85 Vf500 idle/choke issues?

OK. Starting carb tear down tonight. I assume, since it's bone stock, that the sizes are whatever Mr. Honda-san put in there in '85, but I'll check it against the service manual...

 

Don't be surprised or alarmed if it's not per the manual. There were some TSB's that required changing the main and/or pilot jets. Just because they are not stock does not necessarily indicate a problem.

 

holy crap this thread is already making my head spin so many theorys so little time, this might help you out go to #22 on that page




http://users.rcn.com/kochc/moto/carb/carb.html

http://vfrworld.com/forums/first-se...1989/25646-having-some-wierd-bike-issues.html

 

Update:
Turned tank back on. Started bike (while holding throttle...choke still won't work). Tapped float bowl with screwdriver handle. Still leaking. Dried it with towel, and saw it leaking between the float bowl and carb body on #1 cylinder. No choices left. Removed carb bank.

Removed #1 float bowl. Saw gasket was cut in half in one place, and nearly cut through in another. Gasket is hardened and dry. Removed all float bowls. All other float bowls have intact, yet very flattened gaskets/o-rings.

Sprayed carb cleaner down into each enrichner tube with straw. 3 of them did not back up on me when filling tube, but one did. After a few more sprays, none backed up on me. Might have been gunk in one.

Heard/read that the o-rings/gaskets for the '85 v-4 magna (V30?) are the same size/shape as the 85 vf500. Both are 2mm x 73mm apparently. Bought some o-rings that size. They're cheap, and worth a try. If not, I'll go ahead and get the whole kit.

Double checked upon disassembly: all 4 choke carb plungers are extending to the max. Choke cable was tight, and extending fully. Screw on cable holder arm was tight. Arm was moving full reach.

After the bowls are tight, if it's NOT the enrichner tubes, I'm @ a loss on this one.

I'll keep you all posted...

 

BTW, what a damn japanese jigsaw puzzle it is getting the bowls off, once the screws are removed.

Also, it seems like the longest straight edge of the bowls, when it's on the carbs and viewed from above, curves inward a bit. IOW, the bowl edge and the carb body edge are not straight in a line together. Design flaw, I suppose.

 

Will do. Thanks for the tip. BTW, if this AIN't it, any other ideas while I have the carbs out?

 

Oh...since there isn't any way to tell if the enricher tubes are clean, you just blow cleaner, then air thru them, and call them done?

 

Cool. I've got the Motion Pro tuner stix all lined up & ready to go. And I'll feel for the air from the varying orifices. Haven't done that in quite a while.

Are we still talking about bikes?

 

+1 to tinkerinWstuff's posts...he is right on the money.

I also agree that the early shop manuals are not to be trusted in regards to jet numbers and locations (on the V4's). I've come across mistakes and info that is omitted or presented in a very confusing way. I usually try to find two legit sources that agree. I've also seen enough V4's with front and rear jetting turned around to realize it doesn't make a HUGE difference.

Aside from the methods described for verifying those pesky starter jet circuits, I've used a method similar to what you did with a straw...only I use a clear hose, put it over the starter jet and fill it with carb cleaner. It should drain shortly, if it doesn't it's definitely plugged. It's also important to verify the air bleeds described by TWstuff. If everything is open, if you spray carb cleaner in any part of the circuit and hit it with compressed air, watch carefully and it should send a jet out all the other parts.

The hole size of those starter jets is a bit bigger than the pilot jet. Since it's only used for starting the size isn't as crucial as the slows...naturally you wouldn't want to drill it out...but I think it's fair game to strip a wire, pull out a strand and run it through to help clean it. Just don't break it off in there.

 

I've got #90 main jets in all 4 carbs. I've got #35 pilot jets in all 4 carbs. The SM tells me #90 is correct for my 85 model, but I don't see a listing for the pilot jets. Does #35 sound right all the way across?

Made another run with carb cleaner, working the choke bar, and then air. Getting a nice whistling sound from all 4 tubes now that sounds consistent. Gonna clean them once more when my o-rings go in. Probably tomorrow.

 

'85 carburetor specifications

Sounds right.

 

Well, I'll be damned. You guys know your shite. Case in point: I re-read the answers here, and saw Dizzy's post about using clear tubing over the enricher tube to verify it being clean. I've got a bunch of clear tubing, so I just ran out in the garage and tried it.

#1 & #2 carbs: Connected clear tube, filled it with a couple squirts of carb cleaner (doesn't take much to get an inch or more in the tube) and watched it slowly leave the tube. Awesome. Did this 2 or 3 times.

#3 and #4 carbs: It fills and....stays. Doesn't go down at all. I worked the choke lever a bunch, and saw some very small bubbles from the #4 carb, and even a bit of trash/gunk floated up into the tube, but it didn't go down at all in either carb. So I let it sit and I'll see it that helps, then fire up the air again.

Right when I was thinking I was home free. Damn you guys and your collective genius...

 

Well, I've put about 100 miles on it after the carbs were cleaned and before I figured out the choke lever wasn't working like it should. And I didn't have any issues when surging while driving (I'm guessing that's what you mean here).

The tamper-proof caps were gone when I got the bike. I put new o-rings on the pilot screws when I was hoping that was the cause of it not idling at all when off choke when I got the bike. I had them @ 2.5 turns out, but recently went to 2.0 turns to see it that helped the choke lever situation.

But yeah, after weeks of having it idle @ 2700 if at all, after I got them cleaned it started right up @ 1500 RPMs. A little touch of the idle screw put it right @ 1300.

 

its called collective physcosis....... because we are all mentally unstable our minds work in strange but magnificant ways.............

 

Glad you guys have room for one more then...