Got the bike running half decent without dismantling the carbs.
Turns out a YouTube suggested mod on the slide vents was incorrect. Once venting to atmosphere, the rich condition was eliminated and if anything it’s running a bit on the lean side just off idle. To properly assess the running condition I need to ride it and clean out the build up of gunk in the cylinders. That won’t happen until the springtime.
I discovered a decent way of getting the rear tire off of the ground. A motorcycle scissor jack did the trick.
While the tire was in the air I decided to clean up the rear wheel as best I could. I removed as much corrosion as I could (easily) and that’s going to have to be good enough. Cleaned and polished other shiny bits and touched up scratches on the black frame. Next cosmetic task will be the front wheel. I plan to meet with a vapour blast guy this week to see what he can do with my corroded engine cases and valve covers.
A piece of steel wool on the end of a brass brush made cleaning easier on the fingers.