Can we talk about how I was cleaning my carbs wrong for 3 seasons

I picked up a 1971 Honda CB350 about two years ago and it always ran a little rough at idle, so I figured that was just how these old bikes are. A guy named Pete at a swap meet in York, PA asked me how I clean my carbs and I said I spray them out with cleaner and call it good, and he just laughed. He pulled a tiny wire out of his pocket, like 0.012 inches, and said you have to push it through every single jet hole or you are just moving varnish around. I got home and did it his way and pulled out little chunks of crud I could not even see. The idle smoothed out so much I had to back the screw off two full turns. Has anyone else had a swap meet stranger rewrite their whole routine?

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spencer_chen64h ago

The wire trick is the real deal. I got a set of torch tip cleaners at Harbor Freight for like 6 bucks after a guy named Ray at the Denton swap meet told me the same thing about my CB360. The smallest one is around 0.013 and I run it through the pilot jet and the emulsion tube holes every time now. What got me was the little holes on the sides of the emulsion tube, mine were almost sealed shut with green crust and I never would have found them without poking through. Spray alone just cannot get that packed stuff out no matter how much you soak it. Pete did you a solid, that little wire is worth more than any can of carb cleaner.

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