I don't understand carbs one bit.

[Janx101]

Eh larn, while you've had the tank off and carbs out etc. .. you didn't tighten that big loose cable tie thing (around the cables and crossbar) down nice and tight did you? Needs to be loose ish!

[Big Rich]

With the bike off, twist the throttle to wide open then let go of the grip. You should here a metallic pop - that would be the sound of the butterfly valves shutting fully. If in doubt, disconnect the throttle cable at the carb attachment and start the bike up.... if your idle is below that 5k rpm you mentioned earlier, you found the problem.

[Iarn]

Yeaaaayyyy I am a cowboy. I always thought I was an Injun ...

Does the engine speed change as you turn the bars? Higher to the left or right?
That would indicate either the throttle or choke cable being out of adjustment.
Try disconnecting the throttle cables and start the bike to see if the problem persists.
You can normally hear the hissing from an intake leak if that's what's causing it. Use a piece of hose as a stethoscope: put one end in your ear and the other near the carb boots.

The first thing I checked when I put the carbs back into place was that the throttle cables had enough slack, I can freely pull the cable sheathes in and out of the fork interiors with no hang-ups.

Eh larn, while you've had the tank off and carbs out etc. .. you didn't tighten that big loose cable tie thing (around the cables and crossbar) down nice and tight did you? Needs to be loose ish!

No sir, did not touch a cable-tie. The throttle cables have plenty of play.

With the bike off, twist the throttle to wide open then let go of the grip. You should here a metallic pop - that would be the sound of the butterfly valves shutting fully. If in doubt, disconnect the throttle cable at the carb attachment and start the bike up.... if your idle is below that 5k rpm you mentioned earlier, you found the problem.

I had a problem with my throttle cables before where they came unseated from the throttle tube a few days ago when I first removed the carbs. It wasn't clicking. Now if I do as you said, it clicks. The throttle spring is smacking into the idle adjustment screw and making that ticking noise when it snaps back.

I believe the issue is that I didn't install those o-rings at all, and I didn't turn the mixture screws (not sure where those are, I'll have to find a schematic). I suppose I'll be removing the carbs again and trying that out.

[Iarn]

Will be removing the carbs from Eleanor shortly, I'm going to find the AFR screws and adjust those first and see what happens.

Honestly, I'm still not sure what those tiny o-rings go on. I'm really not sure what the needle is, so I'll hold off on that until I can find something more concrete.

I've also checked the throttle and choke cables previously, but I'll do it here again, just for the sake of thoroughness.

[Iarn]

Okay. She's fixed... I think. I feel like an idiot, but thanks to all of you I learned a lot and was able to do it without bringing her to a mechanic.

It was those mixture screws. I found a post on here pointing them out. (http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=58624.0) I turned them all the way in until they were seated and turned them three complete turns out.

Everything SEEMS to be working now. I tweaked the idle back to 1,200RPM with the idle screw. I didn't balance the carbs. I'm not sure if they absolutely need to be balanced, or how to notice the warning signs that they're out of whack.

I also found two small exhaust leaks in the exhaust. I'll be mending that.

I'll post some videos of the mufflers up in a bit.

[Slack]

Good Job!

Just think off all the valuable stuff you just got to learn in a comfy computer chair and inside the garage, instead of trying to learn it at 1 am, in the rain, next to the interstate, without gstwins.com