[Wild-Bill]

If the brake fluid is looking brownish then I'd just replace it. I use a vacuum pump (Mighty-Vac from Wally World). Suck all the fluid out of the MC reservoir and Q-tip the drek out of the bottom and around the sight glass. Fill the reservoir with fresh fluid and then use the vacuum to pull fluid out of the bleeders until I get clear fluid all the way through. Fast, convenient and works like a champ.

If you think battery acid got on the chain then I'd plan on replacing that, too. Nothing like having a chain snap while you're at speed!

[smbarker]

slow progress

Slow progress but it is progress .
got the brake lines all cleaned out no more dark brown crud. screws holding the front reservoir lid on were toast ended up shearing the tops off then using needle noose to get what was left of the screws out. less then fun process. but the brakes feel much better now.

was going to try and sync the carbs but now i can't get the damn bike to start and had the joy of having my hearing the bike backfire while in the garage, that was painful. Have a hunch i flooded it, going to pull the plugs as soon as i can get my hands on the right size socket. probably just replace the plugs while i'm at it since i'm not sure how old they are.

again slow progress but it's progress. Kids, budget, and a bike don't always agree on where my money gets to go .

Wanted to say thanks to KatRiders.com for the info on cleaning, and syncing the carbs along with already posted answers to some of my less the brilliant questions

[Wild-Bill]

For a plug socket try an 18mm deep well from Autozone. The sidewalls are thin enough it fits right in there.

[smbarker]

18mm was perfect size, thank you. old plugs were a little soiled but not bad. I replaced them anyways.

Got the bike up and running but it wants to idle at 4000 RPM, and I know the idle screw is all the way out (cable to adjust is broken so I left it unscrewed when i put the airbox on last time).
As soon as i have a chance I'll check and make sure my throttle cable or choke cable aren't to tight and if there not then the next step is to look at the carbs again despite my desire to not touch them any more then i have to . not overly familiar with carbs and don't like messing with things i don't know.

[Sundowner]

Nice find and a good project- keep up the good work

[rockonayz]

if you can get it to run for a minute take starting fluid and spray the intake boots. if it idles up you have a intake leak. that is where my problem was. great find

[smbarker]

Ended up pulling the carbs and found my number 3 was flooded, had gas dripping out of the engine at that one. pulled apart the carbs and went a little bit deeper into them following 'carbs 101' here on the site (i'm trying not to tear them apart to much due to my desire to follow the rules in the guide). checked the floats and they all looked good, figured if there was a problem with letting gas through it would be there but they all looked good or at least they did after i opened em up. found that my AF screws were all messed up, adjusted those back to speck. also did the eyeball sync of the carbs, they were all pretty messed up. got it all back in the bike and now it struggles to run at just under 1k rpm. feeling better about it, better then the engine racing for no reason. Think I'll be ordering that idle adjustment cable now, really don't feel like pulling the airbox off every time i want to adjust my idle, also going to order a new air filter, the one in there now looks pretty sad.

happy about the progress, irritated by the delay, but snows here in SLC so chance to ride is gone for a bit.

[JokerZwild]

Ahhh the ole carb. cleaning issues, Do yourself a favor and either tear those things completely down and clean them or send them out to have it done. If there is anything clogged in those pilot circuits your chances of getting that thing to idle right are gonna be slim and none. Once your sure they are totally clean and clear and properly reassembled then reinstall them with your full attention on sealing any vac leaks you can possibly see or think of. The Phrase "Eh it looks good enough" deff does not work with the carbs in these bikes. Its either right and runs good or its wrong and idles & runs like crap. Good luck.

[smbarker]

so close yet so far away

haven't played with the bike due to holidays, but last week I got it up and running with the tank off, short little run for 30-60 seconds. got it to do that a few times. decided to put the tank back on and give it a try and now it doesn't want to start, to me it acts like it's not getting gas. I can turn the petcock to prime and if i leave it there for a while it will attempt to start but not quite get there.. walked away from it for a night and forgot to take it off of prime *sigh*. back to the fun of trying to start it again today. I'll search the forums again and see if anybody has had the same issue and what their solution was.. just wanted to put a post out of my lacking progress..

[Wild-Bill]

Shine a flashlight up under the tank and see if your fuel lines are kinked. The short one, going to the left side of the carbs (and the rear of the petcock) will kink up real easy if it's too long.

[tb0lt]

To rule out everything till the point where the fuel enters the carbs, run a clear fuel line from a portable gas can sitting higher up than the bike. If it still doesn't run right, you know its not any of the parts you bypassed.

[smbarker]

It's ALIVE

Played with the fuel lines and i think the short one was kinked a little, that and my engine was still flooded from leaving the petcock on prime the other night (gotta hate that mistake).

After spinning the back wheel to help clear out the gas, cleaning off the spark plugs, The bike now starts, idles a little rough but holds between 1-1.5k RPM. I'm happy it's running.

The throttle seems a little sluggish, if I blip it, it seems to take a sec before it revs up. and sometimes it comes down to 1.5-2k rpms then slowly drops back to 1k. may do better once i get a chance to take it around the block a couple of times and the temps are out of the 20's.

[Wild-Bill]

...if I blip it, it seems to take a sec before it revs up. and sometimes it comes down to 1.5-2k rpms then slowly drops back to 1k. ...

That's the classic symptom of a bike running lean, usually because of a vacuum leak. Start looking at the intake and breather box boots as well as making sure all the vacuum ports are covered. Also make sure the vacuum line that goes from #4 carb to the petcock is either attached to the petcock or plugged (if the tank is off the bike). You're not running a non-stock air filter, are you?

[smbarker]

I replaced the filter with a stock and from what playing i did with the carbs those parts are all stock as well.

I had it running again today (tears of joy), and this time it was a lot easier to start. I did notice small back fires from the exhaust and apparently my temp fix for the oil leak didn't hold, guess I'm forced to buy new seals for the oil lines.

So next up checking for vacuum leaks and replacing the seals on the oil lines.

And wanted to give a nice big thank you to all the advice from those that have posted to this thread and to all the other threads on this site, the information has been extremely helpful. Thank you all.

[Christ]

Leaving your tank on prime shouldn't flood your engine with gas unless your floats aren't sealing properly. Lap the area that the float needles seat on, and replace the needles. They're not expensive.