Ain't that the truth. I'll start with a little look-see in the float chambers and hopefully it's just a cleaning. I'm always uncomfortable working on something if I can't understand how it works. Carbs are like that for me

Thanks everyone for the advice and encouragement. I'll try and record my progress in the thread I started in the 'Rides' section. Goal is spring 2018, which where I live is anywhere from mid-june to early july

Lots more to do!

:icon_snowman::icon_snowman::icon_snowman:

Here's some good reading: Dan's Motorcycle Carburator theory and Tuning

Yes, very satisfying watch! Makes me want to replace my country style temp tank with a real one :) Also impressed how it fired right up without much messing around, and it sounds great.

Thumbs up lol - All that was missing was the five of five (or six, or eight...) Ichiban Moto stickers!!

Have a Merry Christmas bud!

GronkFries - Ichiban Moto actually has a carb rebuild video, so I think it's about time to study up. I'm sure his advice will be reliable as always. Did you get yours running?

EchoWars - Good read. Between the manual, a couple google searches, and Dan's guide, I am now more convinced than ever that I should not change any of the settings, or otherwise tempt the occult forces which have apparently been harnessed to allow these 19th c. contraptions to operate in their precise and delicate balance. I plan to keep a vial of holy water nearby in case I accidentally conjure any hostile Bernoulli principles, or find myself tangled in a deadly Venturi effect. Plan is to go in, not mess it up, and reassemble it the same way I found it ;)

My O rings and washers came in last Friday but the holiday weekend kept me away from it. I'll have it all back together and will have footage by tomorrow night lol

That's fine, but remember that these devices are a lot simpler than you might at first believe. Carbs are governed by mechanics and physics, whereas FI systems rely on computer control and a phalanx of sensors. I can appreciate the latter (as a computer tech) while preferring the former. IMHO, simplicity here is a virtue. There's a reason carbs were dominant for 100+ years, even though the basics of fuel injection have been around since the 1930's.

Motorcycle riding and ownership is supposed to be a simple and joyous thing, and I'd rather ride than track down some bogus wayward sensor. And the way most manufacturers drop parts from their spares inventory after a few years isn't exactly a comfort either.

For sure. Tongue was in cheek a bit there. In principal, they are pretty simple, but the engineering that went into the factory setup would have been pretty interesting. I'm not tempted to mess with the settings though

It's all the little springs, and needles, and diaphragms, and soft copper jets. Feels like cleaning a spraygun, if a spraygun were made up of several smaller sprayguns held together with a mixture of watch and plumbing parts

Cheap electronics meant the end of the mechanical control. It's a shame that so few things are fixable these days - repair on an electronic control generally assumes you'll throw parts at it til the code clears. Mechanics probably love it though

I can't wait til OEM's start slowing down older cars the way Apple's been slowing down iphones. 'What do you mean your car is getting 9 mpg since the wireless firmware update? Well you can go ask service what a new ECU would cost, but we just got a batch of 2018's in the showroom I'd like to show you first...'

Tighter and tighter emissions controls had an influence as well.

Factories have no interest in older models, you hit the nail on the head, they'd rather sell you a new model and governments want to meet their CO2 targets.

So ship out all the manufacturing to China, get rid of older vehicles and 'Hey Presto', problem solved! Well, not exactly solved, it just becomes someone elses problem :icon_doh:

Excellent "How To" Write up & video work. Carbs just need tweaking as you know (not convinced FI qualifies as a conspiracy theory) Fyi as 'Red Baron' stated without the draw of the lights etc you would expect that voltage across the battery terminals (most of the one's i've had went beyond 15v above 3500 rpm with lights off) and that's why we keep the lights on constantly (if not hardwired) additional led lights also help to keep the volts going into the battery down (buy and fit a voltmeter for these reasons). I've had several reg/recs fry so beware. It's fantastic that you have worked hard to get yours sorted and i raise my glass to you as well!

Cool stuff.