New guy here. Old Dude. Fixed Income.

Guessing I have a stuck or dirty float which from reading other threads I am also guessing it is in the bottom part of the carb under the larger cover. I doubt I have the talent to rebuild the entire carb so here are my questions.. .

1. . . Can I remove the bottom cover and clean etc *without* taking the carb off the bike?

2. . . Have been told that the carb has been rebuilt a couple times so another rebuild on an 18 year-old carb seems kinda silly. Any lines on where I might find a quality rebuild? Exchange perhaps.

Thanks ~ mark

 

Most likely a bad float or something is keeping the float needle from seating.

1. Yes you can remove the bowl from the bottom of the carb without removing the carb if you like...but its very easy to remove the carb if required. Disconnect the fuel line and pull it straight out of the manifold.

Drain the float bowl first then remove the attaching screws. The float and needle will be exposed. If the float looks good, then pull the float needle and make sure there is nothing (dirt, rust, foreign material) in the needle seating area that will keep it from closing. If there's gas in the float (sunk float) replace it.

2. These are very simple carbs, and easy to rebuild. I think you will find it's a simple float problem. Should be no need to rebuild or replace. Just take your time and be methodical.

 

As suggested it is a simple job to remove and clean your carb. I recommend getting a carb rebuild kit, which will come with a set of new O rings etc. The other expense is a factory service manual for your bike, which will give you the instructions you need.

 

Thanks. . . Still got a few hours of daylight out here on West Coast so guess I'll go see if I can ruin it completely. The bike sat for almost 4 years after the previous owner dumped it so hopefully it's just junk in the seat.

As for the float. . . Believe it or not I repaired an SU Float crack in an old MGB on the road with a piece of chewing gum. Got me to the parts store.. . .

As for the manual. . . It's on it's way.. . . thanks again and will let you ya'll know ~ mark

 

Well dang, my eyesight failed me so I wasn't able to remove the float but I did find a fairly large magnifying glass and will tackle it again today. Biggest bummer is that the so-called Pro Front-End Mechanic with a good $20G's worth of tools in his garage was obviously a Bigger Hammer kind of guy. Two of the three Torx Screws holding the air filter in place had been stripped by Allen Wrenches. Both Torx holding the Inside Backing Plate to the upper Bracket were also stripped which meant grinding slots and beating 4 of the 5 of them off with a dull chisel and hammer. Not to worry. Plugged carb with rag, ground slots with rotation going away from carb opening, and used a very powerful magnet to grab tiny pieces. And also I will be replacing the air filter in case any tiny pieces had found their way in there. Also, all 4 Phillips Screws holding the Bottom Bowl were stripped but Vice-Grips worked for getting them out. They did however go back in well enough. But get this, no freaking gasket!!!!

Not being able to see well enough to remove the Float Pin. . .could barley see the wire clip at all. . . I gooshed the heck out of the Needle behind the Float with WD-40 while pushing the Float up and down and blowing thru a gas line connected to the inlet. Needle seemed to be seating as blowing pressure stopped & started quite well while doing so.

Also removed & cleaned the Jet. At least half the holes were plugged. Q-Tipped all the dirt (and boy was there a bunch of it) out of the bowl and WD'd and blew through every opening I could find.

My Legally Blind Wife has a number of very powerful magnifying glasses so I went in the house to get one when she reminded my that I had to drive her to get Meds within the hour.. . . aaarrrgggghhhhh. . .

So I slapped it back together with no gaskets or sealer and hooked a gas line up to it. Once again gas flowed out the overflow like the Little Dutch Boy had taken his finger out of the dam. Pulled the top cover to check for a hole in the diaphram. Good thing too as nobody mentioned that a small bushing was going to fall out of place at the bottom of the spring when I turned it over.

By this time my wife had come out to my Tent-Garage and reminded me it was time to go. As soon as it warms up a bit (I live at 7,000ft and the current temp out there is 27 at 7am) I'll get back out there and try to figure out what is hanging up the float. Best guess is that it is not the proper one and is hitting the sides and/or the pin and/or bushings holding it in place are worn. Needless to say, I think I'm out of luck as far as rebuilding it goes. Just doesn't make sense to do a 3rd rebuild on an 18 year-old carb. Not to mention that I spotted *score lines* on the piston.

So there ya have it so far. Told ya I'd check in and will do so again later in the day. Meanwhile, I have spotted some Mikuni's with all hardware to fit for under $350 on the net.

Double Dang is that I can't afford one till the 1st of the month *and* I really did want to pay up the tags and drop my little sailboat in the lake next month. No way I can do both. Right now I just want to make it run and will be getting a new carb asap.

Again, thanks for all your help -mark

 

Where are you located? I'm on the oregon coast and will gladly fix it for you, if you are not near me you could mail it to me and I can fix it and mail it back to you if you like, there is no need to replace the carb.
If your interested just send me a private message and I will give you my info

 

Thank Hooligan but I think I have ther problem solved. Ran out of WD so I uses liberal amounts of Liquied Wrencn. Eyesidhgt was not good enough to remove froat so I sprayed the heck out of the area between the float and the needle valve, after which I filled a 6 inch tube of gas line with same stuff and sucked and blowed and sucked and blowed a number of times. hich finally dislodged whatever obstruction was in there, Whatever was causeing th leaking is totally gone now so I miut have done something right. Liquid Wrench has a ethenol mix in in so I better get out to the gas station for a fill-up asap,. . . . Also, it's a very short run so if anything can go wrong & blah blah blah. (I did have the good sense to buy Tow Insurance btw) Will also be resealing the bottom and top covers with a non-hardening Form-A Gastet upon my return.. . Good news is No Apparent Leaks but we shall see. Also have to stop and get new bolts for the ones I had to destroy while removing.

Better News: I just put out near $400 on Registration, a Battery, and Insurance and I sure as heck didn't want to see the machine sit for the next 20 days waiting on my Sheet Metal Pension & Social Security. Alos means I'll be able to at least least beach the Hobie 14'er for 40 a month at Captian John's in Fawnskin next month. With any luck, all is well. And yes, Perseverance Was The Key. *I hope.*

And Hooligan. . . I am Very Near Big Bear Lake so if you ever get down south we will definitely have to together. Not sure my old body could take an extended right without Spring Type Bicycle seat on it. Yours ~mark

 

finally dislodged whatever obstruction was in there, Whatever was causeing th leaking is totally gone now so I miut have done something right.

Will also be resealing the bottom and top covers with a non-hardening Form-A Gastet upon my return.. . Good news is No Apparent Leaks but we shall see.
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Glad to see your persistence paid off. The problem had to be in the float circuit. Last guy in there sure did some damage.

I wouldn't use the Form-A-Gasket...I think you'll be much better off replacing the gasket. No gasket in the top cover, the bellows seal takes care of that.

 

Thanks nhrider1 . . . and others. . . . At this point I am ready to take a a 2 Pound Hammer to it, and replace with a New Carb.

As noted, all seemed to be working (there was a rubber gasket in the groove btw) but not being totally confident I just put the carb on without the air filter and went around the block. No problems so what the heck, off I went towards town. Stopped for gas about 4 miles from home. Got about another mile and bleaeaeaeaeaeaea.

Now what? Gas was on, no leaks. Hit the ignition, engine fired, and bleaeaeaeaea in about 15 seconds... . Pulled the gas line.. . Yup, gas flow. Put gas line back on, hit the ignition, engine fired and in about 15 seconds. . . bleeaeaeaeaeaeaeaea.

So now the dang thing is stuck CLOSED!!!!!! . . . So I smacked it a few times with the butt of a screwdriver and now I got gas flowing again but it won't stop.. . . So, being the Mechanical Freakin' Genius that I am I pulled the Float Bowl Overflow Tube down from between the tanks and ran it in to the Carb. Success. Wouldn't run at more than about 2500 RPM's and I had to keep backing out of the throttle to keep it from loading up but I got it home.

Biggest bummer is that I will have to wait till the 1st to get new one. . . . sigh

 

Okay Dudes & Dudettes. . . . Are ya tired of me yet?

I can get a complete Mikuni HSR42-6275 with all hardware for $330.00 down the hill on the 1st. About double that for an S&S which I could not afford till May 1st and I sure as heck don't want to wait that long.

On a scale of 1 To 10, how would you rate Mikuni Carbs?
thanks ~ mark