Iggy the Biker

Pulled the carbs

05.31.2007 | 11:03 pm | 1981 CB650, CB650 Custom, Project bike

After looking over the section in the manual on removing and cleaning the carbs, I dove into the task. I got one of my neighbors to give me a hand getting them off the bike. The rubber sleeves that go between the carbs and the intake ports we pretty much glued to the metal after 26 years. We pried and pried and finally got them off.

Following the shop manual, my other neighbor Jerry and I started taking them apart, one by one, and cleaning them up. There was quite a bit of dirt in them, so I am not suprised that it would not run. Here is Jerry taking the main jet off.

We got down to the last few steps and found that 2 of the screws holding the cover on were stuck. We tried everything we could think of to get them loose, but they stayed stuck. We ended up using the Dremel tool and cutting a slot for my BFS (Big Friendly Screwdriver). That did the trick and we got them off.

By the time we got done cleaning them up, it was late, so we decided to call it a night. I had spent over 5 hours working on it, but some of that time was also spent putting paint stripper on the nasty black paint and cleaning the carbs up so they are silver looking again.

 Next week I will work on getting the 4 carbs put back on the bike. That should be a trick, getting the cables and hoses all lined up and reinstalled again. Then I can put the tank back on, and see if she will fire up. I am guardedly optimistic.