wmurray
XS650 Member
Hey guys,
First post here... just recently picked up my (first) bike early December. Was marketed as an '81 XS650 Special II, but I pulled the carbs to clean them and noticed they are BS38s. The bike is in storage so I haven't pulled the engine numbers yet to get more specifics, but that's not the purpose of the post today.
I went through the carb guide and some other tutorials and whatnot, and I have heard mixed reviews about the best way to clean them. In the guide it talks about hand cleaning the bodies and soaking the bowls after removing the jets, but I have also heard that soaking the bodies is a reasonable solution.
My concern is the carb cleaner degrading rubber/plastic components inside the carb bodies. I have them broken down to a point where I can start cleaning them (photos can be found here). But before I buggered up the job, I wanted to see what the consensus was. Additionally, is it worth it to take apart the slide/needle assembly? The slide needle doesn't look bent, and doesn't feel loose.
In addition, the pilot screw I removed is pretty decently corroded (as you can see) and the O-ring is cracking a bit. Is it better to replace the whole thing or clean it up and get a new O-ring? I know the rebuild kits are not suggested due to the one-size-fits-all nature of the parts included, so at the very least I would need recommendations for where to source the appropriate components.
Additionally: I did a search through to forums to see if there were any similar topics, but couldn't find anything specific to this. I didn't want to duplicate posts, so if there is another thread that covers this, please feel free to let me know.
Thanks in advance for helping out the newbie.
First post here... just recently picked up my (first) bike early December. Was marketed as an '81 XS650 Special II, but I pulled the carbs to clean them and noticed they are BS38s. The bike is in storage so I haven't pulled the engine numbers yet to get more specifics, but that's not the purpose of the post today.
I went through the carb guide and some other tutorials and whatnot, and I have heard mixed reviews about the best way to clean them. In the guide it talks about hand cleaning the bodies and soaking the bowls after removing the jets, but I have also heard that soaking the bodies is a reasonable solution.
My concern is the carb cleaner degrading rubber/plastic components inside the carb bodies. I have them broken down to a point where I can start cleaning them (photos can be found here). But before I buggered up the job, I wanted to see what the consensus was. Additionally, is it worth it to take apart the slide/needle assembly? The slide needle doesn't look bent, and doesn't feel loose.
In addition, the pilot screw I removed is pretty decently corroded (as you can see) and the O-ring is cracking a bit. Is it better to replace the whole thing or clean it up and get a new O-ring? I know the rebuild kits are not suggested due to the one-size-fits-all nature of the parts included, so at the very least I would need recommendations for where to source the appropriate components.
Additionally: I did a search through to forums to see if there were any similar topics, but couldn't find anything specific to this. I didn't want to duplicate posts, so if there is another thread that covers this, please feel free to let me know.
Thanks in advance for helping out the newbie.