb cleaning shopping list:

• carb cleaner spray
• compressed air
• gasket kit
• replacement screws?

Is that right?

[blaine]

I'm pretty sure he meant "pinch" the gaskets.Your list is right on.Sometimes tapping the driver with a hammer when it in the screw head will help them loosen.