removing carbs: disconnecting the cables from carb body?

OK I've got a great deal of help from the manual, and especially from the help I've got from this forum. I have the carb body separated from the engine, I couldn't get the boots to release without prying a little bit while I heaved. I'm now at the step where I'm supposed to disconnect the cables from the clutch & throttle. Problem is, for the life of me I can't figure out what or where they are, or how to disconnect them! Could someone please guide me through this, hopefully with pictures, so I can finally pull the carb body out of the bike and start cleaning varnish?!!

 

At the base of the carbs - bottom of the pic you posted - you see a cable end with an adjusting nut and securing nut on it. There should also be the second throttle cable on that mechanism. I loosen both cable securing nuts and then rotate the throttle "wheel" so the cable has slack. You can then remove the end from where it attaches to the throttle "wheel". The choke cable is located at the top of the carbs and there is a smmall bracket that hold the cable end in place. Loosen that and then you can remove the cable end from where it attaches to the choke "arm". Each of those cable attachment points is slotted on one side to allow the cable end to be inserted or removed. Take a look at it. It should be fairly clear.

 

It is best to remove cables before pulling the carbs off. Last step is pull carbs off.Monkey with it, but on install just install the carbs and after seated connect the rest.

 

OK good news and bad news. I found the cable connections that I needed to unscrew to detach the carb body. I removed the choke cable from the front side of the carb body, it came off like a charm. My problem: the two screws I need to unscrew to remove the throttle cables have had their heads stripped, leaving nothing for my screwdriver to grip... it seems one of the previous owers didn't think anyone would need to remove them again! any suggestions?! Thanks for your advice.

 

+1 to motorhead, reread his post.

Don't remove the pulley, remove the cables from the pulley. You should be loosening the locknuts for the cables (10mm wrench), not screws.

 

:redface: It all makes sense now

Thank you all!

 

Also don't remove the cable holder and idle screw from the carbs.....

 

I Got It!!!!

arty2: I just sat there and looked at the carb body, so close to being removed from the bike, but held onto by three cables. I could tiwst the carb body up and to the right so I could see real well what was holding it back. I just looked, relaxed, and... went inside for a cup of coffee. Having given up, I started thinking of other things. And then, just as I was thinking of God-knows-what, it came to me! Although that's rather a weak way of putting it... it hit me like the starship enterprise coming to a sudden stop from warp factor 9, 1" away from my nose. I went back out, an lo, it looked like it made sense. ha HA!

So I took the carb body over to my work bench and (having studied up and learning form other, more experienced bikers, mostly from an organization known as V.G.Y. (vfrworld, google, youtube).) with my tools and supplies at hand, took the first float body apart. Here are the photos, one is from before, and one is after. I took out the two jets, took the main jet apart, took out the float valve body, took it apart, cleaned it all with carb cleaner and a clean utility toothbrush from my gun cleaning kit. The brass was all black-green; it was horrible! I soaked the jets and valve in a cup of carb cleaner, and kept working at them until I could see light through them, and blow air through (and until all the green-black stuff was gone). At the end, I put it all back together with NO extraneous parts left over!

Thanks all of you who helped me figure this out along the way. :thumbsup:

 

It looks much better. A couple things though.

Sorry for the buzzkill but as dirty as those 'taters' were from the second picuture and your description of cleaning, I'm not sure the cleaning is adequate. It may run OK...but I wouldn't doubt you still have some crap, partial clogging going on. Just seeing light through the jets isn't enough. To be sure (maybe it's just my eyesight), I have to look through with light and magnification, and see the shiny edges of the jet holes. Also mixture screws and tops must be removed, air bleeds verified...many potential issues when the carbs are THAT varnished. Good luck.

You should definitely replace those float bowl o-rings, they're really flattened out.

 

I must say that the description of my cleaning process isn't very accurate; I was very painstakingly detailed in getting ALL the crud out, I didn't use magnification but I kept working and soaking the jets till I could easily see a perfectly round hole. For a long time it wouldn't be perfectly round, and I would know there was more gunk in there. I sprayed compressed air through all holes, and I'm confident it will run cleanly (once I get the other three done!).

I've decided to also get new gaskets for the carbs. The only source I've found, however, is bikebandit.com and the such. They want to sell me a gasket kit for 44 bucks, and that's one kit per carb. Do you know any better sources than this, even if it's just for the float bowl gaskets? Thanks for your reply.

 

Good job...attention to detail is everything in carbs. I get a break from the dealer I work for so I don't look around for parts. I know there's alot VF500 carb threads on this forum. You may want to repost with that question. Good luck.

 

Ebay, lookup billy carr he is fngster has great vf500f vf750f vf100f kits. Chris

 

Good job there !!

Dija clean the small filters located above the float needle seats ??

When reinstalling cables, be sure each has a bit of slack, and check for freeplay at throttle grip.