Bike is dead, carb problem is beyond me.

[conflicttheorist]

Well,  about a week ago my bike died around berkeley.  It wouldn't hold idle and ran about a cup of gas out of the overflow.  Now, I've taken the carbs completely apart and put them back back together and replaced all the hoses.  To my knowledge the carbs looked as good as new on the inside.  I think the problem, then, is my knowledge because I put my bike together and it still won't hold idle.  with the choke all the way open it holds idle at 1100 rpms for a minute or so and then dies.  If I turn the throttle it dies.  If I take off the choke it dies.  If I give it the stink-eye, it dies.  It is dead.  Unless someone who is less of a mechanical moron can help, I fear it will always be dead.  Can anyone help?

[The Buddha]

If you want to send it to me ... trouble shooting is free, of course shipping both ways will cost ya ... I'd prolly fix it free as well ... but if it needs stuff I'd let you know ...
Cool.
Srinath.

[werase643]

if I didn't have a real warm fuzzy working on carbs..... I'd send them to the carb BUDA....Srinath

he will op test them on his bike.....just because he wants to do a good job

[conflicttheorist]

If you want to send it to me ... trouble shooting is free, of course shipping both ways will cost ya ... I'd prolly fix it free as well ... but if it needs stuff I'd let you know ...
Cool.
Srinath.

Thanks! I PM'ed you.

[Kerry]

I've taken the carbs completely apart and put them back back together and replaced all the hoses.  To my knowledge the carbs looked as good as new on the inside.

You didn't mention whether the jets themselves were clean inside.  Did you subject them to any kind of cleaning?

Oh, and did you have plenty of fuel in the tank?  Using the PRI setting just to be sure it flowed to the carbs OK (in case the fuel level was "iffy")?

[conflicttheorist]

You didn't mention whether the jets themselves were clean inside.  Did you subject them to any kind of cleaning?

Oh, and did you have plenty of fuel in the tank?  Using the PRI setting just to be sure it flowed to the carbs OK (if it was "iffy" low)?

I used the PRI setting to initially get gas into the carbs.  Like I said, the bike will barely run, so it is getting *some* gas.  As far as the jets go, they appeared perfect and clean when i took them out -I didn't actually do any cleaning.  I'm actually wondering if it could be something other than the carbs.

[JohNLA]

When wasthe last check of the valve clearances?

[conflicttheorist]

When wasthe last check of the valve clearances?

I did the valve clearance about a month ago.  Until this problem the bike was running pristine, and the problem came on very sudden.

[JohNLA]

Petcock flow is good?
Sorry, I am grasping at straws :dunno:

[conflicttheorist]

Petcock flow is good?
Sorry, I am grasping at straws :dunno:

I don't know about a problem with the petcock itself... I did replace all the hoses and it made no difference.

[Kerry]

I used the PRI setting to initially get gas into the carbs.  Like I said, the bike will barely run, so it is getting *some* gas.

Yes, but except for the "cup of gas out of the overflow" the rest of the symptoms in your initial post could be explained by being about to run out of gas.  So I thought I'd ask....

I would have asked about the valves too, but it sounds like the bike "quit" rather suddenly.

As far as the jets go, they appeared perfect and clean when i took them out -I didn't actually do any cleaning.

Were you were able to see light by looking through the jets (removed from the carbs, of course)?  Even if you were, it can surprise you to see the difference in the amount of light that passes through a partially dirty pilot jet and a clean one.  It only takes the smallest speck of dirt or fleck of fuel varnish to stop those pilots up.  And since the pilots are the jets principally responsible for how the bike runs at idle.  

BTW, I agree that the problem may be somewhere besides the carbs.  But until we know what we know....

[werase643]

color of plugs?
dry?
wet?

oil level?
high?

air box dry?
or wet?

[conflicttheorist]

well, since I have to take the carbs out again anyway, I will recheck all the jets and clean them anyway.  Maybe a fresh look will help.

[Rema1000]

Did it dump the gas out while running?  As the engine died?  While parked?

The floats sit down into a plastic tube.  Pull the tube out (it slides out).  Rub the gasket which circles its middle, and look for wear.  Look through the tube from both ends.  I had good luck cleaning with Q-tips, and blowing air through from both ends.

[conflicttheorist]

air filter isn't wet.  spark plugs look umh, normal colored, and basically new.  oil level is within normal range.

I don't know what plastic tube you are talking about.  There is  a metal tube that can be removed- part of the needle valve assembly- but I replaced that o-ring although it erally seemed okay.

[The Buddha]

Well being super clean is over rated and not neccesary, its designed to function with generous amounts of soot and general petrobased impurities and even a helping of mineral deposits (AKA dirt) too much of those will be bad, but clean it once and you should be OK. Some else is wrong. I usually slosh them for a couple days in diesel, and call it good, never had one not work after that.
BTW I wont run it in my bike ... Its $50 extra. I am going to open the things and look at them. Lets see if anyhitng jumps at me. It usually does, I see small things a shade off and I can surmise and back calculate if the problem you had could have been the result of the 10 little things that were off in the carbs, or should I keep looking or look elsewhere.
Cool.
Srinath.

[scratch]

And you adjusted the idle screw...what about an electrical problem, are both sparkplugs getting a good healthy spark?

[conflicttheorist]

What would have made it spill gas out of the carbs?

[scratch]

A piece of debris lodged in between the float needle and seat causing the floatbowls to overfill. Some other things I can't think of right now.

[conflicttheorist]

Okay.  So now I'v ecompletely f'ed up my carburator.  I decided I was really going to go to town cleaning it.  So I when to the gstwin section and noticed that he use a thin wire from a brush to clean some of the small holes.  I don't have a brush, but I have sewing needles.  I take the thinnest one, shove it into the hole in the pipe that runs into the floats, and promptly break the need off, flush, into the hole.  Well, whatever that thing did, it is now forever sealed shut with a peice of metal.  I can't find any way to remove that part in the repair manual nor see any way to remove it.  Unless somebody has an idea then i beleive I have totally screwed myself and now have a junk motorcycle in my parking space.  I plan on killing myself tonight and leaving my dead body in an orchard somewhere.