Carb Flooded, need help

Hey all, I just found out after diagnosis of my misfire that my number 1 carb is flooding and I dont know why. I have been reading and seen it could be a float issue? can this be checked with the carb still on the bike or will I have to take the whole carb off? anyone had this issue before?

 

Plan on taking the carbs off and giving them a good once over. Post some pictures if you can.

MN

 

ok so I didnt get around to taking any pictures but, I looked through my service manual and found nothing. on how to remove the carbs from the bike. there is a breakdown of the carb but not how to remove them from the bike. Is it that simple to take them off that they didnt put it in the manual? or is there more to it that I should be worried about? any info on how to take them off would be great.
thanks
-Justin

 

You can try the time-honored motorcyclist method of tapping on that carb's bowl with a screwdriver handle while it runs...if the float got hung or the float tip is stuck, sometimes that will knock em loose and if you're real lucky whatever made it stick will pass through.

 

Far as removing your carbs...remove the seat, take the holddown bolt out of the tank rear (under the seat), remove the fuel line and vacuum hose from the petcock, lift the tank off (has to come back an inch or two to get off the front mounts, then lift), loosen all four carb to engine boot clamps, and remove all four airbox to carb boots. There's a bolt/screw in the front of the airbox, under the seat that should allow you to slide the airbox rearward a bit to help get those boots off, but you still gotta mash them up to get them out. Putting them back on is even more fun. Like tryin' to put 10 pounds of something in a 5 pound sack. Make sure you remember which went where, it does make a difference.

Once you have those off, and the other boots' clamps loosened, loosen the choke cable retainer at the carbs on the right side, and take the cable off. You clutch cable has a holder that comes off the back of the carbs, pop it outta there. Now you should be able to pop the carbs outta the intake boots, and move the whole rack to the left...you'll notice the throttle cable is still attached. You should be able to pull the cable up out of the retainer so it's loose, and disengage the cable end ball from the carb linkage. Now you can pull the carbs away from the bike.

Remember what stuff looked like before you take it apart. Taking detail pics along the way with your camera or phone can be a big help. Little things can trip you up, like the #3 intake boot clamp likes to get it's ears tangled in the throttle linkage if it rotates a bit while tightening, or you try to run the throttle cable in front of the enrichener linkage bar instead of behind it, etc...pics of little things help if you're unfamiliar...

 

No doubt you need to take the off to find out and correct the problem. At that point you might as well give them a good cleaning. RickCoMatic has a great post on how to correctly clean the carbs. I'm not at home and can't find the post, but I'm sure someone will provide it. My advice--do it right the first time or join me and many others in the "I've removed them five times (or more)" club.

 

But its such a fun club and very educational! Been there done that!
And if you leave your bike sitting during the riding season for any amount of time. Run some Stabil through the tank, it will keep the varnish build up at bay during the season.

 

hey guys, just want to say thanks for all the input. I got the bike up and running....i did cheat a bit by only cleaning out the bottom of the carbs...(I secretly want to join the club lol) so i put them back on and its running on all 4 now. So my next question is...do I need to change my oil or will it be fine till next season?

 

CHANGE IT!!

 

OK!!! lol