Throttle body plate removal?

[pago cruiser]

Seems I have spent too long on my sidecar install, and although I was starting and running old girl once a month, throttle response has slowly gotten worse in the last six months.  Started it up last weekend, and the entire right bank was running crappy.  Pulled/tested the plugs, and it looks like good spark.  So as nothing else has changed, I'm guessing it's the f'ing ethanol evaporating and leaving the crap residue behind.

Pulled the carbs and started dismembering over the course of an hour after work each day.  Have one (almost) fully down, and that yellow/green tinge is f'ing everywhere.  1/8" thick in the carb bowl bottoms, etc etc. ^$#@!~   I really wish some smart-ass lawyer would sue the EPA over the true cost of all this ethanol crap...  I'd gladly chip in $100.

I have cleaned several other bikes carbs, and in those, if they were bad enough to soak in the gallon pail, I puled the throttle body butterfly plate.  The reason is that these (on most bikes) typically have O-rings/plastic washes sealing the plate shaft to the throttle body.  I have never been comfortable soaking rubber parts in carb cleaner, so I have ALWAYS pulled all rubber parts.

BUT - the Valk carb body to butterfly valve shaft seal is plugged on one end, and covered by some of the throttle linkage on the other.  Did a few searches, and no one seems to have discussed these? Do folks just dip the carb body in the carb cleaner and not worry about the shaft seals? 

Did a check on Partzilla, and they do not even show the butterfly plate, the shaft, or seals.  WTF?

I'm guessing this is one of those new-fangled "sealed for life" things, that works great until it doesn't???  Then you just buy a new one?

[98valk]

I'm guessing it's the f'ing ethanol evaporating and leaving the crap residue behind.

  I really wish some smart-ass lawyer would sue the EPA over the true cost of all this ethanol crap...  I'd gladly chip in $100.

actually it is not the ethanol, it is the low, low refined grade gasoline that they now get away with using due to the high octane ethanol content. the gasoline part will degrade within a month, unless a stabilizer is used. Ethanol evaps/boils at 173F.
so they are sticking it to us at both ends. Yea!
all my gas vehicles get stabilizer just about every fill up, unless I know I will be running that bike a lot.
EPA charter gives them complete power, the answer to no one, as put in power by Nixon. the only control there is are the purse strings by congress, but they are in on it also with the un. our leaders have been promised much at the people's expense.

And I would check which parts cleaner u are using for o-ring/seal safety, some cleaners are stronger that others. maybe look into ultrasonic carb cleaning to be on the safe side.