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Carb rebuild kits for 1997 XX


TFT

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4 minutes ago, superhawk996 said:

My gut's telling me that the problem might be the petcock and not the carbs.  Fill them through the hose now that the tank is off and see if it runs.

 

When I pulled the tank off the hoses were full of gas. 

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1 minute ago, TFT said:

 

When I pulled the tank off the hoses were full of gas. 

Cool, eliminates that possibility.

 

I've met a few Birds that were parked a lot and never had the carbs clog up, don't know why.  Maybe it's that great California gas we have.

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19 hours ago, brianmacza said:

What mileage has the bike done? My '97 is on 279k km now, and is using a fuckton of fuel compared to 15 years ago. Took the needles and mainjets and looked at them under a strong magnifying lens and the wear is visible.  I have replacement needles and stock mains on order, and waiting for arrival. Might be worth considering if your bike has seen high mileage 

You most likely need new emulsion tubes as well, no, I don't know when you get them for blackbird.

 

http://www.factorypro.com/jets,needles,emulsion_tubes,pilot_jets.htm 

 

 

 

Screenshot_20220117-101737_Chrome.jpg

Edited by tomek
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1 minute ago, tomek said:

You most likely need new emulsion tunes, no, I don't know when you get them blackbird.

 

http://www.factorypro.com/jets,needles,emulsion_tubes,pilot_jets.htm 

 

 

 

Screenshot_20220117-101737_Chrome.jpg

The bike only has 29,000 miles on it. 

I installed a Dynojet jet kit back in early 2002 and it only had about 2,500 miles on it at that time.

It's surprising the low miles on it, I have ridden it down from Seattle to Monterey and most of the way back to Alaska, in 2019 rode it from Alaska to AZ. at one point I shipped it down to Illinois and went to a number of bike meets. Most of the miles were long trips, Alaska has a short riding season. 

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The local bike shop picked it up yesterday. They told me that when I called and told them it was a 1997 they imagined the worst, they were amazed to see the bike in such pristine condition. The owner commented: We don't see many older bikes this nice. 

 

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  • 1 month later...

I picked up the bike this past Saturday. I had them also replace the plugs, change oil, change brake and clutch fluid, coolant and forks. Basically a full service. 

It runs and rides great. I'm getting a  5 gallon supply of ethanol free gas to help eliminate the problem when the bike sets for any length of time. Just run the bike down to about empty, add a gallon, ride it until the ethanol free gas flows through the carbs and then put it away. 

Edited by TFT
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16 minutes ago, TFT said:

I'm getting a  5 gallon supply of ethanol free gas to help eliminate the problem when the bike sets for any length of time. Just run the bike down to about empty, add a gallon, ride it until the ethanol free gas flows through the carbs and then put it away. 

It sounds like this E free can of gas is going to sit around a lot, that could be worse than doing nothing depending on what you buy and how it's stored.  If it's race gas in the factory can then you should be good, they last a long time even after breaking the seal.  If it's pump gas going into a gas can I'd be leery.

 

Seems like it would be less effort to drain it than to try to do what you plan, and it's more of a guarantee of no issues.  

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8 hours ago, superhawk996 said:

Seems like it would be less effort to drain it than to try to do what you plan, and it's more of a guarantee of no issues.  

Draining the carbs on the Bird is no easy task.  You could shut the petcock off and run it dry but there is still going to fuel left in the bowls that will dry up. 

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1 hour ago, blackhawkxx said:

Draining the carbs on the Bird is no easy task.  You could shut the petcock off and run it dry but there is still going to fuel left in the bowls that will dry up. 

Getting the fuel below jet level generally solves the problem.  With one exception, I've never had something that I ran dry that still had a problem, none of my friends have either.  I've been lucky with the Bird, I've done nothing and so far it's been fine.  My Superhawk didn't fair as well.  Just shutting off the fuel, which the Bird does automatically, helps vs. leaving the fuel open.  Tom's is the first Bird I've heard of that clogged up, I don't know if there's something special about Birds or if it's just been luck.

 

The one exception was with my latest lawnmower.  It was clogged up when I got it, I cleaned it, ran it dry, parked it.  A few weeks later it was clogged so I cleaned it again, mowed the yard, then ran it dry.  A few weeks later it was fine.  My guess is that there was something left somewhere on the first cleaning, maybe if I had mowed or ran it longer it would have been ok.  The yard needs mowing again so I'll find out soon if it's still ok, if not it's probably getting sold, that carb is a bitch compared to most mowers.

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On 3/1/2022 at 6:26 PM, TFT said:

I picked up the bike this past Saturday. I had them also replace the plugs, change oil, change brake and clutch fluid, coolant and forks. Basically a full service. 

It runs and rides great. I'm getting a  5 gallon supply of ethanol free gas to help eliminate the problem when the bike sets for any length of time. Just run the bike down to about empty, add a gallon, ride it until the ethanol free gas flows through the carbs and then put it away. 

The problem of gas varnish clogging jets has nothing to do with ethanol. It's been known to me since the 70's, long before this additive. Anyone with experience who has worked on vehicles can tell you this.

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Modern gas seems to create fewer problems, but I might just be thinking that because there are fewer carburetors in the world now.  While ethanol presents its own problems, it's cleaner than gasoline.

 

When I bought the Banshee I knew it had been parked with gas and the valve open for several years, it had all evaporated through the carbs and I thought they were gonna be a bitch to clean.  Race gas and oil, it was just a soft thick goo kinda like a light grease and it came off easily.

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I was reading this.  They were pushing this so it can be taken with a grain of salt.

https://lucasoil.com/products/fuel-treatments/safeguard-ethanol-fuel-conditioner-with-stabilizers

 

One of the more serious concerns that enthusiasts have when asking questions about their classics is about ethanol in fuel. Whether you think it’s a good idea or not, ethanol-infused gasoline is here to stay. Unfortunately, it can wreak havoc on many collector cars. One of the main issues with using ethanol is that it is hygroscopic. In other words, it absorbs water. This water leads to condensation in fuel tanks, fuel lines, and carburetor float bowls. The issue of water in ethanol fuel can also cause paper fuel filters to swell and clog the system.

Gasoline mixed with ethanol also has a shorter shelf life and goes stale quickly. Finally, ethanol is highly corrosive, and this corrosive nature and the fact it “gathers” water means it helps rust to form wherever air meets metal once submerged.

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3 hours ago, blackhawkxx said:

I was reading this.  They were pushing this so it can be taken with a grain of salt.

https://lucasoil.com/products/fuel-treatments/safeguard-ethanol-fuel-conditioner-with-stabilizers

 

One of the more serious concerns that enthusiasts have when asking questions about their classics is about ethanol in fuel. Whether you think it’s a good idea or not, ethanol-infused gasoline is here to stay. Unfortunately, it can wreak havoc on many collector cars. One of the main issues with using ethanol is that it is hygroscopic. In other words, it absorbs water. This water leads to condensation in fuel tanks, fuel lines, and carburetor float bowls. The issue of water in ethanol fuel can also cause paper fuel filters to swell and clog the system.

Gasoline mixed with ethanol also has a shorter shelf life and goes stale quickly. Finally, ethanol is highly corrosive, and this corrosive nature and the fact it “gathers” water means it helps rust to form wherever air meets metal once submerged.

Something to consider on the flip side, ethanol can hold a fair bit of water in solution so it can be burnt off.  If you exceed its water holding capability then things turn pretty ugly.  It falls to the bottom as an un-burnable mess and leaves low octane gas above it.  Gasoline can hold nearly no water so it can accumulate and corrode shit out.  Ethanol is also a pretty good cleaner.

 

I can think of only two vehicles where the gas tanks corroded though and neither of them had ever had E-10.  Just remembered of a third, that one might have seen some E-10 before it corroded through.

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  • 2 weeks later...

an old car i bought years ago had had 2 stroke oil put in the tank and then run for a while before being parked up for a few years.the fuel system was fine when i bought it.i only had to replace the fuel in the tank and it ran well.

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On 3/10/2022 at 3:50 PM, superhawk996 said:

Something to consider on the flip side, ethanol can hold a fair bit of water in solution so it can be burnt off.  If you exceed its water holding capability then things turn pretty ugly.  It falls to the bottom as an un-burnable mess and leaves low octane gas above it.  Gasoline can hold nearly no water so it can accumulate and corrode shit out.  Ethanol is also a pretty good cleaner.

 

I can think of only two vehicles where the gas tanks corroded though and neither of them had ever had E-10.  Just remembered of a third, that one might have seen some E-10 before it corroded through.

 

They literally sell pure alcohol to drop in your gas to remove the water.  And now people think alcohol is causing the problem.

 

16 hours ago, poida said:

an old car i bought years ago had had 2 stroke oil put in the tank and then run for a while before being parked up for a few years.the fuel system was fine when i bought it.i only had to replace the fuel in the tank and it ran well.

 

I've heard this helps, but then, I've also had two strokes with clogged up carbs from sitting, so dunno.

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