carb trouble

[slaveoffate]

I have a '99 500 bullet, and am having carb troubles. The bike sat for a year or so, now it won't start and stay running. Are there any special tricks to cleaning the carb?

[c1skout]

  If you've never cleaned one before I'd suggest taking it to a friend who has and let them teach you. If you don't know anyone who can help I'd suggest removing the carb from the bike and preparing a clean area to work. I like to use old newspaper to set everything out on. Those jets can dissapear quickly. Remove the float bowl and float being careful not to lose the needle valve. The pilot jet (the small one down in the hole) screws out. I have a screwdriver that I ground down to just fit in the carb body for this one. If it is tight to turn and won't come out with a small screwdriver STOP and get a screwdriver that fits the jet well before you ruin it. They are a pain to drill out once they are stripped. The needle jet is the large one in the center of the carb. It has a nut inside the float chamber that secures it. Remove the nut and the jet will push up through the carb top where the slide goes. Make sure you don't misplace the washer on this jet, without it the jet will lift into the throttle bore and make your bike run super-rich. (ask me how I know) Once you have it apart be sure to spray all the tiny little passages and holes with spray-can carb cleaner. (safety glasses are a plus) Reassemble and ride.

[scoTTy]

yea this new gas turns to shellac after a while.. total take apart time sounds like..  or mabe update to the performance carb system

[Thumper]

What c1skout said...

I'd only add that if yours is a CV carb (one with a rubber diaphragm) that you carefully inspect the diaphragm for tears, then soak it in Armor-All for at least 24 hours.

Matt

[dewjantim]

Another good thing to do is to replace the float bowl phillips screws with hex head ones. They are much easier to remove, especially if you spray them with anti-sieze or liquid wrench when reinstalling them. Dew.

[hutch]

Another good thing to do is to replace the float bowl phillips screws with hex head ones. They are much easier to remove, especially if you spray them with anti-sieze or liquid wrench when reinstalling them. Dew.

That is the first thing I do to any bike i have. I hate stripping out the screw head and then have to pull the carb to get it out. I love those allen heads I replace them with.  Hutch

[slaveoffate]

Hey, I pulled the carb off and cleaned it up. I seems to have done the trick. Now I just need to figure out how to fix the shifter return spring. Thanks for the advice.