Throttle won't close all the way

[Nessism]

I've seen carb bodies turn dark when left in the dip too long, but never seen one turn all scaly like that photo shows. Something odd there. What brand of dip was used?

[OriginalOwner]

I've seen carb bodies turn dark when left in the dip too long, but never seen one turn all scaly like that photo shows. Something odd there. What brand of dip was used?

None.

That was a carb bowl that came off of my buddies lawn mower -- my guess is that it was the ethanol -- but something made that finish peel off like that.

My only point is -- it does happen.

[cowboyup3371]

If it did, something else caused it. I've left carb bodies in the dip longer than 24 hours and never saw anything like what you are saying.

[OriginalOwner]

We're kinda beating a dead horse here.

There are tons of variables involved but the point is, a carburetor's finish can be compromised and one way of doing that is by leaving them in dip for too long.

My '81 GS has never even seen a drop of rain and is in mint condition - not very much different from the day I rode it out of the dealer's parking lot 32 years ago. I'm not willing to take the chance of destroying the finish on my carbs by over dipping them.

If they don't work the first time, I'm perfectly willing to do them again and again until they are clean, if that's what it takes.

I'm pretty confident that they're going to work just fine -- this isn't my first rodeo. I'll be sure to report back and let you know.

[GateKeeper]

So you post 2 pictures, one of a carb and one of a carb bowl of which neither was in Berryman's dip....

So I don't get the point.

Your GS is mint, never seen rain, and so on.....so what is the point of dipping the carbs ?

If you think they are gunked up on the inside, get some gas line antifreeze one of those small bottles pour it into a tank of gas and run the bike for a bit, the gas line antifreeze will eat away at the gas that has shellacked (sp) and you should be good to go...an old way we used to clean up the snowmobile carbs after letting them sit for the summer.....

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[chuck hahn]

Run them thru 2 or 3 cycles in an ultra sonic cleaner then..but the finish still is gonna be in some kind of cleaning solution...so its a crap shoot either way for you I guess.

[OriginalOwner]

So you post 2 pictures, one of a carb and one of a carb bowl of which neither was in Berryman's dip....

So I don't get the point.

Your GS is mint, never seen rain, and so on.....so what is the point of dipping the carbs ?

If you think they are gunked up on the inside, get some gas line antifreeze one of those small bottles pour it into a tank of gas and run the bike for a bit, the gas line antifreeze will eat away at the gas that has shellacked (sp) and you should be good to go...an old way we used to clean up the snowmobile carbs after letting them sit for the summer.....

.

[GateKeeper]

Whatever..........



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[Nessism]

Boiled a carb in lemon juice (diluted of course) and it turned dark. Never again. Gunk or Berrymans's carb dip is much safer in my experience.

I agree with minimizing the dip time to minimum required. Throttle shaft seals are rubber and don't need any more exposure than necessary.

Mr. OriginalOwner, feel free to check the carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature. Even though you have some experience with old bikes, it won't hurt to learn some specifics about the GS Mikuni's.

Good luck

[chuck hahn]

Citric Acid is very corrosive to aluminum...so yes thats why they turned grey.

[OriginalOwner]

Boiled a carb in lemon juice (diluted of course) and it turned dark. Never again. Gunk or Berrymans's carb dip is much safer in my experience.

I agree with minimizing the dip time to minimum required. Throttle shaft seals are rubber and don't need any more exposure than necessary.

Mr. OriginalOwner, feel free to check the carb rebuild tutorial linked in my signature. Even though you have some experience with old bikes, it won't hurt to learn some specifics about the GS Mikuni's.

Good luck

I got the carbs ganged back together, chokes on and bench synced yesterday -- they're ready to go back on the bike but I'm a little "wrenched out" right now. Heh! So, maybe this week.

And yes Mr. Ness -- I followed your carb rebuild tutorial every step of the way. At every turn, you were right there with me answering every single question I had. It was up on my bench computer the whole time!

I'd like to personally thank you for your efforts in making it available to me -- it's value is incalculable.

[giganticflying]

OriginalOwner-the throttle on the handlbar is frozen, in the carbs it open and close fine.

I'm going to just dip them one at a time. Since this is my first time I'm terrified of separating the parts from the bodies and forgetting where they go. Classes start back up on Monday anyway so it'll give my a little after school zen without being too overwhelming.

I'm just going to start a thread for the throttle issue when I get there.

[GateKeeper]

I know you don't want to hear it, but if your not going to tear em apart and do it right, there is no sense in doing it at all, one blocked passage, one bad O ring and they will work like crap and your going to be chasing your tail trying to figure out why the bike is running like crap.

You have the tutorial, follow it, the parts you take off can only go back to where they came from, do one at a time if you have to, or do all 4 at once, get yourself 4 containers and keep parts from each one in it's own container.

you could have a binding cable, stuck in the sleeve, or a broken throttle tube, or the cable jumped off it's track in the throttle tub, you should take all that apart and see what is going on, it's the only sure way of finding the issue and fixing it.

It seems daunting, but it really not....

this is one of my carbs, all apart, and I had no extra parts once I put it back together, just follow the write ups...



and once done

you too can have a nice rack of carbs, just like this

[Nessism]

OriginalOwner-the throttle on the handlbar is frozen, in the carbs it open and close fine.

I'm going to just dip them one at a time. Since this is my first time I'm terrified of separating the parts from the bodies and forgetting where they go. Classes start back up on Monday anyway so it'll give my a little after school zen without being too overwhelming.

I'm just going to start a thread for the throttle issue when I get there.

Don't worry so much. Take them apart. If you get stuck just ask us where the parts go. Just learn how to post photos to Photobucket so we can see what you are having troubles with.

Here is a link to the VM carb rebuild tutorial...http://www.thegsresources.com/garage...rb_rebuild.pdf

Keep the slide parts together, soak them as a unit since the needle parts don't need to come apart.

The slide should stay together with the carb body so mark the parts with a scribe. The only other parts that need to stay together are the float needle and seat. Everything else can interchange without concern.

Good luck

[chuck hahn]

Take a pointed punch and make small dots on the back flange that faces the mounting plate. #1 is 1 dot, 2 is 2 dots and 3 is 3 dots. 4 doesnt need any dots.

Now get 4 quart size ziplock baggies and number them 1-4. Take apart carb 1 and put everything in baggie 1 etc etc. Now all you have to do is cycle them thru.

But in all honesty,,do you think any of these parts were specifically fitted to any one carb at the factory...NOPE!! So, the moral is that you can tear them down and lay everything in a huge pile and not screw anything up. reassemble just like they did at the factory building them..pick up a piece and out it in a carb...done.

I never worry what slide came from where Ed and I dont have any troubles...its not a critical thing in my opinion anyway.