Finally I opened up the carbs!

[nikux]

I feel that I am rising up the  bike knowledge ladder with starting a carb job. . My bike had these problems

1. Lots of surges - and I mean LOTS - at low rpm (below 4000), which is less when a) Choke is On, b) bike is warm. Infact I had to ride with the choke on for 5-7 mins to heat the engine, else the bike died too often.
2. Bike dies often when I stop at red lights even when warm.
3. Bad Idle response, even when the bike is warm (I tried to screw in the idle a little, but not much)
4. Backfire sound from the exhaust at times
5. I also saw some rust in fuel tank the last time I emptied it
6. Rattling sound around the engine at low RPM

I sensed that the first three problems can be taken care by carb cleaning. Now I dindt even know what rejetting is all about before opening the carbs but after physically seeing the pilot jet and the main jets, things make sense to me. My pilot is 37.5, Mains are 122.5, and needle has one plastic on it. I did not see much rust/dirt inside the carbs (are they supposed to be really dirty or just little rust can be enough to cause problems?).

Now I have following doubts
1. I feel that my bike is lean, should I buy a 40/125 set of jets?
2. Do I need to separate the carbs and clean, or separating the jets and needle is enough?
3. How do I remove the needle jet? Is is necessary to remove it?
4. Apart from cleaning the carbs with carb cleaner and soap water? what all things I need special care with cleaning?
5. Any other suggestions to check/repair while the bike is stripped off?

Also posted my spark plug pics - do they tell anything? time for change?

[ben2go]

plugs tips don't look to bad.Gap looks a little tight but it can't be seen very well.

[ohgood]

Getting and keeping the carbs clean will help, ya. The plugs need to be the proper heat range, and putting in a fresh set every other oil change is a decent idea. (someone will flame me for that)

GAP IS IMPORTANT -  just wanted to put some emphasis on that.

Enjoy the good running machine now.

[Crucialval]

I have 40/140's and washers if you what them.

[dchrist]

If I could make one suggestion? If you don't take care of that rust in the tank all the carb cleaning and rejetting in the world won't help you, they'll just clog up again. its a bit of work but I would highly suggest cleaning the whole fuel line from tank to carbs. I used por 15 marine clean for my tank a year ago, took apart the carbs and cleaned them then rejetted and I've not had a problem since. I did have some problems rejetting but it was because I put the wrong size jets in. Make sure to get the right jets and you should be all set. good luck.

ps. when I opened my carbs they didn't look all that dirty but they also weren't functional so don't worry about that just soak em in carb cleaner. should do the trick.