Pilot Jet

[katman]

Hey Tools if your out there.
Can someone show which is the pilot jet on my 77 carbs. Got them off and going
back in after tools recommendation that the pilots are clogged. Try to crank it last night since this weekend
with full choke it will run real low idle for a minute then quit. Then it's just winding away on the starter.
It will fire right up if I spray fuel in the the throats. and run and crank great when Hot. The guy who rebuilt
them say he pulled them. we'll see. No beers tonight.

[TOOLS1]

Sorry I got real busy. I will have time tomorrow to get, you some pictures of the procedure.
TOOLS

[Re-run]

It is pretty easy. Flip the carbs upside down. You will remove the floats by pushing the pin out either side and then the float and needle comes off. You will see 2 jets. One has a hex head with a slot, that is the MAIN jet. The other is a simple brass jet with no slots or sides, it is just round and featureless. This is your idle jet or low speed or pilot depending on what term you use.
Just wrap a bit of cloth, leather, rubber, or whatever around the jet to protect it. GRab with pliers and give it a couple twists to loosen up the jet and then yank it straight out, you can twist while doing this if you need.
Be careful that you do not wiggle it back and forth as there is not much metal there and you could crack the housing for the jet if you wiggle it too much. A very tiny amount is ok but if the jet twists, it should come out without wiggling.

[TOOLS1]

Re-runs method does work. However I have seen deformed jets, and cracked carburetors from doing it like that, and these carbs are not easy, or cheap to replace. That's why I tap them, and use the little home made puller.
TOOLS

[katman]

Okay Tools and Re-Run. Got them out okay. Side holes were clear on all 4.
I did feel alittle resistance when going straight thru the center with my tip cleaner
then it slid in and out freely. So i don't know if there was any blockage or not.
I am going to put them back on in the morning and give it a go. Another thing,
before I pulled them I noticed with the choke knob pulled out fully I still had over a 1/16''
of throttle butterfly opening. Should this be all the way shut when knob is out all the way.
I was looking for an adjustment for it. Really appreciate your help guys as I am getting
pretty fustrated trying to get it going again.
Katman

[Re-run]

Its the wiggling that people do that cracks them. As long as a person does not wiggle it, then it is ok.
as for deforming the jet, you have to be squeezing REAL hard to do that. marks on the outside of the jet do not affect anything as long as the inside of the jet itself is ok.

[katman]

Should my wire move thru the center pretty freely. Like I said I thought I felt some
blockage before it went thru. Jets came out without a problem. Also, any anwser to my choke
questions.

[TOOLS1]

The wire should go through just like nothing was in it's way. The choke should have a gap. I am not sure how much at the moment though, but 1/16 sounds about right.
TOOLS

[Lucky 1]

If you can spray fuel in the intake and it starts and runs it can have two things going on.
The idle jets and be clogged AMD the accelerator spray nozzles are not working.

Both need to be fixed.

It you are running pods and 4 into 1 exhaust, change the idle jets to #45's.
You can get them through Sirious Consolidated.

The pull out -push in style idle jets.

[katman]

Okay Guys,
I really appreciate your help and insight the last couple of weeks. After pulling the pilots and running my tip cleaner thru the center(side holes were clear) I reassembled and put back on the bike. Pulled the choke out and spun it over. Bike coughed a couple of times and fired up. It took a couple of seconds to fire on all fours but did idle. Very cold blooded. I could not give it hardly any throttle for a few minutes until it warmed. If i did it would cut off but fire right back up. Also I don't think my fast idle cam is adjusted right.
Any after warming I took off for a ride. It was cold sat. by florida standards but it felt good to ride. Got about 3 miles from home and it started slowing down and quit.(*%@!!+^). After a couple of minutes to rectify the situation I turned over my gas to reserve And took back off. Whew! Anyway was hot it ran,
Idled and pulled great. I'll do some more teaking and sync them this weekend. Is the being cold blooded normal.
Katman

[LukeM]

Yeah, that pesky RESERVE fuel switch has bitten us all at one time.  Glad you got it working.
You might go through the maintenance section on your bike, and recheck all the carb settings for your bike. Keep in mind that it assumes your bike is factory. Different intake, different exhaust, and combinations of that will affect performance.  You can always set stuff to the factory settings to get it running.

Do a search on our forum for the WOT test (wide open throttle).  It will give you a good indicator of the engine's performance via the spark plugs.

Luke M

[Re-run]

If you are still running points, make sure you have those things adjusted and timed properly.
Cold blooded is typical but if the bike is tuned JUST a bit rich, that does help. Not a lot, just a bit.

I also switched to a dyna S a few years ago and it helped immensely. I would do the pamco ignition these days instead though.
I got better starting, faster warmup, and slightly better economy. So it might be worth looking into for you at some time.

Also, do you know how far your fuel screws on the carbs are turned out? Stock the 78K is 1.5 turns as a base starting point. The F is 1.75 I think. This is from a lightly seated position. It may be when the work was done, this was not set or needs to be changed.
You can judge it by your plugs at low speeds. Ride you bike and get it good and warm, then go home and let it idle for a bit. Kill the engine and you can let it cool down some. Pull the plugs out and see what the center insulator looks like.