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If you get tired of working on carbs, I highly recommend Gordon @ https://customcarbservices.com/

 

He's got VFR as well and does amazing refurb and restoration work. I've sent him at least 10 sets of carbs in recent years and they come back in perfect 100% OEM factory-clean condition. Bikes have never run better. Uses all OEM rubber parts.

 

Although LiteTek kits are awesome as they use latest better-than-OEM flouro-elastomer seals. Haven't made comparison for carb-seals, but using them for valve-guide seals has really been great on my engine builds.

 

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10 minutes ago, DannoXYZ said:

If you get tired of working on carbs, I highly recommend Gordon @ https://customcarbservices.com/

 

He's got VFR as well and does amazing refurb and restoration work. I've sent him at least 10 sets of carbs in recent years and they come back in perfect 100% OEM factory-clean condition. Bikes have never run better. Uses all OEM rubber parts. Although LiteTek kits are awesome as they use latest better-than-OEM flouro-elastomer seals. Haven't made comparison for carb-seals, but using them for valve-guide seals has really been great on my engine builds.

 

Thank you DannoXYZ, just bookmarked the carbservices website. May need it in the future.

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3 hours ago, Wald said:

Thank you DannoXYZ, just bookmarked the carbservices website. May need it in the future.

You're most welcome!

 

Spray carb "cleaners" no longer work due to removal of chlorinated compounds. He really knows carbs and has all equipment to do proper restoration.  Has ultrasonic cleaner with correct chemicals for proper soak. Also micro soda-blaster. No DIY home-mechanic can do proper carb-refurb without them. He's in NY and has speedy turnaround.  Usually around 1-week and that includes shipping-time to CA!! :fing02:

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Spent the evening cleaning carbs... The bodies are (mostly) as clean as I want them and I got through one set of jets and a bowl, the bowls require EXTRA attention. I also ordered all the carb parts I need, including fuel rail o-rings and others from Joe at V4 Dreams and after a shipping mishap on my part, they're on their way! 

 

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Also took the rear wheel off to start looking over all the rear end components. 

 

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before you button up the carbs it's good to spray a mist of WD40 all over everything to prevent dry corrosion oxidation (alox). how many miles on the bike ?? if it's anything over 35k miles or if they haven't been replaced after the crash, you'll need new steering head bearings.

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10 hours ago, squirrelman said:

before you button up the carbs it's good to spray a mist of WD40 all over everything to prevent dry corrosion oxidation (alox). how many miles on the bike ?? if it's anything over 35k miles or if they haven't been replaced after the crash, you'll need new steering head bearings.

I'll be sure to give them a spritz of WD40. And as for mileage.... The PO claimed the bike has 100k miles, and I just don't believe that. The bike didn't come with a cluster and I think a bike that is capable of hitting 100k would have had to been maintained MUCH better than this poor bike has, if maintained at all. I do plan on replacing the steering head bearings, and my parts list grows larger and larger everytime I take something else off the bike.

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This is a good source of gaskets, O rings, etc at bargain prices .. https://www.ebay.co.uk/str/usaview?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

 

I got a complete 4 carb set of jets, washers, etc for less than $20 delivered 


Good luck .... my 89 RC24 was in a similar state, squirrelman was a great help setting the carbs up

 

 

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Progress has been slow going this week waiting on carb parts and trying not to bite off too much at once. Carb parts arrived today from Joe at V4Dreams and I got to work disassembling the carbs and replacing the fuel rail o-rings, with the intent on getting the carbs all buttoned up today and leak test them overnight... but ran into a tiny issue. The large 'air vent' tube o-rings fell apart when taking apart the carbs and will need to be replaced. 

 

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I'll try to find a place to source these o-rings locally, along with the 2 small coolant hoses that live underneath the carbs tomorrow after work. I'll also need to take the metal coolant fitting and thermostat hosing off for a good cleaning before re-assembly as there is a lot of build up inside the entry way's of the tubes.

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Expect to find the O rings on the pipe and thermostat to fall apart, there’s one inside the rear head for the pipe

 

Not changing the float level valves?

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Carbs are all cleaned, rebuilt and put back together. Taking them apart was pretty daunting for me to replace the fuel lines and o-rings but I got through it with the help of Joe's tutorials at V4 Dreams! 

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I leak tested them and no gas was found weeping out anywhere that it shouldn't. @Thumbs The PO stated that the carbs had been rebuilt throughout the years he had tried to get it running again and the float valves seem to have shown that. They were in good condition so I gave them a good scrub (though they didn't really need it) and called it good, time will tell if this was a good decision on my part.. lol. You were correct about the o-rings in the coolant piping and thermostat housing falling apart, i'll be ordering those, along with some new steering stem bearing to begin reassembly of the cooling system/ front end and (hopefully) get the bike running reliably here soon. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Been plucking away at cleaning up the bike, refurbing parts and figuring out the wiring mess. I about gave up on trying to repair the harness but the only replacements available right now are outside of the US and I don't want to pay $40+ just for shipping so will be doing an in-depth look at the wiring diagram and ordering OE-style connectors and pins to replace and repair everything on the harness I have for now. 

O-rings for the coolant piping under the carbs came in along with new steering head bearings. Put the front end back together to hold cables and such while I continue on my journey to get the thing running correctly. Makes me happy seeing it start to come back together!

 

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I put the carbs back on and tightened all the clamps and tried firing her up... would crank and try but no idle was achieved. I could get the bike to fire right up with a couple sprits of carb cleaner but not with a flow of gas. Seems like the bike isn't getting enough fuel. Anything I should try to troubleshoot this? I'm gravity-feeding the carbs as I have no fuel pump yet and bowls have gas in them. 

 

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^^  they never run right unless the full airbox and filter are in place.  is your choke hooked up and working ?

 

be sure that both forks are set to the same height at the top clamp.

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22 hours ago, brandon750 said:

I put the carbs back on and tightened all the clamps and tried firing her up... would crank and try but no idle was achieved. I could get the bike to fire right up with a couple sprits of carb cleaner but not with a flow of gas. Seems like the bike isn't getting enough fuel. Anything I should try to troubleshoot this? I'm gravity-feeding the carbs as I have no fuel pump yet and bowls have gas in them. 

You're not 1st one to ever have this issue. If bowls are filling up to float level, then petrol is not making it from there into engine. Joe's procedure might work for carb that's been sitting for 1-2-years, but certainly not 10-years. Your carbs need full disassembly and refurb...

 

uc?export=download&id=1Q3pmKZ-h5Zz8q8XDK
 

Different carb, but all Keihin CV carbs are similar. Remove jets and scrub hidden secret fuel-circuits clean from end-to-end. I like using 50/50 mix of acetone/ATF, much better than "carb cleaner" sprays that no longer work due to removal of chlorinated compounds. Or undiluted PEA-based fuel-system cleaner also works. Amazon - Carb Cleaning Brushes.

 

uc?export=download&id=1mZZztQzOfdjZ1qUJk
 

uc?export=download&id=1HuYvS5DG7ZpaWJfvv
 

uc?export=download&id=1q48pjdTx1hPR_KcOT
 

uc?export=download&id=1DdrgfX-WZ9CoVj5j7
 

uc?export=download&id=1Ka__m6n4sPIlNg4Nk
 

Poke out all bleed holes in jets and emulsion tubes with matching gauge copper wire. It'll push out little dried-petrol plugs like grains of sand. Be extremely careful not to gouge holes and change their diameter. Heck, there was recent case where choke-jets had to be drilled with micro bit because dried-petrol was so tough!

 

uc?export=download&id=1xdo6P9_is97acag0f
 

Then soak everything (except diaphrams) in ultrasonic cleaner for 6-12 hrs. Rinse, dry, then micro soda-blast to clear out remaining chunks chipped off from scrubbing and poking.

 

Reassemble with all new rubbers: float-valves, fuel-rail O-rings, float-bowl seals, and slide diaphragms if needed.

 

There's tonnes of extremely skilled mechanics who can rebuild engines with their teeth and hands tied behind their backs, who've had to pull their carbs 4-5x to do ever deeper cleaning and restoration until it was factory-fresh clean. Then bike runs just like it left showroom floor. I recommend you do that 1st time around. Well, second time now...

 

I actually do this on my race-bike carbs every winter during off-season to maintain maximum performance.

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VF/VFR carbs still have petrol-passages between jets and carb-venturi.

Jets need to be removed and those circuits needs to be completely scrubbed clean.

Bleed holes in carb-venturi are also extremely easy to block.

That's where majority of blockages are in cases like these.

 

 

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10 hours ago, squirrelman said:

soaking carbs is no cure all, usually unnecessary and may lead to frozen-solid throttle shafts during storage.


There’s felt washers inside the carb bodies on the throttle spindle, if they’re not kept lubricated the spindles can rust and lock up exactly as described 

 

My #1 carb had been subjected to frequent squirts of petrol by the PO then he left if for a while and the carb seized up solid

 

 

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Yup,  a little spritz of WD-40 or silicone lube should be done as regular maintenance.

 

Regardless of cleaning nuances, bottom line is OP's carbs have not been sufficiently disassembled and thoroughly cleaned to restore back to factory-fresh clean condition. Bike will run like brand-new off showroom floor when carbs are factory-fresh clean. Fact that it doesn't, means carbs aren't factory-fresh clean.

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to lube throttle shafts set the carbs on their side and place some oil where they merge into the carb body and let them sit for a day, then do the other side and let that sit for a few hours, allowing oil to feed down to felt washers.  especially important if carbs were soaked.

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