Carb separation

[franco6]

 Took the cabs off the 99 interstate to address a leak on the fuel rail on the side of three, between it and six. going with caution as I can see springs flying every where 
wondering what the best way to go before diving in. 

[Ricky-D]

This is not a new suggestion, but many have said to take a lot of pictures and be sure they show the linkages and the springs clearly on the carburetors because that was their main problem in reassembling the carburetors. Meaning the relationship of the springs and where they nestle in the linkage.

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[Bone]

Wow how did Ricky D reply at 5:02:05 PM ?

OK now I know.

[da prez]

  Do only one bank at a time. Only a pro would attempt to tear down both sides at the same time.

                                  da prez

[franco6]

oops ,the leak is between 3 and 5 of course but i need to change all the o rings anyway! 

[9Ball]

Just label everything and keep all parts for individual carbs together.  I use aluminum pans and label them.  Redeyetech has his total carb overhaul kit which provides a lot of good instructions.  Between the repair kit and the Honda service manual it is a rather easy job.  Go slow, take pictures if you need to, and make sure everything is spotless. Other than some sockets and JIS screwdrivers, a mity vac is needed.

I did the complete overhaul last summer and did a spare set of carbs this spring to keep for an easy swap should I need it in the future.  My one recommendation is to replace the jets and float valves with new, rather than cleaning your old ones.

[Bagger John - #3785]

+1 on the above.

I use a set of Tupperware bowls with lids to house each individual carb, plus a large rectangular plastic casserole w/lid to store the larger parts as I work on the carbs.

[franco6]

just ordered the red eye kits for the fuel and air joints.The bike was running great before the gas leak.I suspect the over generous use of magic potions in the fuel thank-i.e - fuel carb cleaners- is the reason for the failure of the rings. After the unfortunate slide onto HWY 10 the bike sat last winter while all was replaced or repainted.To the point where it would not start (turns out the replacement fuel tank had been coated inside and the breathing hole was plugged!)
Never the less it had taken a few techron, sea foam one or two more to get going before.
The winter is starting and one more time to work on the I/S; meanwhile the ST is waiting on the bench!
Thanks for the tips and the push to just do it!

[Morse]

I might be a bit late to the game with this but I replaced the joiner tube o-rings last month (bought a 98 std that had sat outside for 4 yrs, o-rings crumbled when I pulled the tubes ).

I found that after removing the center linking bar, the two brackets, and the cable that connects the banks for choke it was easiest to just pry one carb off at a time.  From there pull the joiner tubes out, change the o-rings and swap from steel to plastic dowels then put everything back together before starting on the next carb.

Line up the tubes(make sure they point towards the center in the correct alignment, they won't spin 360 once together), get all the springs in the right spots, and reconnect the carb bank by putting the 2 long bolts back through the whole bank and tightening them back together evenly.  Really watch that the tubes stay aligned when you do this, it would realllyyy suck to crack one of those tubes, might not be a bad idea to put some wd-40 or something safe for the rings on to make sure the rings don't snag going in.

Once seated the o-rings and new dowels will hold the finished carb on fine while you operate on the other side.  You can pull the bolts back out and start prying the other carb off. I used muffin tins to hold all the little pieces in between and found it much easier to keep track and to re-assemble when doing just one set of tubes at a time.

To pry apart I used the wooden handle of a hammer between the carbs to start (very gentle, slow and careful) then put coins in where the long bolt runs through and gave them some gentle twists, starting with dimes and working up, used loads of penetrating oil too.  I had the luxury of not worrying about little scratches. The bike looks pretty rough already from sitting outside and maybe encountering an angry girlfriend (gauges busted, engine covers keyed, much spilled dot 4). Couldn't do much to make it look worse. Some sort of plastic shim would no doubt be safer than coins.

Might be a good idea to inspect the short air cut-off lines and possibly change those o-rings while it's already apart, mine were splitting and I had to throw in some new vacuum lines.  Much easier procedure with the carbs apart. 

At any rate this got me through it and in the end my sieve of a carb bank is leak free!

[luftkoph]

Just did the whole Red-Eye to the bike I bought this past spring, It's always had a slight gasoline smell around the carburetors.

Yes getting them separated was a bit tedious, as well as getting all the springs in, the airbox install was easy, a little bit of NAPA sil-glyd on the runners helps, compared to an airbox on an in-line 4 this thing is gravy.

shot all the passages with carb cleaner then blasted with air, then in the ultra sonic at 50c for 18 min. with simple green HD  way diluted, then all passages blown out again.

all of the Orings in the fuel rails were deteriorated and had yellow crust on them, and every air cut hose was cracked.