Motorcycle Repair: cleaning carbs, honda750, cmsnl

Question
A nice (old) bike for sale, '78 honda750, guy says he owned it since '78, lol, and claims it just needs carbs cleaned. How do you clean the carbs? Any tricks/tips to dismantling? Thanks! (I will surely keep your helping ratings going!)

Answer
John, a factory shop manual would probably be beneficial for you, if you choose to do this yourself. It isn't rocket science, but does require some patience, $$ carb kits, access to cleaning fluids, then a carb synch tool when it is back together and running again.

http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-cb750k8-four-usa_model14397/partslist/E19.html
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-cb750k8-four-usa_model14397/partslist/E19-1.html  for illustrations and part number details. There are aftermarket kits for the carbs and accelerator pump, if Honda doesn't have them, or you faint at the price quotes.

Depending on how long the carbs were left with old fuels, as well as the type of fuel deposits left behind, you can sometimes get away with a float bowl clean out, replacing the jets, gaskets, O-rings, accel pump diaphragm, etc. without a full on teardown. If the carb slides are all gummy and stuck, you will have to remove them and in the process, all the linkage that connects the 4 carbs together will need to be disassembled, cleaned with either spray carb cleaner or a larger bucket of solution if necessary.

http://www.sohc4.net/index.php?q=node/133
SEE....
CB750K0-K8 Comparator - CB750 K Model Features file has K8 carburetor rebuild information.

I don't keep track of the ratings, but have answered over 3300 questions, the last time I checked, so I guess I am still doing okay. Hope this is helpful.

Bill Silver