Starting this old bike

[Crazcnuk]

What I get a kick out of is how a lot pf people rip the carbs off BEFORE they try to start the machine.

The newest motorcycle I have ever owned was a 1985 Shadow 1100 that I bought in 1989. Other than that all my bikes have been 10-20 years old, and in various states of having sat.

I even unburied a 1980 GSX-250 Suzuki from under a wood pile, on an acreage. We put some oil in each spark plug hole, turned it over by hand (back wheel in gear) hooked up a battery booster (no battery) and fired it up. It ran fine after it blew all the rust out of the exhaust pipe that had been against the ground.

The ONLY bike I have ever taken the carbs off, and tried to clean them is my '73GT 750 and cleaning them did nothing to improve how it runs. (I've cleaned them twice, but problem turns out to not be carbs. )

For the most part unless the PO was an idiot, or the bike was parked BECAUSE of a carb issue, there should be nothing wrong with most carbs.

As for the rusty gas tank, take it off, slosh as much gas out as you can, and/or refill, or put an inline car type fuel filter on it while you play.

It's been my experience that NOT running does little or nothing to carbs, as long as the airbox/filter(s) are in place. I just do a tune-up and go.

[HobbyMan]

umm, yeah. What kind of gas do you use? The gas we have down here in Texas sucks. Your carbs get crudded up really fast from the chemicals. Just sitting makes it a heck of a lot worse.

[prometheus578]

"If I may..."

Of course, it all depends on why it was put out to pasture in the first place...
It has been my experience... with customers who have let their bikes sit... that it has always been carbs.
Sure, batteries, too..., but.
Unless there was some mechanical reason for letting it sit idle, when trying to bring it back to life, it's always a carb issue.
(It is almost spring time... and work is starting to come in. Carbs, carbs, carbs.)

What I get a kick out of is how a lot pf people rip the carbs off BEFORE they try to start the machine.

Obviously, try to start the bike.
Spark?
Mouse nest in the airbox?
Then it's new fuel and carbs.


HAhahaahah
even had a bike this week... where the owner had rat poison pellets in the airbox to keep the mice out!
That's a little extreme.
I say... let them live in there. The first time one gets sucked forward and has his head wedged in an open valve... they'll get the message and all move out.

[Crazcnuk]

Around here most bikes are simply parked. People buy them, ride them for a summer, or two, then they never use them again.

Have a friend whose brother bought a BMW right out of high school. Rode it for 2 years all over north america, put about 30k miles on it. Now we badger him to pull it out of the garage and get it running again... He graduated in the early 70's.

We get lots of bikes that are 20yrs old and have <20k on them.

Biggest problems up here, other than interest, are usually electrical, or accident damage.

I got my 2nd '82 Virago, the one I ride now, thrown in with a deal on a mobile home, because it ran like crap. The guy replaced the battery, and a few other things, and figured it was toast. I put new spark plugs in it and did a basic tuneup and have been riding it for the last 4 years. It had one dieing sparkplug.

[Pat Kelly]

I've often wondered why my E had been parked for so long before it came to live with me. I paid $60 for it. It had 7,200 miles on it and the 1979 sticker on the plate. There were registration stickers up to 1985 with the paperwork but the bike just sat (outside) almost 20 years.
The woman I bought it from said it belonged to her (ex) husband before they met. Every now and then he'd talk about getting it running. She'd clean and polish it but he never got it back on the road.
I just addressed everything from is sitting for so long, carbs and brakes for the most part.
She sold it because they'd been divorced for a few years. She kept telling him to come get his stuff. He'd occasionally come get a few items but never the bike. She eventually had to move and the bike found me.

[oseaghdha]

Every now and then he'd talk about getting it running. She'd clean and polish it but he never got it back on the road.

So, where is this woman?

[wingnut]

These sat for about a year with fuel in them. #3 was so gummed up the viton tip on the needel pulled off when I pulled it out of the seat. the Emulsion tubes were soild varnish. No holes! Please send some of that amazing Canada gas down here!

[HobbyMan]

square floats??? I have never seen those before

[patpatpat]

I had to take out the carbs and clean them. When I took it apart, there was a mixture of gas and rust, which looks like orange tofu. I am gonna buy a bucket of those carb cleaner and dip parts in there. I am aware of not putting rubber/plastic pieces in it.

Still need to get a battery. is size 16 ok? or it must be size 18

[HobbyMan]

you can really get by without the bucket. IMHO, it wouldn't do anything that you can't do with the spray cans. I suggest that you put the float bowls back on and spray some carb cleaner in through the float bowl drains every 10 min. That way nothing will evaporate and After an hour or so, everything starts to loosen. Just a suggestion.

[Crazcnuk]

I assume that we get a bit of residue from the gas here as well, so I run a can of carb cleaner through with the first tank of gas...

I have just never really had a problem with the carbs on any of my bikes. The issue on the GT-750 turned out to be in the points and a blown seal or two in the crankcase (2 stroke).

I put two of the three carbs (34mm Mikunis) off of an XS650 onto my Honda CB360T in place of the 28mm Kehins and it ran a lot better, but didn't even open them, even though they had been sitting in the garage for who knows how long.

Can't say as I've ever had viton tipped floats, as I don't usually open the carbs to find out!

Keep in mind that all of my bikes, except my Suziki A100, have all been beaters that I have 'rescued' from various situations. The $500 I paid for this XS1100 is the most cash I have paid for a bike, except the $2800 I paid for my '85 Shadow 1100.

Even the shadow was a theft recovery and had to be recertified. It only had 4000kms on it, though, and was 3 yrs old when I bought it , so I don't consider it a 'beater'. It is, however the only bike I ever had the shop do a carb balance on, and it ran fine, but backfired on deceleration. Never did that before I had them looked at. This bike had over 80,000kms on it when I traded it fro the trailer I live in and the 2nd '82 Virago 750.

The '81 Midnight Maxim 650 I had was a write off. My then brother in law and his friend were killed on it. I bought it 5yrs later from my father in law, fixed it up, rode it for a year, and traded it for the 3rd nicest (condition wise) bike I ever owned, a 1982 750 Virago with 64,000kms on it. It had almost 90,000 when I sold it.

My '75 CB360T was only 3yrs old but it was beat to crap. The guy carried it around in his pickup., on the back roads, w/o tieing it down.

My '77 750/4 K Honda had a big hole in the crankcase where the chain had gone through it for the PO.

The '75 TS250 Suzuki I had , when I brought it home I did the usual tune-up. Threw the battery away as it was full of sand, took off all the broken signal lights, fixed the headlight. Never touched the carbs. It had over 23,000 miles on it when it was vandalized and the odometer was wrecked. My brother rode it for at least another 2 years.

Only new bike I ever owned was a '77 Suzuki A100 Gopher.

[wingnut]

"square floats??? I have never seen those before"

HobbyMan, didn't mean to confuse ya, those are from a FJ650. No Makuni's by a long shot.

Dave

[HobbyMan]

thats about what I thought. Those didn't look like Miks

[TomB]

Hi folks

Here in the UK, we have started having big carb gumming up problems since going over to unleaded petrol (Gas to you lads)

Years ago I laid up my XS for 4 years with leaded petrol in the carbs, (usual story, marriage, kids ) when I came to fire it back up it took a good few kicks but then ran a treat.

What additive do you lads use to clean the carbs whilst running, any?

[Snow]

Seafoam! Aka toluene?