1980 GS550 Carb question

[mycat8urskidoo]

Well i've decided that im going to try and clean my own carbs, and had a few questions, probably dumb ones, but i dont want to mess them up, haha, cant afford it when the bike gets 50 mpg and my truck gets 10 (dodge v10, haha) but anyway, were do i disconnect the throttle and the choke so i dont have to mess up any adjustments? and is there anything else crucial that i should know before I start this project?, i dont have a manual, i guess im going to wing it, haha, i dont plan on getting too deep into the carb, just spraying out all the jets and making sure everythings there i guess
well any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks
justin

[kalessin]

Answering questions to set your mind at ease is what this forum is all about.

Generally speaking, disconnecting the throttle and choke shouldn't disturb the adjustment settings. It's been a long time since I've had my carbs off, but I completely removed them from the bike, but I don't remember having to readjust anything when I did so.

[arveejay]

The choke cable is attached to the carbs at a mounting point and an attaching point. A screw that is accessed from the left side will loosen up and allow the cable to move freely, then it is turned in the attachiing point and pulled out. You will see what I mean when you get there. The throttle cable is also attached in 2 places, loosen the top nut on the mount all the way and cable will pull out and move freely, then remove from carbs the same way the choke was done. You can use one hand to slide the choke assemble,then to raise the throttle assembly which will make cable removal a lot easier.

[DaveDanger]

There's nothing wrong with "wing'n it" as long as you never plan on doing much more than putting gas in it and riding it. If you do plan on occasionally doing some of your own maintenance, it's worth it to have a manual close by. I had my bike for several weeks before I received the manual I'd ordered, and I went ahead and did a few things with advice I'd obtained here on the forum. Had no problems, and was successful at what I was doing, but I wanted the manual regardless.
Like the two previous posters mentioned, the throttle and choke cables disconnect easily at the carbs, without throwing any adjustments out of whack. At worst, pay attention to how many rotations you loosen on a jam nut so that you can reverse that during reassembly.