Rebuilding carbs

[micalocus541]

This has probably been asked before, but I just recently been given a 1979 Honda Goldwing GL1000, I am trying to rebuild the carbs but every time I find a kit, it has different float needles in the kit.
As I was taking the carbs apart slowly and labeling everything in their own little tote, I realized that the float needles are really long and pointy as too the ones seen in the pictures for the kit, its short an super small..

I guess my question is, are the new smaller ones compatible with my carbs or what, I don't really know what else to do.

[winguyjo]

previous owners get up to some weird stuff. for all we know, he could have put a bunch of lawnmower needles in there. maybe put up a pic of the needles side by side, and advise what carbs you have ... could be from a different year of goldwing.

[micalocus541]

Here are some pictures, let me know if this helps.

[micalocus541]

Will this work out??

[winguyjo]

i wasn't expecting that ...

you are comparing 2 completely different parts, the long slender one is a main jet needle which mounts in the vacuum slider (on the top section of the carb under the vacuum cap).

the short one is the fuel shut-off needle, which is mounted on the float valve (in the bottom section of the carb).

the carb kits that you bought are probably just fine as long as the carbs are the right ones for a '79. if you provide the carb # that is stamped onto the upper side of each carb, someone will be able to tell you whether the carbs are the correct ones for your '79. i think they should be 771a ... but i may be wrong on that.

[micalocus541]

I haven't ordered anything yet, and I apologize for the mistake, this is my first bike, it's definitely been a learning experience, this project is being a alittle difficult but eventually I'll get her running. I have never taken apart a carburetor set up like this one so I'm trying to go slow an make sure to get all the correct parts. But the numbers on the carbs are.

[micalocus541]

So yes you were right. An that's freaking awesome, I have tried going everywhere around to local shops, to Honda, an to auto parts stores an they can't tell me jack diddly on this bike.... Finally somebody knows lol I'm relieved a bit haha

[winguyjo]

cool !

your next move should be to take a look at the bottom, ie. remove the float bowls. this will tell you a lot about the condition of the carbs.

someone is going to tell you ... and i DON'T disagree with them, that randakks kits are the only way to go when rebuilding these carbs. they are way more expensive but the quality is the best. however, their inventory has been a problem recently.

what is the history of this bike ? you might just get away with a good cleaning. removing the float bowls will reveal what needs doing. you are wise to go slow, take pictures, make notes to yourself, read and ask questions.

best rebuilding advice i can give you ... DONT get carb cleaner on any o-rings. DON'T hammer on the float pins to get them out of the float pin towers ... use gentle persuasion and lots of carb cleaner if they are stuck.

[micalocus541]

I haven't used any cleaner for them except wiping them down with alot of rags but I can show picture of the #3 carbs float bowl off.

[micalocus541]

And the history to this bike is, the family has been having a difficult time lately with alot of visits to the ICU( for my father) but anyways some "family" out of no where from my mom's side... That I have never met or knew they existed, well they knew I existed an didnt bother messaging me or my mom till my father was in the hospital... Off track.. ok sorry anyways so that side of the family over heard I was looking for a motorcycle project to be my first bike, an well they ended up letting me know that they had a motorcycle that needed repaired an I could just have it... But the only thing they told me about the bike is that they believe it had a clutch problem of some sort before they parked it... An they had no idea or knowledge of gas going bad in a vehicle could mean the bikes very destruction... But I couldn't argue with being given a motorcycle, regardless of condition but they said it has been parked for almost 10 months. So definitely long enough to clogg the carbs pretty good I'm sure of it and before I pulled the carbs, I checked for spark, before trying to start it, it didn't start up and idle but it did start to fire off but died, so not wanting to kill the starter I waited alittle bit an sprayed a 1 second burst of starter fluid an it came to life an sounded amazing but then died quickly after so I traced it's fuel, from the temporary (plastic bottle) tank which is being gravity fed to the pump and the pump does pump the fuel to the carbs but it basically stopped right their at the carb it didn't go past it or into the carb, an everyone I talked to told me to get ready for a rebuild on the carbs so... Here I am haha

[winguyjo]

those 2 jets are held in only by the friction of the o ring that surrounds each one. the saddle that you are touching is pressed upon by the float bowl when it is installed, thus providing a good hold-own force. to remove, gently work that saddle upwards, a flat screwdriver usually makes a good pry tool here, and it will start to take those jets with it.

[micalocus541]

You were right, I got them out an I think the numbers on them are 120 and 60 with the keikin symbol

[micalocus541]

And also the rubber blanking plug completely turn to dust an I had to get tweezers an pull the pieces out of the little hole

[MattMcCoy]

From what I understand, tolerances and quality on aftermarket carb rebuild kits are not to the same standard as Honda OEM. For that reason, many old-school technicians recommended only replacing the rubber parts and spotlessly cleaning everything else. Anything out of spec should be replaced with original parts.

Here’s a good guide for rebuilding GL1000 carbs and a link to a comprehensive manual:

Guide

https://ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2952

Manual

https://www.motorcycleproject.com/text/ ... _carb.html

[micalocus541]

But thw kit will work though?

[winguyjo]

my answer to that is ... yes, and no.

it seems to be almost unanimously accepted the the oem brass parts that (i assume) you currently have are, with a good cleaning, far superior to anything included in an aftermarket kit. likewise, the rubber bits are deemed to be of inferior quality. the float needles seem to be the worst of the lot.

so, yes, those kits will fit ... but you may wish they hadn't.

if it were my bike, because A) those carbs look pretty good and B) i am cash retentive and C) i have gotten pretty good at removing/installing these things, i would just clean, clean, clean then put them back on the bike and see what happens. HOWEVER ... if you start running into damaged brass or deteriorated rubber, the cheap-skate option must be abandoned.

[micalocus541]

All of the rubber o rings have deteriorated an broken apart and the rubber blanking piece got completely ripped up on 3 of the 4 carbs but I'm letting all the jets soak and I will be doing the very deep clean on all of it, I want to use as much stock parts on then carbs as I can, so I'm hoping to clean them up an they work but I know that something was wrong for sure, 2 or the carbs were completely dry and the other 2 you could tell were getting fuel.

[winguyjo]

so the carbs aren't quite as healthy as they look in the pics. in that case, you might want to go with a kit from randakks. it may seem like a load of money for a small handful of rubber bits but the quality, so far, has been beyond reproach and could save a lot of weeping and gnashing of teeth.

[micalocus541]

I would if I had the spare money, it's why I'm trying to reuse as much as I can, all my jets are in perfect shape... I believe, and I think my main problem was the air jet cover gasket was in very bad shape and like cemented to the sides of it's chamber, stuck in place

[micalocus541]

The area marked, was complete sealed shut... And I believe it was the carb that supplied the rest of the other carbs with fuel.. I'm not 100% on that, I'm still learning

[joecoolsuncle]

But thw kit will work though?

i bought a kit from there IIRC, last year for my boat. the kits were totally junk. the main parts i needed were the float valves which would not screw into the barb bodies because the thread pitch was totally wrong. if someone with less expreience would have tried to screw those valves into the carb, they would have destroyed them! cheap aint saving, you just have to lose that time and money and buy the good stuff anyway!

you know the difference between a motorcycle and an airplane? an airplane gives you more time to scream "oh ****" before you crash in a ball of flames

[Soupcat 1920]

I have two 1975 Goldwings that I have rebuilt the carburetors using Randakk’s kits. Well worth the money because the quality is very good plus they contain more parts overall than the cheaper kits. You get all the o rings and seals to split the air plenum to remove all the carbs to clean them individually. Mine were really bad. They also came with petcock rebuild parts. On a side note, one if them was untitled and was a parts bike. It ran pretty good so I put in the effort required to get a title. One the two had some parts on it from a 1978 wing including the carbs. If you do some reading about it , Honda changed the tune of the 1000s every year so the carbs also changed. Good for you that your carbs are right for your year. Other years will work but aren’t optimal.

[BirdDogICT]

I have rebuilt many of these carbs using Randaak kits. You can't beat the Viton seals, they are impervious to fuel additives, carb cleaners, acid, you name it. Be gentle, and don't be afraid to blow out all of the tiny passages 10-20 time with cleaner and compressed air. The Keihin carb are really well-made, but the idle passages are really tiny. Also, DO NOT use mechanical cleaning on any of the jets, the soft brass is really easy to deform. I use a cheap ultrasonic cleaner from Harbor Freight.

According to your casting number 771A, the carbs are late 78,79. Here are the jet specs for that casting:
Primary Main #60
Secondary Main #120
Idle #35
Primary Main Air #140
Secondary Main Air #60
Idle Air #130
Idle Mix Screw 2 turns
Jet Needle #452304
Float 21mm

It's not unusual to find that someone has swapped out jet sizes purposely or by error.

If you PM me your address, I can send you a copy of Mike Nixon's "Rebuilding the GL1000 Carburetor. It's a really helpful guide. Good luck!

[micalocus541]

Thank you, I wrote it down an it's going to be a big help.
1890 ruby court, Sutherlin, OR

[BirdDogICT]

Sorry, didn't see your reply...I was expecting an email.

I'll mail you my copy tomorrow. I doubt that I'll be rebuilding any more GL1000 carbs. I haven't seen a GL1000 worth rebuilding in a while.