So ...need a bit of direction-was carbs, not coil pick up

[JonnyO]

Is that a head I'm seeing at the end of the pin? Don't ever remember seeing that in any carbs I've torn down. Has somebody stuffed a nail in there?

Yes, that's a head. These all had heads at one end and it's the actual part for it-it must have been removed at some point by the previous owner. I can't believe Japan would do THAT.

[JonnyO]

Hi JonnyO, here are some links to a float pin removal tool and what others have gone through. In your situation it may be as easy as grabbing #3's pin with locking pliers, twisting and gently pulling to remove the pin, BUT whatever way you end up removing it take your time and put the hammer away. I've rebuilt many carbs and the only item that I needed a slight tapping force to remove was the emulsion tubes where the main jet resides.

https://xs11.club/search?q=float+pin+removal+tool&searchJSON=%7B%22keywords%22%3A%22float+pin+removal+tool%22%7D

I thought about trying a pair of vice grips and was leery of crushing the head or accidentally using the post as a lever.
The other three tapped out fairly easily. I'm not a ham-fisted, pedal-to-the-metal kinda guy-I'm pretty finicky.
And it's a very tiny mallet.
Thanks for the suggestion! I'll read the link.

[LenB]

Is that a head I'm seeing at the end of the pin? Don't ever remember seeing that in any carbs I've torn down. Has somebody stuffed a nail in there?

[JonnyO]

Got the #3 pin out. For what it's worth it had some burrs or something on the end because it didn't want to slide past the other post and didn't want to slide back through easily either. I thought about ordering a replacement and then thought about how long it's taken to get replacement parts and said the heck with that; a bit of sanding and now it slides nicely. PB around the needle assembly.

[Schming]

Hi JonnyO, here are some links to a float pin removal tool and what others have gone through. In your situation it may be as easy as grabbing #3's pin with locking pliers, twisting and gently pulling to remove the pin, BUT whatever way you end up removing it take your time and put the hammer away. I've rebuilt many carbs and the only item that I needed a slight tapping force to remove was the emulsion tubes where the main jet resides.

https://xs11.club/search?q=float+pin+removal+tool&searchJSON=%7B%22keywords%22%3A%22float+pin+removal+tool%22%7D

[JonnyO]

And hell if I ain't having difficulty removing the #3 float pin ( what I meant by "post". Now I understand when all the warnings about breaking a post isn't referring to the pin...which is what I thought. I also understand what "post" means now too. I'm giving up for tonight on #3 pin. The fuel line is in the way of getting a good angle with a punch. I've seen some guys just turning the line end but I'm leery it ain't the same year carb and the fuel lines might be fixed with no wiggle room to maneuver 'em. The other ones didn't give me the trouble it is. I'f got the head of the pin out enough to possibly pull from that side.

I presume it's around the head of the needle valve set I was admonished to soak the head out of by BikerPhil. And how do those actually come out by the way? I've got some PB blaster on 'em but how do you remove them, being brass and all? I tapped a little ( for poops and giggles ) and it didn't budge. Which is why the soaking? But then what do you use to pull them out?
The float bowl gaskets all seem ok as I ran my finger along the edges ( of course not in #3 'cause I ain't got the float out yet. ) and didn't feel any overlapping.
Anyway, that's where I'm at. I give on #3 tonight. Try again tomorrow.
Thanks guys.

[JonnyO]

Hmm. The float posts on the left side of the bike ( I'm calling 1 and 2 ) look untouched...while 3&4 seem to have had a tool on 'em. #3 especially
Number 3

[Larrym]

PURDY PITCHERS.......q(❂‿❂)p

Err mah GRRRRD!!! ٩(๏_๏)۶

The Mikuni engineers really FLEXED in a "I'll show YOU wut a carburatator iz s"posed to be!!!" kinda way. ᕦ(ò_óˇ)ᕤ

Sorry.... muh brain is in an appreciation OVERLOAD mode and is STUCK in a processing/loading screen..... (◠﹏◠)



Imma no use to A N Y B O D Y at the mo.... ☜(⌒▽⌒)☞

[JonnyO]

...and wth? The mains I have ...that I thought I took out... are 100s? Nah, can't be. Maybe I bought 100s too!!!? Farkle! Now I'll have to dig deeper in my stored boxes of cr*p and see if there are 110s somewhere. For now I ain't gonna touch 'em.

[JonnyO]

So the o-rings came-decided to start looking at 'em. Right side.Anything pop out at you guys? Doesn't appear ( to me ) that the gaskets are encroaching. BWDIK?

[JonnyO]

Hmmm.... {•̃_•̃}

The phrase "replace/rebuild the carbs" is wut concerns me. (•﹏•)

In my own "tale of woe" just shared I ended up stating wut I did wit' the 2 (two) carb banks, right? (O_o)

" I had to tear down/clean/rebuild BOTH of'em." (♨_♨)

THAT included dealing with multiple "stuck" air/fuel jets where the screwdriver slots in the soft brass had been boogerererd up by the PO using wutever screwdriver they had on hand instead of making their own "special" screwdrivers to do the job. (－‸ ლ)

Translation? (O_o)

Even tho I "soaked" all these jets with "penetrant" (and even soaked them again/again over a period of DAYS...) and used a heatgun to heat/cool/heat/cool them multiple times they wouldn't come OUT even though I used the RIGHT screwdriver in my effortz. (⩾﹏⩽)

But they HAD to come out so's I had/used a specialty tool called an "EZ-OUT" which wurked on SOME of them. (O_O)

Then on the ones STILL stuck I C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y used a drill bit to drill them out. The RIGHT sized drill bit and a LEFT-HANDED one at that. १ |˚–˚| ५

VERY precise and VERY demanding to do in real life as opposed to just the EZ wurdz- "tear down/clean/rebuild". ヽ (°◇° )ノ

I.......wuz.......successfull. (ʘ‿ʘ)

Fast fwd to the year 2023 whens I came back from an 8 month adventure and found my bike in an absolute MESS due to some lame adapter plates/petcocks I had installed years ago. ＼(ﾟｰﾟ＼)

Remember the former tale-o-woe? (O_O)

After the test bank proved it wasn't the carbs and I fixed the electrical problem, I swapped the Test carb bank back to the original set of carbs which ran PERFECTLY. \(^_^)/

I wuz relieved cuz in my inspection OF the carbs that came with the bike I saw that they, too, had the boogerrered up slots in the brass jets...EVERYWHERE. （　ﾟДﾟ）

I din't HAVE to pull'em out. I DIDN'T pull them out but rathere enjoyed years and years of reliable service. (｡◕‿◕｡)

That is until the 2023 debacle. (⩾﹏⩽)

Lather-Rinse-Repeat of wut I had to do befOaR- Stuck jets, ruined slots, penetrant for days, heat/cool/heat/cool wit' a heat gun, EZ-outs, left hand drill bits, the full monty. (⊙_ʖ⊙)

AGAIN I wuz successful. (o-_-o)

Installed a set of Taiwan Carb Kits from Flea-Bay that made me wanna SELL the bike after 60 miles. (o-_-o)

But thas another tale-o-woe, right? (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

I would NOT and DID not go into any of these "replace/rebuild the carbs" without the tools/skillz to deal with the kinds of problems I found. (ノ﹏ヽ)

Uhhhh. OK. Not gonna try it if I might encounter THAT! Now if I HAVE to that's a different story...

[Larrym]

lol
G If I can do THAT is there any reason to not replace/rebuild the carbs since they're off?
I'm still tempted to try just replacing the gaskets.
Thanks for all the help and your patience, guys.

Hmmm.... {•̃_•̃}

The phrase "replace/rebuild the carbs" is wut concerns me. (•﹏•)

In my own "tale of woe" just shared I ended up stating wut I did wit' the 2 (two) carb banks, right? (O_o)

" I had to tear down/clean/rebuild BOTH of'em." (♨_♨)

THAT included dealing with multiple "stuck" air/fuel jets where the screwdriver slots in the soft brass had been boogerererd up by the PO using wutever screwdriver they had on hand instead of making their own "special" screwdrivers to do the job. (－‸ ლ)

Translation? (O_o)

Even tho I "soaked" all these jets with "penetrant" (and even soaked them again/again over a period of DAYS...) and used a heatgun to heat/cool/heat/cool them multiple times they wouldn't come OUT even though I used the RIGHT screwdriver in my effortz. (⩾﹏⩽)

But they HAD to come out so's I had/used a specialty tool called an "EZ-OUT" which wurked on SOME of them. (O_O)

Then on the ones STILL stuck I C-A-R-E-F-U-L-L-Y used a drill bit to drill them out. The RIGHT sized drill bit and a LEFT-HANDED one at that. १ |˚–˚| ५

VERY precise and VERY demanding to do in real life as opposed to just the EZ wurdz- "tear down/clean/rebuild". ヽ (°◇° )ノ

I.......wuz.......successfull. (ʘ‿ʘ)

Fast fwd to the year 2023 whens I came back from an 8 month adventure and found my bike in an absolute MESS due to some lame adapter plates/petcocks I had installed years ago. ＼(ﾟｰﾟ＼)

Remember the former tale-o-woe? (O_O)

After the test bank proved it wasn't the carbs and I fixed the electrical problem, I swapped the Test carb bank back to the original set of carbs which ran PERFECTLY. \(^_^)/

I wuz relieved cuz in my inspection OF the carbs that came with the bike I saw that they, too, had the boogerrered up slots in the brass jets...EVERYWHERE. （　ﾟДﾟ）

I din't HAVE to pull'em out. I DIDN'T pull them out but rathere enjoyed years and years of reliable service. (｡◕‿◕｡)

That is until the 2023 debacle. (⩾﹏⩽)

Lather-Rinse-Repeat of wut I had to do befOaR- Stuck jets, ruined slots, penetrant for days, heat/cool/heat/cool wit' a heat gun, EZ-outs, left hand drill bits, the full monty. (⊙_ʖ⊙)

AGAIN I wuz successful. (o-_-o)

Installed a set of Taiwan Carb Kits from Flea-Bay that made me wanna SELL the bike after 60 miles. (o-_-o)

But thas another tale-o-woe, right? (っ˘̩╭╮˘̩)っ

I would NOT and DID not go into any of these "replace/rebuild the carbs" without the tools/skillz to deal with the kinds of problems I found. (ノ﹏ヽ)

[JonnyO]

Yah.... NOT the exact same years as the bike you gots and one tiny step in the direction of owning a "Franken-Bike". (Ծ‸ Ծ)

FWIW... When I first got my own Special 79 it didn't run right so the last three ownerers all "noticed" this and each owner took it to a shop(s) wheres each shop firmly blamed it on the CARBs and did the Carb clean/rebuild fOaR the usual amount of $$$$. (´･_･`)

Result? (O_o)

Bike STILL din't run right so's they each parked it and put the FOR SALE sign on it. (´･_･`)

When I bought it from the last owner I contacted the prior owner(s) and found this out. ( •_•)

Did I go into the carbs a 4'th time? YES!!! But found no smoking gun. (⇀‸↼‶)

BUT in order to rule out the carbs AS the problem I got the notion that iffin I buy/install a whole NEW(used...) bank of carbs then I'd know f'sure if it was carbs or NOT. ໒(⊙ᴗ⊙)७

I had to buy 2 (TWO) banks of carbs in order to get one functional (Test) Bank. The one bank I call FRANKENCARBS cuz they're the wurst of the wurst with multiple broken float posts (NOT ME!!!) and other "Technician Induced Errors" (TIES) making them unusable. (－‸ ლ)

The Test Bank wuz installed and the bike ran just as badly leading me to looks elswheres and find #1 spark plug cap wuz barely making contact with the coil wire. (easy-peasey fix) . (づ ◕‿◕ )づ

Since then me and ole "3H3" been living happily ever after. (^_^)

Part of all this that's impor' hunt??? (O_o)

Each "Bank" cost me $200. I had to tear down/clean/rebuild BOTH of'em. I only got 1 (ONE) working carb rack outta the time/money/effort. (●´⌓`●)

lol
Great tale of woe. lmao, Larry.

I've finally been able to VISUALIZE ( ACTUALLY UNDERSTAND ) what has been one of the suggestions to stop the fuel leak ( the other being checking the bowl gaskets ) because of Biker Phil's Yamaha part# for the o-rings. Now I SEE why all the recommendations about BEING CAREFUL with the float posts; in order to get to the o-rings you have to remove the floats. I know it's been SAID but I didn't have a picture in my head of WHERE AND WHAT PARTS WERE BEING DISCUSSED. I get it now. NOW I have to do a bunch more perusing on removing the floats without breaking the posts. ALSO I believe BikerPhil was referring to the o-rings when he said TO SOAK THE HELL OUT OF THE SEATS. No? I now believe I know what he was referring to. I'm getting there...I think. lol
See, I DO NOT LIKE TO ATTEMPT anything I don't know how to do. Like removing the bracket from the air box being a prime example WHY! 'Cause if I HAD KNOWN what I would face when all the bits and pieces fell out and of it I'd certainly have left those bits alone and removed only what was necessary. *sigh*
Replacing the seats/o-rings? If I can do THAT is there any reason to not replace/rebuild the carbs since they're off?
I'm still tempted to try just replacing the gaskets.
Thanks for all the help and your patience, guys.

[Larrym]

Oh yeah...these aren't the same ( in appearance, anyway ) as my '81 Special. Can't see why the wouldn't work but...

Yah.... NOT the exact same years as the bike you gots and one tiny step in the direction of owning a "Franken-Bike". (Ծ‸ Ծ)

FWIW... When I first got my own Special 79 it didn't run right so the last three ownerers all "noticed" this and each owner took it to a shop(s) wheres each shop firmly blamed it on the CARBs and did the Carb clean/rebuild fOaR the usual amount of $$$$. (´･_･`)

Result? (O_o)

Bike STILL din't run right so's they each parked it and put the FOR SALE sign on it. (´･_･`)

When I bought it from the last owner I contacted the prior owner(s) and found this out. ( •_•)

Did I go into the carbs a 4'th time? YES!!! But found no smoking gun. (⇀‸↼‶)

BUT in order to rule out the carbs AS the problem I got the notion that iffin I buy/install a whole NEW(used...) bank of carbs then I'd know f'sure if it was carbs or NOT. ໒(⊙ᴗ⊙)७

I had to buy 2 (TWO) banks of carbs in order to get one functional (Test) Bank. The one bank I call FRANKENCARBS cuz they're the wurst of the wurst with multiple broken float posts (NOT ME!!!) and other "Technician Induced Errors" (TIES) making them unusable. (－‸ ლ)

The Test Bank wuz installed and the bike ran just as badly leading me to looks elswheres and find #1 spark plug cap wuz barely making contact with the coil wire. (easy-peasey fix) . (づ ◕‿◕ )づ

Since then me and ole "3H3" been living happily ever after. (^_^)

Part of all this that's impor' hunt??? (O_o)

Each "Bank" cost me $200. I had to tear down/clean/rebuild BOTH of'em. I only got 1 (ONE) working carb rack outta the time/money/effort. (●´⌓`●)

[JonnyO]

Oh yeah...these aren't the same ( in appearance, anyway ) as my '81 Special. Can't see why the wouldn't work but...