81 GS450L Carb rebuild pointers?

[SgtRauksauff]

Hello there!

After perusing the forums for a while, and deciding to follow some advice instead of learning the hard way, I'm going to be rebuilding the carbs on my 450. It's only a 2cyl, lucky me!

Anyway, I did read through the carb cleaning pictorial done for the 850, and since the carbs are pretty much basically the same, all that info will apply to mine.

A little background on the bike; 18,000 some miles on the bike. It's not been run for the last 6 years. I can't say I've given it the best storage, but it's almost always been under a roof (garage/basement/barn) or a tarp in the last 19 years, with a 3/4 full tank of gas for the last 6. I drained the tank the other week, and it seems that the petcock is still good (with my limited perception), as in the ON position, nothing comes out, but in the PRIme position, the fuel pours out at a good rate.

Back to the actual point of this post, though. After doing some reading, all it seems that I need to do, if everything turns out good after I take them apart, is get the o-ring kit from cycleorings.com, a couple float bowl gaskets, and some hoses (fuel feed, petcock vacuum, vent). I'll just take them apart, and soak them in some acetone overnight, brush them off, let them dry, and stick them back in. Basically, I want to make sure that this is the correct course of action, that won't lead to redundant work that I've got to do later on.

I removed the carbs tonight, they seem to be fairly clean inside, and the sliders move fine and arent' stuck. When I move the sliders up, and block the elongated hole at the top of the inlet port with my thumb, the sliders stay there, taking approximately 15 seconds to return to their normal "closed" state, so I think the CV boot thingys are fine.

Here are three pictures that I took, just to get opinions from the esteemed gurus who know a heck of a lot more than I do about this stuff...

Click for larger image (1024x768)

Airbox side:


Engine side:


Engine side with butterflies open:



Thanks for your time!
--sarge

[oldschoolorange]

If soaking the carbs was all you ever had to do life would be so much easier lol. Best bet is to dismantle everything, clean out all the small passages with very thin wire and compressed air then soak them for a day or 2 and make sure all your passages are still clear, using compressed air is much easier than cleaning them and then having to take them apart to clean them again

[SgtRauksauff]

Thanks!

I was planning on dismantling them before soaking them, since there's some non-metallic parts in there that wouldn't do well with the soaking. I saw the wirebrush/match method in the cleanup guide, but I was thinking of using the cleaner wires for my oxy-acetylene torch, if they're small enough.

Compressed air is a good idea, at first I was thinking of just letting them air dry, but with the compressed air, I can blow out any leftover bits of gunk too.

--sarge

[oldschoolorange]

Really be careful of using the torch tip cleaners as they are harder than the aluminum and you do not want to be reaming any holes that are used for metering the fuel

[Steve]

I am not sure about using acetone on the carbs. Might be OK, I just don't know for sure.

Berryman's carb dip is only about $15 for a gallon can with a basket.
You know it's the right stuff and you only have to buy it once.
The instructions say to dip for 15-30 minutes. I prefer 15-30 hours.

As for cleaning the little holes, I use a strand of wire from a 16- or 18-gauge wire. If the hole is big enough, I might twist 2 or 3 strands together. The copper wire is not going to hurt either the aluminum carb body or the brass jets. Follow up the poking with a spray of carb cleaner and compressed air. Use safety glasses, some of the holes you spray into lead to passages that point right back at you. :shock:


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[mcan]

If you're going to replace the fuel lines, I would install an inline fuel filter as well. I'd hate to see all your work foiled by some rust particles that may be in the tank particularly after sitting for 6 years.

[Steve]

If you do install an in-line fuel filter, make sure it is rated for a gravity-fed fuel system. Most that you find in an auto parts store are made for pressure-fed systems in cars. Get one for a large lawnmower, probably a tractor-type.


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