Idle troubles

[egent]

I have been having trouble getting my 78 750E to idle properly. Today I picked up some carb cleaner to find out if I have a vacuum leak. I found one on the intake manifold of cylinder 3. What I don't know is if the leak is on the intake itself or if it is just the O-ring. Is there anyway to determine this before removing from the bike? Secondly is it safe to continue to ride the bike with the vacuum leak or will it be detrimental to the engine if run too long lean? I know that the carbs will have to be removed to replace even the o-ring if not the intake manifold, dose the air box need removal? If the carbs seem to be running Ok, should I do a full rebuild on them before putting it all back together? Where is the best place to get the parts I need to do this? I have ordered from Bike Bandit before, but they seem to be very slow and are currently being effected by the wild fires in CA.

](*,) I know I have asked a lot of questions, and that I will most likely have more as I get answers to the ones already posed. However, these are all the questions I can think of at this time. ](*,)

=D> Thanks to everyone for the help you have given in the past and to the continued help in the future. =D>

[TheCafeKid]

Well my friend it seems you and i are on the same path here...

I did a full tear down and clean on my carbs, but if you seem to be good other than a crappy idle, then it may just be that leak...i happen to have found one today in my #1. Id say start with the cheapest fix first. and that would be the intake orings...

Robert Barr a fellow GSR membersupplies them www.cycleorings.com , and hes cheap and VERY quick. I think yours are the same size as mine (there are two choices, our are the smaller 31.blah blah diameter) I would also suggest getting the hex head bolt set he offers for your boots, cos i have a feeling that i wont ever want to try to get those phillips heads out again...all told i think for the rings and the bolts and shipping you're prolly looking at 12 bucks--ish?? He sells the rings as a set, and if you're doing one, do em all, just to be sure id say. If the boots themselves are pretty flexable and soft, and you see no cracks then they're prolly good to go.

Yes your carbs will have to come off, but thats cake on these bikes, trust me i can take em off, adjust the fuel screw and have them back on in under five minutes...LOTS of practice over the last couple weeks. hehehe. Once you've done that if you still have problems, we'll move on to the next and i'll help as much as i feel comfortable doing so (im no expert, but there are lots of guys on here who are, and ive done all ive done learning from them)

Is it safe to ride? Id say yeah for sure. It doesnt sound like you have severe running problems aside from idle (do you?) and yes it will cause a lean mix, but not so lean it will be detremental. I would take care of it asap however, so as not to lead to further problems. Its a cheap easy fix and if you're like me, whose bike ran pretty good, but not right, you'll worry yourself to the point that riding isnt enjoyable.

TCK

[egent]

Dose anyone know if the pre-1980 carbs off of a 550 are the same as the ones for a 750? I was thinking of getting some off of ebay, rebuilding them before pulling the old ones off the bike to limit down time as I use the bike as a daily rider. I commute 50 miles a day round trip with parking for the bike at $3 per day as opposed to $12 per day for the truck.

[TheCafeKid]

Dose anyone know if the pre-1980 carbs off of a 550 are the same as the ones for a 750? I was thinking of getting some off of ebay, rebuilding them before pulling the old ones off the bike to limit down time as I use the bike as a daily rider. I commute 50 miles a day round trip with parking for the bike at $3 per day as opposed to $12 per day for the truck.

The carbs you'd be looking for are VM26SS type. I happened across a set last night on fleabay, but chances are any carbs you get from there are going to need a thorough going thru themselves..as for the 550s carbs i dunno, i've never even seen a 550 in person. Do the ones on ebay look that same as yours? Chances are also (im not for sure either) that the jetting for the 550 is going to be drasticly different size wise.

Order your oring kits for your boots and carbs from www.cycleorings.com order new float bowl gaskets from Z1 Enterprises www.z1enterprises.com get a can of Berrymans carb dip, and a can of their spray, before you tear your carbs off and your down time will be a couple days at most. The rings are cheap (16 bucks for the whole set, marked and with a diagram to show you what goes where) i think the boot rings were 4 bucks, and the carb cleaner would cost ya ten-ish.. I just dont advise spending money on carbs from ebay even if they were from the same bike. Chances are they're in worse condition than yours, and you dont know what the PO has done to them jet wise. just my .02

TCK

[hampshirehog]

VMs on a 550 are a lot smaller than on a 750 + have a different pilot jet arrangement. They won't work any sense.

A quick bodgers test to see if your air leak is an inlet boot is to wrap some electrical tape around it. If it stops leaking that's your problem. It's not a permanent fix mind. The other easy test is to remove the boot and bend it around - you might see cracks /splits open up.

Wally