mike's on bike carb cleaning procedure

[kbart1]

so i just finished doing mike nixons "on bike carb cleaning" on carbs 1 and 6 as they were the easiest to try this on first. bike sat for a long time and i got it running rough after some new fuel and basic maint. drain gas through float bowls etc. but it would not idle or run very well off choke. after doing the on bike carb clean process it appears to run WAY better and actually idles now off choke. i have aftermarket pipes on the bike and it sounds pretty knarly so i can't really compare it to other X's ive heard recently with stock pipes. i used a laser temp probe on each header tube while running and they all seam to be running "hot" now except cylinder #4 is a LITTLE cooler so i have to investigate that more, i think it's o.k. but just want to make sure. the 2 questions i have now is when i removed the idle mixture (pilot) screws i counted the rotations until out and basically put them back with the same number rotations. is there a certain "base line of turns" i should screw these things in to? i bought someone else's project and don't know if they screwed around with these or not? if i rev it up to 5 or 6 grand it does "pop" when i get off the throttle. also, the little tiny o-ring under the "air cut valve cover" is not there. i will need to get a new one, anybody know if these are still available through honda? all in all i am very impressed with the result of mike's procedure.

thanks
kent

[daves79x]

2 - 2 1/2 turns out on the pilot screws is fine. The special o-ring you need is not available separately from Honda. Just buy the whole replacement air cut-off diaphragm kit (the K&L kit everyone carries). Your diaphragm likely has pin holes in it anyway, and it comes with the new o-ring. Easy to replace on the bike.

Sounds like you are making progress. The only thing you likely will not be able to get functioning properly is the accelerator pump. After sitting, the rubber becomes pretty stiff in the original ones and will not pump. Also, the linkage gets gummed up and many of the nozzles are likely plugged anyway. But it will run reasonably well if all else is OK. Keep us posted.

Dave

[Mike Nixon]

Kent -- Dave has covered it, but I thought I would chime in here. Thanks for the positive words. Not having the o-ring at the aircut valve cover is going to affect the idle. If you haven't found an o-ring yet let me know and I will send you one. At this late a date you probably have moved on from this issue.

[oilheadron]

Mike, sent you a PM.

[Mike Nixon]

Ron -- Back at ya.

[kbart1]

thanks for the offer of the o-ring mike. i have already purchased a new air cut and accelerator kit so i should be all good. wont need to install anytime soon, dropped the motor out yesterday and stripping frame down for media blasting and powder coating. all went pretty well except i dropped the motor out with carbs in place, checked and double checked all steps were taken to drop it out however i missed the one most important step. hung up on the throttle cables looks like no damage except i probably will put on a new set of cables just to be safe. as i suspected it looks like i bought somebody else's project, the bike has the straight carb boots on it, not the angled ones the 81-82 should have. also, looks like someone MAY have tried to do some porting on the intake side of things. once i figure out how to post a photo i will include one so maybe someone can confirm if it looks stock or not. also have some aftermarket pipes i am trying to identify???? otherwise going pretty good. my goldwing doesn't like being second fiddle and having parts piled all over it though.

thanks
kent

[Mike Nixon]

A project then, cool!

[EMS]

once i figure out how to post a photo
kent

Go here: (It is really easy!)

viewtopic.php?f=104&t=5748

[kbart1]

hey guys

just want to verify one thing here. in this post above it is said that 2 to 21/2 turns out on the pilot screws is a good baseline however in my manual i just noticed it says the "initial opening" 11/4 turns out????? i set mine at 21/2 turns out and when i start the bike up there appears to be a blueish tint to the exhaust and i'm pretty sure it's not a result of burning oil. could this be a cause of the screws NOT set properly? am i pretty safe at 21/2 turns out? as i STILL have not ridden this thing yet BUT am hoping to finally put a couple test miles on it this weekend (weather permitting) i want to make sure i don't do any damage due to mis-adjustment of the screws. just to be clear these are carbs on an "81. any advice is much appreciated.

thanks a lot!
kent

[daves79x]

Kent:
Non-stock pipes (single wall) will blue - no way around it. But if you are talking about stock pipes, then you are running the bike on fast idle with choke on. That will blue stock pipes within a minute or so. Get the choke off as quickly as you can and do not let the bike sit on fast idle. Raw fuel dumps into the headers and ignites, blueing them. It will of course be worse with non-stock ones. 2 or 2 1/2 turns out is fine and is not the problem.

Dave

[kbart1]

thanks dave

i think i confused you a bit when i said blueish tint. it is a stock exhaust and what i meant was the exhaust exiting the mufflers, it appears to be "smoking" a little bit. as long as 21/2 turns won't hurt anything i will try to get some test miles on it and run some fuel through her and see what happens or if it gets better. don't worry, i am sure after i get out on it i will be back with a bunch of questions!!!

thanks for your help!
kent