Float needle seat question

[txtriathlete]

Working on carbs, trying to get the float seat out on my 80 Special. Any special trick to pull it out? I don't need to salvage it, the rebuild kit has a replacement. I'm about ready to just put a screw in it to give some leverage to pull it out. Any special trick I'm missing? Thanks!

[motoman]

Working on carbs, trying to get the float seat out on my 80 Special. Any special trick to pull it out? I don't need to salvage it, the rebuild kit has a replacement. I'm about ready to just put a screw in it to give some leverage to pull it out. Any special trick I'm missing? Thanks!

That would work.......better yet, lightly snap a pair of vice grips on it and rock back and forth while pulling up.....BTDT...lol. Those ole' O-rings swell up over time making things a bit difficult.

[mack]

A slight

turn at the same time works pretty good to break the crud. I've also used the vice grips and a flat tip screw driver to get a bit of upward shear under the grips nose. Once you get it started they'll pop right out. Don't think about reusing them though.

[txtriathlete]

Got them all out buy using a combination of these methods. Yep, pretty crudded up. I put the carb into my vise (padded well) and then put a deck screw into the seat a few turns. Used my BFG locking pliers and pried up and out. Took some persuasion but they came out. And yes, they were totally wrecked and not salvagable.

I've never had the bike running (turns over well with good compression) so looking forward to getting it back together in the next few days. Its been a fun project.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey,

Hope you saved the filter screens that were on the ENDs of the seats, they press on , and should be cleanable and reusable on the NEW seats.

Hope you got Genuine Mikuni seats and needle valves. The aftermarket type often have weaker springs on the valve ends, and are a different length, so they can cause problems with the floats and properly and completely shutting off the fuel. I think it was Schming that had posted a comparison complete with photos about the differences. Remember, you can see ALL of the photobucket photos in the threads when you use the Chrome browser and the photobucket add on.

T.C.

[txtriathlete]

Hey,

Hope you saved the filter screens that were on the ENDs of the seats, they press on , and should be cleanable and reusable on the NEW seats.

Hope you got Genuine Mikuni seats and needle valves. The aftermarket type often have weaker springs on the valve ends, and are a different length, so they can cause problems with the floats and properly and completely shutting off the fuel. I think it was Schming that had posted a comparison complete with photos about the differences. Remember, you can see ALL of the photobucket photos in the threads when you use the Chrome browser and the photobucket add on.

T.C.

The kit came with new ones, although I saved everything in neatly labeled baggies. OCD that way.

Not sure on source, it was Ebay, but it seems to have fit well and was complete. We will see in a few days when I try and crank it.

I wondered about all the dead pic links. II don't use Chrome since it has significant vulnerabilities, but I managed to find quite a bit of info and I have a bit of experience with old goldwing builds so this one wasn't too bad.

Thanks!

[leggman1]

I used some good quality needle nose pliers and a bit of a twist. After cleaning I put a little vasoline in the o rings and pushed them back in. Worked great