Bike will not start - lost

[redzgrider]

This is easy. Sgilbert, get your butt over to the 'For Sale' thread and offer $85 (or more!) via PayPal and build a spare set or just canabilize the parts you need -- except pilots. I think I'm convinced that previously plugged pilots are more prone to re-plugging. Not sure $40 from Gary is the best deal, but am sure that new pilots work very, very well.

[MAN OF BLUES]

This is easy. Sgilbert, get your butt over to the 'For Sale' thread and offer $85 (or more!) via PayPal and build a spare set or just canabilize the parts you need -- except pilots. I think I'm convinced that previously plugged pilots are more prone to re-plugging. Not sure $40 from Gary is the best deal, but am sure that new pilots work very, very well.

get serious.
if you think he could do this rebuild, or you could for that matter (just judging by the way you suggest it..) you have a LOT of learning to do.
Fun if you have the time, and the patiance to attempt it, but frutile if you expect the outcome to be right first go.

I'm standing back and saying this because both Steve and I are good friends, and both have paid major "dues to sing the blues" when it comes to downright being able to rip them down, and put them together in a couple hours.... and slap them on a bike, look sidways at a customer, hit the start button..... and have the bike fire, and run.... and then, when we put the synch tubes on, and touch a screwdriver to the adjustments, say it was perfect without tweaking a thing, and call it done....I've done this in front of a crowd, and as they slowly drifted away over the hours it took to complete, the end result was the same... the owner stood and hit the button, and the bike ran..... perfectly.

I say this with all earnest, there is nobody out there that has this talent that I still today keep secret, other than Steve, and truthfully, he has much more patiance than I do.Today, I just work on my own $#!+, he is willing to take on the other ones, just be thankfull wayyyyy back when, when I ditched being the "COG Tech Dude" that he decided not to take the position, because he has scruples, and wouldn't do it knowing it would be controversial.

Thumbs up to you Steve, can't wait till we can sit and discuss the year at the ralley  

[sgilbert14]

If I did learn anything out of all this that is carb work should be left to the specialist. Not saying that, in time, I could possibly learn this, but my experience with the dealership who has a shop and the right tools, prove to me that everything related to ZG carbs will go to Steve. I do fine art painting and now understand that like in art, learning is nothing more then years of making the errors that lead to knowledge. Like stated above, Steve has the years and the knowledge and I will forever use it when needed.

[T Cro ®]

They also used black RTV to set the bowl gaskets and it was off in little bits in the bowls - you cannot use rtv on carbs!

Even as an Engineer on sea/ocean going tugs and ships working on equipment as varied as the alphabet RTV is my LEAST used sealant; it can just about be counted on to cause problems if not used correctly and by correctly I mean sparingly.....

[redzgrider]

My intent was to note that a collection of the most expensive parts (slides in particular) were readily available right now, and wouldn't be for very long.

[IraB]

So carbs are apart, and let me say, this is why you don't let folks who don't know what they're doing work on your carbs. Not only did I find the above issues, but also when I closed the throttle blades, the sync was all off, telling me there was a vacuum issue but someone tried to "fix" it with the sync. additionally, the pilot screws, which I set at 2 turns, were all 2.3 to 2.5 turns. Once inside the bowls, more fun, as you can see from the pics, someone re-set the fuel floats, which resulted in low fuel levels ( I filled / checked before disassembly).  When looking at the pics, the caliper is set at the proper height, you see how high the float height is. They also used black RTV to set the bowl gaskets and it was off in little bits in the bowls - you cannot use rtv on carbs! Once checking the pilot and main jets, they're all clogged with something. I guess the problem is the carbs... Steve

What a mess.
The most challenging aspect of being a professional mechanic is not fixing things, it is "refixing" things someone else tried to fix.