With the engine off, try lifting each plastic piston/needle on all four of your carbs with your finger. If the piston/needle doesn't move smoothly and come down with a plastic thunk, they need to be cleaned. If you can take off the tops of each carb without striping at least one of the phillips-head screws, you are halfway done. Do one carb at a time.

Here's how to clean the pistons. The first picture shows how dirty one of my piston's is after one riding season. That piston/needle has to be clean and slide as smooth as a baby's a$$. Don't get carb-cleaner on the rubber diaphragm or in your eyes. Also clean the piston bore. See that Vaseline? That will come in at the end.



The next picture shows the carb cleaner straw sticking down an air bleed. This air bleed lifts the piston/needle when the choke is on. Look down this air bleed and move the choke lever. When the choke is on, the air pressure comes through this bleed hole to lift the piston/needle and richen the mixture. With the choke lever open, spray carb cleaner through the bleed. If you spray it when the choke lever is closed, the carb cleaner will come back into your eye.


The last picture shows where the Vaseline goes. The carb cleaner straw is pointing to the groove where the rubber O-ring of the diaphragm fits. THIS IS WHERE MOST VACUUM LEAKS OCCUR. If a vacuum leak occurs here, the needle will not withdraw out of the main jet correctly. Dab a thin layer of Vaseline in this groove before you install the piston/needle/diaphragm. The diaphragm's O-ring should be secured in the groove due to the holding power of the Vaseline. You can even dab some on the top of the O-ring. Now put in the spring and secure the cover. Check that the piston moves up with a slight pressure resistance, but falls smartly when let go. Only three more to go.

 

The only way the info is over 5 hours old is if your server has been down for that long. It should be queried every 12 mins, so it should be up to 12 mins old.

 

Thanks for the idea. I took my diaphragms out and realized that two of them had holes in them (one had 3 and one had 4). I looked online and they were $138 US EACH! So I went to Wal-Mart and got a pack of "Slime" tire patches, cut them into strips and carefully applied them to the cover side of the diaphragm. IT WORKED! Runs great.

Thanks again. Great write up, great pictures.

 

Thank's for the "How to" - I'm preparing for a major overhaul of the carbs on my
1000f due to gas leaking from overflow tube (float needle bad I think) so this will
be checked too.

 

Thanks been looking for exactly this hopefully will save me from a rebuild.