I have a 96 CBR600F3 that has been sitting for a couple years. I replaced the fuel and checked the oil and air filter and started it up (had to jump start it). After letting it idle with full choke for 5-10 minutes, I could get some idle response and was able to go to just half choke and take a short ride. However, the bike will not idle without at least half choke though and even then the idle is somewhat erratic. figuring that the carburator needed cleaned, I took the carburator off (definately buy a long screwdriver). I called a local shop to price a cleaning and it was over $250! Seems like getting the carb off and putting it back on (which I would do) would be the hardest (and most expensive part) but I guess not. This got me thinking that maybe there is more to cleaning the carburator than what I thought. The bike only has 10K so I don't think I need to do a complete disassembly and cleaning. So here's my question..

What is involved in a "basic" carburator cleaning (if there is such a thing)? The carburator is on my shop bench and I've taken off one float cover and it doesn't look too bad. Some sediment in the bottom, but the rubber gasket still looks good.

Can I just push a small wire (others have suggested the wire from a bag twisty) into the three jets, blow some air and reassemble?

Do I need to remove any of the three jets? If so, it looks like the main (center bottom) and left one can be removed with a flat screwdriver - is that right? And do I need to remember how far they were screwed in? And how is the right one removed. Here's what I see...

http://www.fireblades.org/forums/hon...-cbr600f3.html

Thanks for your help!

 

https://cbrforum.com/m_311016/tm.htm

 

Thanks for the link, great walk-through! Further down in the post someone mentions removing the the left jet but they don't say if you need to keep track of how many turns so that when you put it back in, it's in the same position. Does that matter?

 

Yamaha carb cleaner is best.O-ring safe and wipes out gunk.

 

you can try some seafoam and see if it will clean em up.

 

Thanks everyone for the posts!

I ended up taking the float cover off each carb, unscrewing the left jet (I counted turns but I don't know if it matters), soaking it in carb cleaner, cleaning it out with the metal wire from a twistie tie then blowing through it. I also used the wire to clean the other two jets, but didn't remove either (the main jet is easy, the right one can be more difficult but the wire will go down 1.5 - 2inches).

I checked the jets I took off and I couldn't see through two of them - the two from the high side as the bike sits on its kick stand. Is that from not storing it with enough fuel in the tank? Suggestions on storing a bike for a long time (1+ years)?

After getting all the float covers back on (I did one at a time). I put the wire into the small holes at the outside base of the air intake. I have no idea if that did any good/bad. Anyone know if those need cleaned ever?

Anyways, got everything put back together tonight and the bike fired right up, idled great and rode perfect! I'm also planning on putting some seafoam through as well - I noticed the valves were pretty dirty when I had the carburetor off, hope the seafoam helps.

So far I'm glad I didn't spend the $300 the local shop wanted.