Motorcycle Repair: honda shadow vt500, honda store, honda shadow

Question
I have took the carbs off the bike and used air to clean them and also tried to find a carb kit or jets you get the point but the honda store said all i can do is buy the flow needles so my question is can i check to see if the flow needle is bad and the bike was backfiring and woun't idle and when it first starts up it looks like black gas is coming out of the exaust and white smoke but just for a minute and stops and is rideable is this all from the carbs? any help is very appreciated

Answer
kieth,
If the bike will run, but will not idle or accelerate correctly, chances are very good the pilot jets are plugged. Normally, you'll hve to physically remove them and run a very small wire or use an actual jet drill to clean them.

Hope this helps!

~Mark Panka