Carbs gummed

[tacoman]

My B6 obviously sat too long or perhaps the last batch of gas I put in wasn't real fresh.  Went for a ride this weekend and it had a bad miss.  Never did clear up.  I'm thinking grrrr, I don't want to pull and clean carbs.  I remember some posts from awhile back where somebody said they had good results adding some Chevron Techron gas additive.  It wasn't cheap ($8 for a little bottle), but it worked.  I put it in, rode around awhile to get it in the carbs then put it away.  Started it up last night and we're back to normal!

[Seanybiker]

sounds to me like your gonna have to take em off and clean em mate.    

[IcyChaos]

sounds to me like your gonna have to take em off and clean em mate.    

Sounds to me like the carb cleaner worked... maybe I'll try some.

[tacoman]

Its been a week with the carb cleaner in (Chevron Techron) and all is good, runs like it used to.  That little $8 bottle saved a lot of work I hate to do (pulling and cleaning carbs).

[huahuafish]

holy smokes...sounds like a good plan to me, maybe I'll try it out with my GSF400..

can provide a more detailed description on this Chevron Techron carb cleaner?  maybe a picture/link ?\

[Daytona]

Sea Foam works as well, if you have any on hand. Used as a stabilizer in boats with no problems.  

[tacoman]

I don't have a pic but if you go to an auto parts store its the only Chevron product.  It says Chevron Techron right on the bottle.  It will be about triple the price but I figure you get what you pay for.  The others are like $2 a bottle and just claim to be an additive, not a real cleaner.  I was surprised how little there is in carb cleaners anymore, probably due to fuel injection.  All the good strong stuff is gone.

[vadim]

This is what you need:

http://www.chevron.com/products/prodserv/fuels/additives/concentrate_plus.shtml

I've also used sea foam and had no problems with it.

-Vadim

[adileng2]

hi guys
i use those every other oil change.
did you put in a whole bottle of the cleaner in a tank of gas or just half. the reason i ask is the rocommended (on the botthe) is 1 bottle of cleaner per 12-15 gallons.

thanks

AE

[tacoman]

I topped off my tank and put the whole bottle in.  I rode a few miles to get the stuff mixed in and then let it sit about 3 days.  I then rode it for a few hours then topped off again to dilute the mixture a bit.  It still seemed to run a bit rough but then I went on a good 300 mi. ride with several gas stops and all is good now.

[longislandbandit99]

I'm always having problems with my carbs too.  The bike doesn't want to idle at all and when I run it around, it sounds like it'll only run on three cylinders or something.  Runs very rough and it isn't smooth at all.  First time this happened was after a long winter when it sat.  I brought it to a dealer nearby (mistake #1) and it hasn't really run good since.  After the dealer season, it sat again and this time I just ran it a lot and put a lot of gas through it.  Eventually it kind of fixed itself but never really ran quite like when it was new.

Now it has had a while to sit, didn't get to ride much last season at all for too many reasons.  I want to drain the carbs first and the tank, put new gas in with some Chevron I picked up a while back and see if I can do something to fix it myself.  I'm looking for suggestions pretty much on how to go about this easily first before I start to really mess things up.

[wiredgeorge]

I work on vintage bike carbs for a living and see this issue all the time. The Techron product is a good one but it won't work if your bike sat all winter with gas in the carburetors and the gas really gummed up. Before totally disassembling the carburetors and cleaning them, I would REPLACE the jet needles which gum up easily due to their small diameter holes and use some Seafoam in the gas (or the Techron) to see if it helps clear up the problem. Both Techron and Seafoam are petroleum distillates and won't harm the engine. Don't over-use either product... apply it in the proportion to your gas as suggested by the manufacturer.

[longislandbandit99]

Can I replace these jets somewhat easily?  Without messing up the synchronization?  I have experience with older carbs from outboard motors.  The jet orifices are really just small screws with really small ported openings in those older carbs.  Am I going to be looking at something similar?  I've worked on Yamaha outboards which first went into production in 1984 and they aren't that old.

[Red01]

Yup, same sort of thing in these carbs, too.

[wiredgeorge]

Small brass jets that sit in a well are sometimes a little hard to remove especially if someone has stripped the head a tad. Best to be real careful to use the CORRECT screwdriver. Put the handle of the screwdriver in a set of long vise grips and push DOWN on the handle of the screwdriver to make sure it stays seated in the slot and turn the vise grips easily to give you a bit of leverage. Almost all balky pilot jets will come out with a little "snick" as they unstick from the thread... the brass gets galled on the aluminum and this means that it is lightly bonded to the aluminum and you need to take care when removing. Heat can also be used as that breaks the galled surfaces loose a bit.  

If your jets were gummed up, it is generally best to replace them rather than attempt to clean them. Chemicals will sometimes NOT get all the goo out and the tool for removing goo is a set of wire lengths with serrations on the edge. While these work well, they will tend to remove brass as well.