Advice please--rebuild carbs or not?

[batavicus]

I bought my '94 ST1100 in 2009 from a dealer. had sat for years. On the first test drive, the bike wouldn't accelerate properly and wouldn't accelerate properly. The shop spent about three hours removing the carbs. I don't remember if they cleaned them or did a rebuild.

That was nearly 13 years and 38,000 miles ago. Right now, to address a coolant leak and change the rear brake line, my long-time trusted mechanic has the fuel tank off and quite a bit of the plastic body panels. He asked me if while he was there he should do a carb rebuild. He's not pushing me to do it--again, long-time, trusted guy--but I don't know the interval for rebuilds. He also found the that two of the four stiff rubber hoses that go into the top of the carburator were not reinstalled properly (not his doing--likely when the 28-amp alternator was traded for a 40-amp; the shop took nearly 11 months to do the job and much was done improperly). They were pinched and left gaps, where unfiltered air was being sucked in.

So should I have him do a full rebuild? Or just clean and put back on the bike. I'm dreaming of long trips with my wife next summer and as many years as possible of trouble-free riding from my ST.

 

[Uncle Phil]

Was it running fine before the latest work?
I have never rebuilt the carbs on any of my 4 ST1100s - 3 have well over 100,000 miles on them.
What kills ST1100 carbs is when the bike sits up with fuel in them for a long period of time.
The low speed idle jets get clogged and fixing that usually called for carb pull.

 

[batavicus]

The bike has been running fine. So it sounds as if you believe the bike would likely be fine if I had the mechanic leave the carbs alone. Again, this is one of those decision whether to do something that's not necessary simply because the part happens to be presently easily accessible. The mechanic was changing my Gen 1 Helibars for some Gen IIs and was changing the rear brake line when he discovered an old coolant leak. I've smelled the coolant for years and have had to add coolant frequently but never found any on the garage floor. It looks like it was dripping onto the hot exhaust and vaporizing.

(By the way, the Gen 1 Helibars just didn't come up enough or far enough back with the Corbin rumble seat, which my wife loves. As my first bikes were UJMs, I like to ride mostly upright. If someone would like a set of good used Gen 1 Helibars....)

Thanks, Uncle Phil, I appreciate your taking the time to help me. I'll follow your advice and let the mechanic know not to worry about the carbs.

 

[Smudgemo]

My old man always said if it ain't broke, don't fix it. So if it's running properly, I can't see any reason you'd want to rebuild the carbs. I'd leave them alone unless you want to replace the coolant lines and o-rings underneath them. And even then, I'd only replace the insulators and maybe vacuum lines.
The smell of coolant might also be addressed with a bit of tightening of the hose clamps if the hoses aren't very old. Good time to try and do that if the plastic is off. If they are old, good time to replace.

 

[Ron]

PM sent. Did you buy the new Heli-Bars yet?

 

[Ron]

If you have concerns, run a tank of carb cleaner before you go. Maybe one while you're on the road. Many brands out there with Sea Foam being the favorite around here. If it starts and runs good they probably do not need cleaned or rebuilt.

 

[RaYzerman]

I'm with the above..... no need to do anything to carbs, just keep riding occasionally, Seafoam, etc. don't let them go stale and gum up when the gasoline evaporates. Keep calm and carry on as they say. Now if there was another reason you had to remove the carbs, then you can remove the float bowls, clean them, can also remove jets and clean them, but that's all you should ever need on a bike that's running well.... again, only if you have to have them off for some other maintenance in this case. The vast majority of the time, if it ain't broke don't try to fix it.