Honda Rebel Carbs

[bikedave99]

Guys, sorry, couldn't tell if this was an appropriate place to locate this thread.

Either way, I have an 86 Honda Rebel 250 that was running fine last summer... it was real cold blooded but would eventually get over it and warm up and run well.

I let it sit too long and it had a hard time starting. It eventually started but would only idle, the lightest amount of throttle would kill it. So I pulled the carb (man, that was easy!) and found that the diaphram and needle were gunked up and not sliding at all. So I cleaned it up and lightly oiled it before reinstalling the diaphram. I also used the shotgun method, etc. on the rest of the needles and jets.

Put it back on and fired it up. I also put some cheap sea foam alternative in the gas. Let if warm up and I was able to get it to rev up a lot better, however, when under load it just dies. So, it will rev up quick but as soon as I try and engage the clutch it sputters out.

I will pull the carbs again but does that sound like it is still the needle and diaphram?

 

[Max D]

My interceptor had the same problem. I dont know anything about carbs but the shop i took it to said they just cleaned em rejeted it and the float valves had to be replaced. hope this helps.

 

[RaWarrior]

If seafoam is too pricey for you (and at $8-$10/can around here I can see why), try Techron. I find that for around $4 a bottle and it worked great in an old quad that ran kinda poorly. When I eventually took the carb apart to re-jet it, it was surprisingly clean inside.

Put some techron/seafoam in a squeezy bottle, or a short length of tube with a small funnel. Get the motor running, shut off the fuel and pull the line off the carb. Hook up the funnel/bottle and let it start sucking in the cleaner. I've found it's impossible to start a motor on the stuff, but you can keep it running. Let it go until it starts smoking all over the place, then put it on full choke and let it die.

Give it at least an hour, hook the gas line back up, and get it running again. Squirt a bit of gas down the carb to help it along., but it'll probably be a bitch to get going. Once it gets going and the smoke clears see if it's any better.

If it still won't take a load sounds like more carb work is needed....I've found that when it dies under load it's usually way too lean.

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Just rebuilt the carb on my daughters 07 Rebel. Complete rebuild kit with all new jets and gaskets was $23 at my local Honda dealer. Money well spent IMO, it ran like crap when I bought it and now it runs like a sewing machine.

 

[Nick.]

i would love to find a rebel or virago for my girlfriend to ride but they don't come cheap in a college town.

Like stated above just grab a rebuild kit from honda and spend an hour or 2 of your time to get it done

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

i would love to find a rebel or virago for my girlfriend to ride but they don't come cheap in a college town.

Like stated above just grab a rebuild kit from honda and spend an hour or 2 of your time to get it done

Nick, ya just gotta keep looking! I looked for quite a while, then found my daughters about 1 hour away. $1400 with 7k miles, and all it needed was the carb rebuilt....owner tried to tell me the choke cable was bad, thats why it was running poorly. I just laughed because I knew what the problem really was.

 

[SpecOps13]

I wouldn't mind finding one of the 450 Rebels, just as a pit bike, newspaper getter.:biglaugh: It'd be fun. Carbs on them have to be 100 times easier to do than a Max.

 

[bikedave99]

Oops, sorry for the delay on this one...

I actually did try what Rawarrior suggested before rereading this thread and filled the bowl with the techron stuff and let if run on that for a bit then left it over night. Next day was no better, well, scratch that a bit...

So, I said screw it, I'm pulling it all down, not just pulling the diaphram and slide. So, I pulled the carb back out and gutted it. Destroyed one screw on the float bowl and had to drill and use the extractor on it. Pulled the floats and jets and cleaned everything out on the bottome side. Man was it crudded up! Put it all back together and she runs like a top now! Still take a bit of choke till she warms up but otherwise good. Seriously about a one hour job to do a full tear down, clean and reinstall this carb! Too bad some other bike wasn't that easy....

Had to get it running well as I'm selling it. Put the ad up then it wouldn't run... oh crap! All good now though! If any of you want it I'll let it go for $600, not sure if anyone is close enough. Had a ton of calls on it and lots coming to look.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[06VMAXIMUS]

Glad to hear Dave! Don't you wish Vmax carbs were that easy to get to and work on? I think I did my daughters Rebel carb in an hour flat.

 

[bikedave99]

Glad to hear Dave! Don't you wish Vmax carbs were that easy to get to and work on? I think I did my daughters Rebel carb in an hour flat.

Do I ever! That was the easiest tune up ever! Shoot, none of the rubber, gaskets, o-rings or anything were a problem. 26 years sitting in gas and everything is still sealed up tight and functioning right, sweet!