1979 GS1000E caf? refresh

[Throttlejock]

Accomplished today:

oil drained, new K&N filter added
exhaust pulled, missing one bolt and two spacers
one carb is mostly reassembled with new o-rings, still need to order jets and gaskets
cam timing is good
tensioner removed

Now questions.

After the exhaust was pulled, valves 2 and 4 were white indicating lean condition, while 1 and 4 looked like a dirty gold color. All carbs are jetted the same, so what gives? Also after draining the oil, there is still pools in the cam valleys, mainly on both sides of #1. Is this normal? Any tips on removing gaskets? Carb gaskets are coming off in pieces and tearing, and exhaust gaskets won't budge. And finally, on the one carb that's mostly together, I was messing with the float and noticed that the float needle is slow to return or sticks when raised. This is #3 carb that's had all the parts dipped in berryman's.

[Throttlejock]

Im just waiting on parts now, but I got bored and started fiddling a bit. Turns out my rear brake has no fluid in the master cylinder, and I'm willing to bet neither does the front. Also think my front rotor is warped. Took the closest thing I have to a straight edge against it and saw daylight. It only has one rotor/caliper because the previous owner wanted to show off more of the wheel.

[Big T]

To answer a few of your questions

Exhaust gaskets - take a punch/small chisel/ small screwdriver up against the gasket and tap with a hammer softly, then harder until the gasket deforms. hook it and pull it out. Get new ones
carb gaskets - try spray gasket remover and scrape with something soft
Lean condition -air leaks
valve cover -that's red RTV-scrape or scrub carefully, don't let it fall in the cam recesses
Oil in valve area? normal
Rebuild your tensioner per the tutorial

How can you be rebuilding your carb already? Did you dip it for 24 hours?

What jets are in your carbs now?

Go to the Basscliff site and learn how to post big pictures, so we can see what you've got there

Do both of your fork legs have caliper mounts?

[Throttlejock]

I know how to upload big pictures, but I lost the cord to my laptop, and it's a hassle doing it on my phone but I'll start doing that. I wasn't sure if they were showing up normal sized or not.

Bike is 100% stock jetting. Airbox is drilled and I now have a MAC 4-1.

What at tutorial are you referring to? The one in the service manual?

Carbs were dipped for a few hours each. Never let them sit overnight because they looked fairly clean when I checked on them. They weren't gummed up, just dirty. Like there was a gas leak that either didn't get fixed or just never cleaned up.

[chuck hahn]

Looks dont mean squat when it comes to the tiny internal passages..but youll find that out when your posting questions in the carb section again.

Scroll the home page her and youll see many of the tutorials that address issues you are gonna face on a 30+ year old bike.

http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/

[Throttlejock]

Well I've hit another snag. Surprise.

Ordered seals from partsoutlaw for the cam tensioner and tach cable. Can't get the 10mm nut off the tensioner and the seal I need to get to wasn't in the fiche (I've since found the number). So put it in PB blaster for the night and gave up on that, so I moved to the tach cable. Found a big groove where the seal rides on the drive, so that needs ordered. Also the cable adjuster is seized, so I can't get the fitting off to remove the seal. And I need to order a new tach cable because the old one basically fell apart once it moved.

[Throttlejock]

It seems my exhaust gaskets have welded themselves in place. I've managed to get one out (after an hour or so) and deformed the hell out of another