Goldwing Carburetors
March is here, and spring is right around the corner! I have been working on sorting out some issues with a late 70’s Goldwing that had been in storage for a few years. In last months article, I wrote about cleaning the carbs and finding a damaged tube in the accelerator pump circuit. Since then I have received the rebuild kit and I began reassembling the carbs.
Other than the melted tube, when I cleaned the carbs I did not find any major problems, or clogs inside the passages. While it is not mandatory to find a problem when cleaning the carbs, it is nice to know you found the issue, otherwise you are just guessing about having it fixed. Sometimes you are just left with a guess. While I didn’t find and exact problem, I did discover that someone had decided to cover all the sealing surfaces, including the o-ring, in silicone. They didn’t even do and even job of it!! Please do not ever do this! Not only is it an extremely hack repair, but gasoline breaks down almost any silicone, so sooner or later it will begin to leak or the silicone will fall apart and get stuck inside a passage in the carburetor. Hopefully I was able to get it all off of, and out of, the carburetors.
Once all the seals came in, I began reassembly. One of the major problems I discovered on reassembly, was that the floats on one side were set entirely to high. This could have lead to one side being starved for fuel at high engine speeds or sustained hard throttle.
Since these were carbs off a newer engine, I had to use goldwingdocs.com for reference info. This is an excellent resource for anything Goldwing related. If you can think it up, the answers are on that website. Not only did I find the original setting and jet sizes for the carbs, but I also found the appropriate information for dealing with someone else’s carb swap, like what happened on this bike.
During reassembly, I also stumbled across some unique o-rings that were made from a rectangle shaped material. I did find replacement parts online, but if necessary, I could have order replacement o-rings from and industrial supply catalog.
So once I collected all the o-rings, I reassembled the carbs and then I bench synced the carbs. This involved checking all the throttle plates with gauge pins, and feeler gauges to ensure that they are all set to the same angle, so they open at the same angle. I then set all the idle air bleed screws, to the same exact point.
I then re-split the carbs and disconnected the linkage, to see if I can reassemble the carbs and manifolds in two pieces inside the motorcycle. This is because you are supposed to assemble the carbs as one whole unit, then install them on the bike. The problem is that they do not fit into the frame and engine without taking a few small parts off the carbs. I am hoping to easily reinstall the carbs and manifolds as two separate pieces, and then reattach it all on the bikes. I am planning on using Allen screws instead of the OEM Phillips bits. Hopefully I will be able to use ball end Allen wrenches and install them at off angles. If this works, It could be a game changer in Goldwing carb service.
Check out next months article for the report of how the install went.
Knoble Moto is a partner of Skidmark Garage. We teach classes for the DIY crowd, on all aspects of motorcycle repair. Entry level maintenance, valve adjustments, carburetor cleaning and tuning, drive line service, suspensions, and even engine work. Our class subjects are updated regularly, so check back often. If there is a subject you do not see covered, shoot me an email at knoblemoto@gmail.com Find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/knoblemoto, Instagram Knoble_Moto and www.KnobleMoto.com
