Clogged carbs

[Bobfromswohio]

Just bought 2000 Valkyrie with 17k. Been sitting for over 2years. Carbs seem clogged. Any ideas for clearing them out without soak and rebuild?  Honda quoted price of $800 to do this. Any and all "reasonable" suggestions appreciated.

[WintrSol]

What is the indication that the carbs are clogged? Does it start on choke, but not idle? Run rough? No start at all?

[sandy]

I just bought a valk that ran bad when I had it shipped to me. The first tank I put in had 3 gallons and a full can of Seafoam. Subsequent tanks were full with 1/2 can of Berryman's B12. Six tanks later it finally runs pretty good.

[gordonv]

I just bought a valk that ran bad when I had it shipped to me. The first tank I put in had 3 gallons and a full can of Seafoam. Subsequent tanks were full with 1/2 can of Berryman's B12. Six tanks later it finally runs pretty good.

+1

Honda quoted price of $800 to do this.

I have heard more people say their quote was closer to $1500 for the 6 carbs. I would be cautious, I don't think it's real. But then, I would never do it.

If the bike can run, then you can do the carb cleaner in the fuel. Techron and B12 is stronger, 1/2 a can to half a tank of fresh gas. Have the rpms in the range that is running rough. 1-3 cans, should be running better. Time and driving it should do the rest.

If no improvement, then I would remove the carbs and send them off to someone who you know can fix them, and I believe there is about 3 on this site that can do it, and that I would trust to do it right. You can do it yourself, and can learn everything you need from search and asking questions. There is even a video on how-to.

[Gabriel]

I did not have any luck running B12 through the carbs.
I rebuilt them just last month;

[oldsmokey]

I did not have any luck running B12 through the carbs.
I rebuilt them just last month;


[/quote

I can SEE the most valuable tool on the bench, certainly makes things easier.  Just got one myself a few months ago, even got the optional drop down lens that is quite nice.  I think my arms have gotten shorter with age Cleaners are good but I believe opening them up and soaking is needed for machines that may not have the life of good weather and regular use that would always keep fresh fuel in there. Even the age alone of these bikes has got to be a contributing factor of some sort.

[Gavin_Sons]

You will be time and money ahead by just pulling them and dling a manual clean. It seems intimidating but really is not. Youtube valkyrie carb clean. A guy has a series of videos you can follow. 

[davit]

I agree with the above posts, I tried two months and a couple hundred bucks worth of Berrymans with the prescribed low rpms and had no luck.  Pulling the carbs revealed severely restricted slow jets.  But by all means start with carb cleaner you may get lucky.

[Kevin Valk]

Good luck with getting them cleaned. I bought mine back in Oct 2016 with 57,000 miles. It ran ok, but I new it needed the carbs cleaned. I ran more than a dozen cans of seafoam and B12 through it, and it did not seem to help much. I had the carbs cleaned Feb 2017 for around $450. It runs at least 40% stronger. Before, it would struggle uphill from 75mph to accelerate in 5th gear, and was sluggish on low end.

Now, this thing climbs to 100+ with no trouble - quickly. I would ask around for a better price. $800 seems awfully high.

[da prez]

In my opinion , $800.00 at a dealer is cheap. I will bet that they will not do a tear down , clean and rebuild. It will not happen. They will pull the bowls and do a surface cleaning and blow out what will come loose. There are very few dealers that have mechanics that do carbs. Most everything is fuel injected.
  If you are hesitant , contact the atticrat. they are done right the first time. He does a total tear down and cleaning with an ultra-sonic cleaner. Yes , I do carbs , but he is the best.

                                     da prez

[Paladin528]

Make your self a Hose like this.


And buy yourself a can of this

Remove the nozzle on the can and place the small end over the remaining piece (whatever you call it.
Then insert the larger end inside the fuel line where it connects to the petcock.
Drain all of your Carb bowls.
Close the drains.
Push on the small end of the hose for about 10 seconds to allow cleaner to get into the carbs.
Wait about 20 seconds and repeat.  The pause is because the cleaner foams up.
keep doing this until cleaner starts to exit the vents on the Carb Rack.  CLEAN IT UP QUICKLY AS IT WILL EAT THE PAINT OFF THE ENGINE. (don't ask me how I know).
Now let the bike sit for 12-24 hours. It takes time to work.
Don't worry about the rubber bits as none of them are touched in this procedure and this stuff does not harm rubber o-rings and the like. I tested it.

Now the fun part.  This cleaner does not burn worth a crap.  you can either drain the bowls at this point or just hook the fuel line back up and try to get it running.  I pretty much guarantee you will kill the battery before you can make it run, but it will eventually and it will run like CRAP.
But not to worry it will sputter, cough, choke and puke and most definitely SMOKE. DO NOT TRY TO RIDE IT OR EVEN REV IT.  Just let it run.
It will do this for almost 30 minutes and then the MAGIC happens.
it will smooth out and clean up and will run like she was meant to, smooth and strong.

This stuff works wonders. It puts Berrymans and Seafoam to Shame.

The inside of your carbs will look like new if you pull em apart after you are done.

This method was handed to me from a great mechanic and the only one other than myself I would trust to work on my bike.  and it WORKS.

[Hook#3287]

Make your self a Hose like this.


And buy yourself a can of this

Remove the nozzle on the can and place the small end over the remaining piece (whatever you call it.
Then insert the larger end inside the fuel line where it connects to the petcock.
Drain all of your Carb bowls.
Close the drains.
Push on the small end of the hose for about 10 seconds to allow cleaner to get into the carbs.
Wait about 20 seconds and repeat.  The pause is because the cleaner foams up.
keep doing this until cleaner starts to exit the vents on the Carb Rack.  CLEAN IT UP QUICKLY AS IT WILL EAT THE PAINT OFF THE ENGINE. (don't ask me how I know).
Now let the bike sit for 12-24 hours. It takes time to work.
Don't worry about the rubber bits as none of them are touched in this procedure and this stuff does not harm rubber o-rings and the like. I tested it.

Now the fun part.  This cleaner does not burn worth a crap.  you can either drain the bowls at this point or just hook the fuel line back up and try to get it running.  I pretty much guarantee you will kill the battery before you can make it run, but it will eventually and it will run like CRAP.
But not to worry it will sputter, cough, choke and puke and most definitely SMOKE. DO NOT TRY TO RIDE IT OR EVEN REV IT.  Just let it run.
It will do this for almost 30 minutes and then the MAGIC happens.
it will smooth out and clean up and will run like she was meant to, smooth and strong.

This stuff works wonders. It puts Berrymans and Seafoam to Shame.

The inside of your carbs will look like new if you pull em apart after you are done.

This method was handed to me from a great mechanic and the only one other than myself I would trust to work on my bike.  and it WORKS.

Where did you purchase that carb cleaner.  I did a Google search for "suzuki carburetor cleaner" and it didn't appear.

[Harryc]

Here you go Bill. Might be a Canada only thing? Honda has their name on the same stuff, also Canada only.  https://www.suzuki.ca/en/carb-combustion-chamber-cleaner-385g-aerosol-can-500

Found this on EBay....bet it's the same. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sz-13-oz-Yamalube-Combustion-Chamber-Cleaner-ACC-CMBSN-CL-NR-Motorcycle-Oils-/322105842796?hash=item4aff011c6c:g:hVUAAOSwLEtYhlkb&vxp=mtr

[Hook#3287]

Here you go Bill. Might be a Canada only thing? Honda has their name on the same stuff, also Canada only.  https://www.suzuki.ca/en/carb-combustion-chamber-cleaner-385g-aerosol-can-500

Found this on EBay....bet it's the same. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sz-13-oz-Yamalube-Combustion-Chamber-Cleaner-ACC-CMBSN-CL-NR-Motorcycle-Oils-/322105842796?hash=item4aff011c6c:g:hVUAAOSwLEtYhlkb&vxp=mtr

Thanks Harry, I couldn't make out anything else on the can but "Suzuki",  "Carburetor" and "Cleaner"    and "Carburetor" wasn't even there. 

[Gabriel]

The Valkyrie I bought two months ago had 48K (still does) and was ridden often and as you can see in the pictures the carbs were fairly clean (nothing was cleaned at this point).
Yet this bike had poor low rpm performance because two cylinders were not getting enough fuel.
If you take these carbs apart you will see that they contain some unbelievably small holes particularly in the emulsion tubes that the main jets screw into.
I had to use some 10x magnifiers to even check these holes and never saw anything, plus there was absolutely no gum or varnish in these carbs, maybe three cans of BG additive removed any that was there but I don't think it had any to start with.
Of course I thoroughly cleaned these carbs and obviously there was something restricting one of the passages because it runs great now.
I also added an additional filter because the one in the tank ain't making it!

Note on carburetor synchronization;
Syncing the carbs on a bike that is not running good is a mistake. Syncing is purely a mechanical thing and compensating for a run-ability problem is not the right way.

[Big Ed]

Hello, can anyone provide a photo or any details on the carb cleaningproduct/process described by Padalin528 on this thread. Seems interesting.

Thanks.

[Mooskee]

If you want them fixed correctly, I will do that for you. My price point is the same as the dealer told you. I will rebuild them, ultrasonically clean them. Put them back together with over 150 new parts. Then I put them on my test engine and balance and tune them. If you want more detail, either go to my website www.valkyriecarbsandcustom.com
or contact me at mooskee@valkyriecarbsandcustom.com