'73 Iginition issue, idle issue?? Help!!

[sinnin n grinnin]

New to the forum..glad I found it.. have beening reading some posts and there is some great info here..so thanks!..Here it goes..recently purchased a '73 was running when I bought it but not really..only fully choked..but would start easy and idle..carb #2 was pouring gas. I pulled, cleaned carbs, new carb boots to air box, new air filter..new throttle cables.  I did ride the bike yesterday a couple of miles..but within a block of of house it started hesitating so I pulled the choke about half way and the bike rode ok at low speeds and hesitated when I tried to throttle up..today I rode the bike a block, same issue as yesterday..then the bike sat for twenty minutes went back out and tried to start it and I wouldn't start at frist... but with the choke at full and the throttle twisted wide open it did start for a minute then shut right off...was back firing..and idleing erraticly when it was running? Any help would be apprciated. I have a cylmers but I am looking for where is the best place to start..I am pretty sure I am getting spark as I checked cylinders #1 and #4 and had a spark.  Thanks again for any help offered.

[Re-run]

Dude, we have the honda shop manual right on this site. Much better than a clymer!

Sounds like you are most likely running very rich.
You cleaned the carbs but did you pull the jets out and clean them? Those are the important things to make sure are clean.
Also, the air screws should be removed and cleaned and then when you put them back in, lightly seat them and then turn them out about 1.75 turns or so I think, the manual will tell you for sure.

Also, what air filter did you get? The stock honda is best followed by a k&n and Uni filter. I know there are cheaper ones but they actually filter too much and cause the bike to run rich. I had one of the cheap ones and it was built well but too restrictive.

Another thing, what sparkplugs do you have? They should be D8EA.
What color are the tips of the spark plugs? A light brown should be about right.
Clean the plugs and test things are various RPMs. Idle and the wide open on the road.
A high speed chop is when you start in 1st and accel hard and run though the gears all wide open.
The hit the kill switch and pull the clutch right away and come to a stop.
Using gloves, remove the plugs and see what color they are.

[sinnin n grinnin]

Yes that is actually how I found the site..I downloaded the manual to my computer at work have to save to a zip drive and bring home...anyway.  Alrite humor me..running rich not enough air too much gas..correct?  Yes I had the carbs in pieces including removing needles soaking in crab cleaner blowing them out with compressed air the whole nine.  

The air screws interest me b/c me buddy was fooling around with them today..before I yelled at him that is..hahaha. Ok so I will screw those all the way in until they stop or lightly seat as you said..then back out..I will look in shop manual to find out exact amount to back out.

I do have a stock air filter in the bike..I ordered it from an OME honda web site that allows you to look at the micro fiche parts file and order by part number..however when I removed the old filter..it looked stock but it seemed to me that someone had cut a couple chunks out of each side of the filter with a pair of snips or something??? Maybe old owner was having same issue and cut some chunks out of filter??

I will check the plugs and see if I have D8EA...I sould put new ones in anyway at this point...what the hell

I think I am going to check connections at the coil and see if I am always getting juice or maybe something is loose..what do you think about checking out the points???

Just so weird to me that it was running ...although not very well and now I can't even get the thing to run for more than a minute!!! These bikes are truley a labor of love..I had a '78 CB450 T II Hawk II at one point was a fun bike but got the best of me after a few years and many tears....but I digress..thank you for the response and all the good ideas..please keep them coming! Thank you!

[Re-run]

yes, rich would be too much gas or not enough air.
When you cleaned the jets, did you happen to notice what the sizes were? The idle(slow) should be 40 and the main should be 120. Also, did you verify that each little hole in the jets were clean enough to see through?

I would certainly check the points. The gap at tdc should be .012 - .014 or so. About the thickness of a business card. Also check to make sure the points are starting to open at the F position.
Be sure the points do not have pits and spikes on them. That will prevent things from working right too.
If you replace the points, replace the condensers too.

[sinnin n grinnin]

Ok..thanks for your relpy.  Yes all the holes in the needles seemed to be clear.  I checked and gapped points to specks.  I put New D8ES plugs in the bike..it had D7ES plugs.. I checked to make sure each coil lead and plug was sparking..and they were.. put the tank on the bike..it started and ran at a low idle fully choked for about 3 -4 minutes then stalled out. I tried to restart the bike with little to no luck...it wanted to start with choke at full and throttle wide open..then wouldn't even start at all so I pulled the plugs from cylinders one and four reattached spark plug leads and I am getting no spark... I tested the green yellow and black wires at the coil with a curcit tester all are getting juice.  I talked to a local guy who owns a cycle salvage yard ( lots of knowledge) who said there is no way both coils would go bad at same time on same day??? I am at a lose..please any ideas at this point would be grealty appreciated.

[Re-run]

Well lets see. What color are the spark plugs? The white insulator tip should be about a light brown or so, maybe a medium tan. What are the plugs gapped to?

Look at the plug caps. They are resistor plugs and do go bad. Check them for resistance. One probe in each end. Your reading should be about 5K ohms. If it is really high or nothing, then caps are bad.
When you take the caps off the wires, Clip about 1/4 inch off each one and screw the caps back on.
Maybe also flex each wire and check for cracks. I would maybe give a light tug on each one to see if a wire comes out. You coils are pretty old and the wires dont last forever.

[sinnin n grinnin]

I am going to work on the bike Monday for a while..I will write back to you with what I find.  I really do appreciate your help!  I am getting to the point that I am thinking maybe I have reached the point where the little knowledge I have has run out and I should take the bike to a professional. I just hate to give up and admit defeat!!

[Re-run]

I would not worry about not having the skill.
most of it is just the experience.
Sometimes you have no choice but to pull everything off and go over each part  step by step.
Heck your issue could just stem from a poor ground that gets worse as the bike warms up.
You might just have to go through your ground connections and clean them and clean the connectors.

[sinnin n grinnin]

Good news..she is running!!  I replaced the coils with a pair from a local motorcycle salvage buiness (great place lots of parts for these CB750s), I filed, cleaned, and gaped the points and the bike ran for a bit then stalled out and wouldn't start again.

So I thought I would check the peckcock again and I realized that sometimes it was alowing gas to pass through and other times it wasn't..if the peckcock was placed on reserve it always allowed gas to flow..so something is wrong there and I need to figure out what the issue is, but i put the tank on the bike turned the peckcock to reserve and the bike started ran pretty well!!

I am however leaking gas out of the over flow tubes on two carbs. I am guessing the the float needles are boogered up again...I put 93 ocatane in the bike a while back but then it sat for several weeks while I was waiting on some parts. Do you think I should pull the carbs again and go through them or just pull the float bowls and spray down with carb cleaner??

Also I ordered a carb sync gauge set that should be here some time this week and I will get the carbss all sync'd up. I am also going to get a timing light and make sure the timing is right on ....all in all thing are shaping up nicely!!!

Another long post..but i want to say I am so glad and thankful I found this site..Re-run thank you I really appreciate you looking at my posts and responding to them..very cool of you!!  

[Re-run]

Most likely your filter in the tank is plugged. If you have one. Could just be a plug anyways though.
You will want to pull the petcock out and clean it. I know, draining gas sucks but it would be a rude surprise to suddenly run out of gas and have no reserve.

[sinnin n grinnin]

Hello..I thought I would give you an update..I pulled the float bowls on all three carbs and sprayed down really good with carb cleaner put everything back together and none of them leaked at first..one crab leaks a bit some times..anyway I rode all day yesterday!! What a great time and a beautiful day here in Maryland!

I did order a new petcock and some other odds and ends I needed.. my carb sync gauges came..so I have some work left but the bike is rideable and I am having a blast!

Thanks again for all your help..I will post some pictures soon.