houtex

(I just have to tell story. It's cathartic I think.)

Hola all. In addition to Awesome, the Mustang, I have a PC800, or more correctly, a Honda Pacific Coast, a 1995 model. I call her, simply, Ride. She's been painted Gold Wing Yellow from that year. I love this thing, she 'fixes' my body woes with muscles and joints and all that. Really. She's like my personal chiropractor or such. Which is why I'm not happy she's sick...

In July of last year, she was running a little poorly one outing. Having trouble continuing to run, needing more throttle at idle to keep her running...

I went right home and really barely got there. After that, she's been sick and not running at all. Won't even start.

Then I got sick, family issues, moving, and just a LITANY of crud prevented me from dealing with her. Even when I was finally available, the weather (she was stored outside in a Bike Barn, no cover otherwise) wouldn't cooperate.

Miserableness ensued. Mah poor motorcycle. She missed Kerrville, a few other rides... Sigh...

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Well this month, each weekend, I've been trying to rebuild the carbs FINALLY... I've moved, got the garage squared away, a work bench figured out, even have a compressor that was left behind but still good.

Ripped the carbs off, took them apart, cleaned all the varnish and gunk out of them... the left side was HORRID... I don't know how she ran with that in the jets...

Have to say, whoever thought a Dial-A-Jet system was a good idea... well, it's not. I had to get new bowl drain screws and a new air box to repair that mistake. I get it, really, but honestly... just... don't.

Which caused me to be confused about where the drain screws were, so I pulled... the idle air adjustment pilot screws... Nice. Realized my mistake and reset them... I thought...

Got them all cleaned up, reassembled, and learned quite a bit, being my first time. I learn pretty well, as long as stuff matches manuals... excluding the Dial-A-Jets...

Put 'em on... Yay she starts! But... not really good running. Popping in the intake, popping in the exhaust...

I got the idle adjustments done and the intake stuff went away, but still popping in the exhaust.

Hm.

Took them back apart, figuring it's the idle air adjustment screw thing... and I lost a washer for one of them.

O.
M.
G.

Well, thankfully, as I was about to give up and try to find one of these things online, there it was on the floor. It had been there a week. Providence, yeah?

Fix that, readjust, put 'em back on... Nope, still messed up. Reading on the subject, that's usually a rich condition when it pops in the exhaust. (No, it's not a decelleration lean, it's a steady throttle popping.)

Gettin' a little long... Suffice it to say that I've diagnosed the issue to the left side running rich, as no adjustments on the idle air screw cause it to drop idle, so I'm guessing it's the floats are messed up. It would explain a lot at this time. She actually doesn't run all that bad, and that she runs at all is frankly awesome.

Take them back off (this is the fourth time? to take them off for various reasons, by the way, I'll spare the whys.)

Disassemble them completely, to ensure I didn't miss something... Nope... all looks good... maybe a TEENSY bit of float valve sticking... maybe not a big, no lube from gas...

Oh... wait...

Dangit, the right side carb slider pistion diagphragm has holes in it. How I missed that the first time I dealt with them, I'll not know. But they're found now.

Sigh...

So now, after all the trials and tribulations, she's gotta wait for these rather expensive items. Meh. Ah well, this is definitely a learning experience for me, and I'm actually enjoying it to a certain extent. And learning a ton.

The carbs are just *too* simple. It's the fine adjustments that'll drive you bonkers, but once set, they're really easy to deal with. As long as all the parts are where they're supposed to be...

Anyway... I just hadda talk about it. So... on with your lives then, I've sucked enough time from ya.

StangMahn

yeah, not a big fan of carbs here. Maybe because I've never worked on them, but that sounds like a major pain!

houtex

Well, it sounds like it, but it's really not.

Here's the book you have to at least know the title of to work on these things. I need to pick up a copy and read it one day, but the title is enough for me to 'get it':
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zen_and...le_Maintenance

So I zen out and just piddle with it, learning a little more each time. Now that I know how it all goes together, and works, and everything... it's just a couple of parts, and I'll be off into the sunset again.

Works great on car projects too. Zen out. What'll be will be. Don't stress. For that way leads to mistakes/disasters/waiting on the side of the road because you got all in a hurry.

I have to say that I find the CV carbs to be simply elegant in how they work. It's really an amazing masterpiece of workmanship and engineering. It just... amazingly simple, straightforward, and, to be blunt, hard to screw it up. As long as all the parts are clean and functional... there is NO WAY the carburetor will not work. None. Except you don't have the fuel level set right in the float bowls, or there's a messed up part.

I've found my messed up parts, so it should be a simple thing now.. Just buy them, have them arrive, and install. Voila.

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Now, if we were talking a single barrel Ford carburetor for a Sprint Mustang I6 200? Yeah... you just buy one of those new.

/it is four tables of parts, as I last heard it described, in that teeny thing...