Well, I've been very bad and haven't ridden my 1000F in a long time. I didn't intend to do it, but it just happend. I knew that I'd have to pull the carbs and clean them thoroughly.

I pulled them off and did the usual cleaning of the jets, float valves, and needle jet. I also removed all of the old gas from the tank and fuel lines. (what a smelly mess). After putting back on the bike, I couldn't get her to start to save my life. A quick check of the one of the bowls showed no gas. Well, the Petcock was not opening. I was using a vacuum pump to activate it, but no gas. I took it apart and it was stuck. A little encouragement and it opened. Put it back together and tried to start again. I could tell she had gas, but even with full choke, she was barely trying. Like firing on 1 cylinder. I could also smell a heavy aroma of gas, but no fuel that I could see anywhere.

So, I pulled them again. The first time, I hadn't split the carbs from the rail, but since I don't think that it had ever been done I went ahead and split them. The joint "O" rings looked horrible. They were encrusted and hard. The joint tubes fit porely and there was some play in them. I ordered some new "O" rings and joints. I wasn't sure which item to order so I orderded a few different things. Here is what the joint looked like. It't the tube that the fuel lines attach to. Probably where the fuel smell was coming from.


This is a comparison of the "O" rings, new and old. You can see how squared off they were and all the pitting in the surface of the rubber.


I used a piece of ScotchBrite pad on the end of a screwdriver to clean out the opening that they went into. The larger opening to the right is where I cleaned the corrosion off it.


The upper part is about $18 US, and the bottom part is about 7$ US. There's no need to purchase the upper one. The bottom one has the "O" ring for the fuel lines as well as the vent joint.

After replacing the above items, I didn't have any more fuel smell, but she still wouldn't start. In the past she's always been easy to start so I knew something wasn't right. I had pulled jets and cleaned them well so I was fairly sure it wasn't them. After a lot of trying, she did start up. I let her warm up, and then she would start easily. I went ahead and synchronized the carbs since I had split them.

At this point I figured that the problem had to be with the Choke portion for cold starting. I know I had cleaned the main jet, and the slow jet, but the one that you can't take out I wasn't sure of. On close inspection of this tube, I could see that fuel was just sitting there, whereas the other jets were not holding any residual fuel (the one without the slot).


I used a twistie tie from a loaf of bread to poke into the opening. It was totally clogged. After a couple of minutes, I was able to work in through and clean the hole.



Afterwords, It looked like this.


You can see the small opening now. 3 out of the 4 caruretors had those openings clogged. I put the carburetors back together, and on the bike and she fired up on the 2nd try.

 

Very nice write up. You need to ride it more often.

 

Yep, great little write-up, Bill. Good to see you around the 'Cane section again, too.

 

Thanks for the pics!, good to know that's another part to look at when cleaning them.

Replacing those o-rings is probably a good idea for anyone taking apart the carbs, if it wasn't done before. Even if they don't leak, they will, eventually.

 

Thanks everyone, I'm happy to report that I rode her to work today. It felt great. I've been spending a lot of time on my F3, and had forgotten how much raw power she has. No shifting down, just twist the throttle and away I go . She looks good sitting in the parking lot. It's a beautiful day here in S. Florida. It's about 73 outside right now and not a cloud in the sky.

 

It's a beautiful thing!