19/6/2019 DIY Fix Your Motorcycle's Carburetor

Hobbies Cars & Motorcycles

How to Fix a Motorcycle Carburetor

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by John Glimmerveen
Updated May 23, 2019

01 Getting Started
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Photo copyright John H. Glimmerveen

For someone not familiar with working on a carburetor, the notion of dismantling and
xing one can seem daunting. But by following some basic procedures, the task is
relatively simple, and it's very rewarding when the bike runs well afterward.

Before working on a carburetor, you must consider a number of precautions. Safety is

the rst concern. Not only must safety glasses be worn, but safety gloves should be
used at all times, as chemicals within gasoline can cause irritation to the skin.
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19/6/2019 DIY Fix Your Motorcycle's Carburetor

Another precaution is to have the work area well-lit and clean. Cleanliness is
important when undertaking all classic motorcycle mechanical work, but is
particularly important when dealing with carburetors.

Tools

In this case, the tools required are of the basic type. However, screw drivers in
particular must be in as-new condition as they will be used to remove brass jets, and
these can easily be damaged if the driver does not locate well.

Typical Tool Requirements:

Screw drivers, straight blade and cross head (sizes one and two)

Standard and metric socket sets

Steel rule (with metric and standard measurement)

Chemicals: WD40 or its equivalent, carburetor cleaner

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02 Removing the Carburetor

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John H. Glimmerveen

The carburetor is generally retained by two bolts or a circular clamp on the inlet
manifold. You should rst turn o the main fuel supply and drain the oat chamber
(some carburetors have a small screw in the chamber base with a hose for this
purpose - see 'A'). On most carburetors, it is easier to remove the control cable and
slide (B) after the carburetor has been removed from the engine.

Starting the Disassembly

Remove oat chamber. The rst part of the disassembly process (assuming the slide
has already been removed) is to remove the oat chamber.

Turning the carburetor upside-down, you will normally see four screws retaining the
oat chamber (some units have three screws and others a wire clip). Once the screws
have been removed, the chamber will require a sharp tap with the plastic handle of a
screw driver to loosen it from the gasket.

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03 Removing the Floats

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Removing the oat pivot. Photo copyright John H. Glimmerveen

With the oat chamber removed, you'll be able to see: the main jet, oats, primary jet
(also known as the pilot jet), and over ow pipe. As the oats are somewhat delicate,
they should be removed rst.

The oats can be made from either plastic or brass. The later types are prone to
leaking; you should inspect them after removal to ensure they do not contain
gasoline. The oats should pivot freely on a pressed-in pin (typically tted to Mikuni
and Keihin carburetors). Great care should be taken when removing this pin as the
aluminum stand that retains it is susceptible to breaking (support one side when
tapping the pin out).

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04 Removing and Cleaning Jets

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19/6/2019 DIY Fix Your Motorcycle's Carburetor

John H. Glimmerveen

The majority of classic bike carburetors will utilize a two-jet system. The primary jet
(A) controls fuel ow from idle to one-third throttle openings and the main jet (B) the
remaining two thirds.

Due to its relative small size, the primary jet often gets blocked or restricted and this
will cause a lean (insu cient gasoline) running condition in the early throttle opening
period. Typically the bike will need a small amount of choke to overcome, or negate,
this problem: the x is to thoroughly clean the jet or replace it altogether.

05 Air Adjusting Screw

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Note the position of the air adjusting screw before removal. Photo copyright John H.
Glimmerveen

One other item to be removed from the carburetor body is the air or fuel adjusting
screw. To identify which type is tted to a particular carburetor, you can examine the
screw's relative location to the slide. If the screw is on the air lter side of the slide, it
is an air adjusting screw; conversely, if it is tted to the engine side, it is a fuel
adjusting screw.

Observe the Screw Position.

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This tapered screw a ects the mixture strength (rich or lean)  during the rst third of
the throttle opening and works in conjunction with the primary jet. Before removal,
you must check the screw's position. The screw will be set at a number of turns from
fully closed (turned all the way in: clockwise), and should be put back to this position
upon reassembly.

06 Cleaning and Reassembly

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Clean and inspect

Having removed all of the component parts from the carburetor body, you should
clean and inspect each one. In addition, every hole in the carburetor body must be
ushed out with carburetor cleaner and blown through with compressed air (eye
protection must be worn during this procedure as uid and/or dirt particles will be
ejected from the various holes/drillings).

Reassemble

Reassembly is simply a reversal of the disassembly process; however, before the oat
chamber is reattached the oat heights must be checked. As discussed in the
diagnosis stage, the oat height setting will a ect the mixture and the condition of
the engine. The height can be adjusted by lightly bending the small metal tang that
applies pressure to the needle valve. Bending the tang toward the valve will cut o the
fuel delivery into the chamber sooner, and therefore reduce the fuel height. A
workshop manual will detail the required height which is measured (with the
carburetor inverted) from the gasket face to the top of the oats using a ruler.

Protecting the Parts

All parts should be coated with WD40 (or its equivalent) before reassembly. If the
carburetors are not going to be re tted to the bike for some time (during a renovation,
for instance) they should be placed in plastic bags for storage.

Fine Tuning Advertisement

After overhauling the carburetor, it is often necessary to ne tune the air adjusting
screw. With the carburetor reattached and the engine started, you must allow the
engine to warm to normal working temperatures before making any adjustments.
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