Before i get myself into trouble with a carb rebuild....

[Sidk]

So....

where to begin..... 

I am doing a bit of minor service to the beast and while i am waiting for the parts to arrive
(new rubbers, new airbox and a rebuild kit for the carbs.)

my question is this,

how difficult is it to do the rebuild? i have a general good idea of working on things. (most of the time)
for those that have done a rebuild... how difficult is it? or should i just not be bothered and pay someone to do it... 

[JayDub]

Ive rebuilt my Mikunis and found it straightforward, find a clean area of workbench/table and set out all the parts/tools, work slowly one carb at a time, handle the carbs gently, use correctly fitting screwdrivers, make a note of how components are positioned, photos help a lot.
Take care when removing the pilot air screws so you can see the order of the spring, washer, o ring, also note how many turns out they are.
But don't worry, we're all here to help if you get stuck 

[Sidk]

Ive rebuilt my Mikunis and found it straightforward, find a clean area of workbench/table and set out all the parts/tools, work slowly one carb at a time, handle the carbs gently, use correctly fitting screwdrivers, make a note of how components are positioned, photos help a lot.
Take care when removing the pilot air screws so you can see the order of the spring, washer, o ring, also note how many turns out they are.
But don't worry, we're all here to help if you get stuck 

The part that i think confuses me is the pilot air screws .. turns out / in etc
for some reason it scares the crap outta me...

[Mustang]

It's easy
Screw them in until they lightly bottom out
Counting how many turns you need to close them
Now you have the baseline setting for your pilot screws
When you reinstall  , again screw them closed and then back them out the # of turns you previously recorded

[Sidk]

thanks for that..

one of the reasons im wish to do a rebuild of the carbs is that i am getting very crappy fuel consumption as of late.

inspection of the general area i have found that the intake rubbers are cracking in various places and the idle is irregular. starting up the bike requires choke and then fiddling with the idle screw  after a few minutes to turn off the choke.  I start off at 1500 rpm and then lower it about 1100. most of the time it goes from 1500 to 2000 so i have to lower it at the first stoplight.

there is no leak in the system. (had a leaky petcock but i replaced the oring and all is well) from what i can tell the system is running rich as the exhaust smells a bit gassy and there is carbon build up on the exhaust. havent checked the state of the plugs yet to know for sure...my last full tank gave me 200kms

[Mustang]

Old dirty air filter can do this too

[Sidk]

new airbox is on the way..

but since i have to have everything before that removed to replace it.. what  the heck  might as well do the carbs as well... 

[Sidk]

how the heck does one go about removing the little float needles from the actual plastic float mechanism

i see how the little metal clip holds on to the top of the float needle and that in turn is resting on the metal tab.
i have unclipped the little metal clip and i have gently seperated the two plastic pieces but they only seperate up to a point and i cant free the needle

what am i doing wrong?