need a little mechanical help with my new 87

I've been called lots of things...but that's a FIRST! : - ))

Ohhhh, you must be talking about Kristen Bell. Definitely a hot blonde!!!:xxx:

Sorry to burst your bubble... but here is a picture of me on my '83 V45 Magna 'bout 8 years ago...

 

What the hell? Couldn't you let me dream!?

 

I fixed a similar problem last week

On my 1986 VFR. Turns out it was the needle valve not closing. It kept fuel flowing to the intake and ran like shit below 5000 rpm. The little screens fell off that filter the needle valves. When I removed the carbs, there was raw gas filling up the intake!

Check those needle valve that the floats connect with for gunk.

 

I gotta chime in here.

I have lots of carburetors in pieces in my shop. How did I get them? I took them apart and most of them were destroyed by the lovely process of galvanic corrosion. This only happens when you shut the metal off to atmosphere. This can be accomplished by leaving your petcock on and letting the bowls dry and fill and dry and fill. The end result is what looks like some fine molasses and has the consistency of violin bow rosin. This crap is a great sealant for the metal. Once the metal gets cut off from the air. Ions start to jump around and the metal changes on the elemental level, meaning that it is no longer metal.. The bowls on some of the carbs were absolutely level and solid with the gunk and I had float towers melted off. But id don't think that you are at that point so don't let me scare you. I digress. Basically, I have a lot of time polishing turds in to some thing that works. What you have is a clogged idle jet. It has a VERY small hole in it probably around .010-.012" What you need a special tool that I'm going to let everyone know about. I discovered this "tool" awhile ago and I'll give you some history. When I was 17 years old I started playing guitar. When I was 8 years old I was with my dad handing him the correct wrench when he was cursing under the car or truck. I have been turning wrenches for many years now and not under the pressure of making money at it. If I got it wrong it didn't matter; I just fixed it again. No big deal.
Your problem with a bike that only runs when choked is a clogged idle jet. You probably have other jets that are clogged with the scum that I described earlier and you have to clean them too. Now here's the tricked out "tool' that you and everyone who delves in to carbs need to have in their box. One day I put my music and wrenching together when I was looking for my torch tip cleaners that I never found....
Go to your local guitar shop and buy a set of electric guitar strings. They are about 3 feet of hardened steel wire that is cheap and easily replaceable . They come in many sizes. You will ask the long haired, pierced-lip, Led Zepplin clad, dirt ball behind the counter for a set of "Tens" the smallest string in the pack will mic out to .010". The largest in the pack will mic out to be .046". There are six strings in a pack and the larger ones are wound with bronze or nickel. These are great for those holes that seem to be plugged and will dive through the scum like a cutting torch. Don't be afraid to heat your jets up a bit but let them cool off before you pick them up. This will burn the edges of the scum inside the little hole and let you get the string through. Put your string in to a set of small vise grips and that will let you control them a bit better than if your were to just hold on them. Your idle jet is the one that will only accept you small drill bit part of the way. The inside of this jet is stepped; having two diameters of hole in it. The end that screws in to the carb will have the smallest hole. The other end will have the size hole that will accept your drill bit. Just heat up the jet a bit and push the .010" wire through. When you get it through, spray it with some brakecleaner. This stuff dissolves scum pretty well and fast. I am partial to the flammable kind since it works as emergency starting fluid. It's also great for stinging insects, it kills them dead. Now clean everything with the strings. The emulsion tube will have a bunch of holes that go perpendicular to the length of the jet. Make sure all of them are clean. IF YOU FIND YOUR GETTING BRASS FLAKES FROM YOUR WORK, STOP. You are using way too much force. If you snap a jet in half trying to push a wire through, stop there as well. The larger strings that are wound are great for the larger jets like the mains. They have a wire-file quality but them don't really remove metal since the hardness of brass and bronze is closer than that of steel and brass. Good luck with the carbs.
The other thing I want to mention is a trick I got from my girlfriend. She was a Honda mechanic for 5 years with her own business in the Bay Area. She has spent lot's of time resurrecting old bike from the rust heap. She was the cheapest shop in town and what that gets you is a customer base with no money. No money means a lot of bike that were found out behind garages and otherwise neglected.....
Take all of your electrical connections apart at their plastic clips connectors and hose them with WD-40. Next plug them back together. take them apart again. Put them back together. Wash, rinse, repeat. What you are doing is re-establishing metal to metal contact. This works wonders for continuity. Continuity is good. Your original post had all of the signs of needing this. No spark and so on. It is not a miracle cure and burned out is burned out, but usually it eliminates any guess work as far as electrical. Remember, continuity is good. It will also be a good thing down the road. If you somehow, out of nowhere, suddenly have spark, or headlights or right turn signal or whatever then your bike needs this treatment. Any splice in an electrical circuit is 99% of the time a cause of problem. It's a good idea to take your switches apart and spray them and work them as well. The WD-40 treatment is part of my spring regimen of re-awakening all of my bikes.
Ok, enough of my mental blather. I hope that you can get some good reading or good laughs by reading this. Hopefully, It will help someone other than my pathetic self.-----S

 

Dream???

Here ya' go! Keep dreamin!!

 

Hey Seidts,
Is that your 1975 CB400F SS??

Man those bikes are fun. Some people don't believe a 75' super sport can take a intersection at 38mph with the driver pretty much dragging knees!!!

Who's ever that is, I hope they don't sell it. I'll never sell my 2 unless or course I find a 77' CB750F SS : )

Cheers,
-LL

 

Hey Loops
Yes that is mine The other one in the background in pieces is my sweeties. It is put back together now as that pic was taken this spring. I have the blue '75 and she has a maroon '77. They are all stock except for the straight bars on the '75. And yes, for all of you non-believers out there, they put skid pads on the bottom of the pegs and yes they get used other than when they get tired and lay down. Hey Loops, did you know that there were only 5060 '77 models imported in to the US? I think that it makes them kind of rare, don't you? The '75 came to me trough a friend for SHORT money and I gave it to my girl. After taking it apart I thought to myself that I need one so I found her a '77 and took the '75 back. I set out on a mission to find the '77 this winter and after a few months of searching everyday on the internet and local papers, I finally found one in Boston. The rest of the story was just grease and lots of steel wool.