1981 gl1100 has 4 keihin carbs bike sat 7 years soaked carbs and cleaned. runs well over 2000 rpm but won't idle. Was told might be idle jets plugged but can't find which jets are idle jets in my service manual. thanks for any help or suggestions scott

no year told, nor when it last run perfect not told
same answer for 100 years on any otto cycle gas engine made car or motorcycle or scooter.
same., and drives fast too, full power work but idle fails.

well , idle is too rich, as are all carbs this old and never serviced.
when it stalls i bet spark tip is wet with fuel or carbon fouled.

or bad fuel. or caused by bad fuel endless for 100years
ive cleaned like 1000s of carbs in 50+ years. endless. me.
it's only a 150cc engine, and tiny carb. my CB750s old and new.
both had 4 carbs and are tricky and must be synchronized
but your's is a pussyycatt. 1 carb small
causes all.
the float needle is bad causing too high float level.
the jets are bad or wrong or dirty. there may be 2 jets one is idle and bad. but most time not 2, just 1 jet and 1 needle.
the needle can be bad , most are this old and bottom of needle is idle section OF NEEDLE and all worn out and now super rich at idLE SPEED
the air paths inside the body of carb must not be clogged
all tiny air paths. checked and cleaned fully.
that is all I can think off off hand.
my guess is bike is super old.
is bike real honda or this trashy china clones of 80 honda.
no year told nor photo of it so we can ahhhh that BIKE,
THE TANK VIEW IS OMG EASY TO ID.

NOT TOLD , FAILS IDLE HOT AND COLD ENGINE BOTH.
Using throttle grip hold RPM up a tad to get it hot first and see if idle reall fails hot.
first 150cc bike owned ever,?yes
the learn this.
we start with mild choke cold and back it off bit by bit until warm.
the chock has a fast idle features that must not be broken.
back it off slowly for 5 mins. then idle works
some have idle mixture screw on the side or is fast cold idle screw.
the cables are not for idle. ever and are set loose side
a stop screw idle and maybe mixtures idle. tool
depends on year not told if honda mikuni made.

Full disassemble of carbs is needed. Thorough cleaning on jets and airways, vacuum and pilot screw adjustment must be done too.
Check the spark plugs for lean mixture indication and replace them if necessary.

If your bike was allowed to sit up for an extended period of time, the gasoline in the float bowl evaporated and left behind this gummy mess. It has plugged up the jets and possibly the small fuel passageways in the carb. The carb must be completely disassembled and soaked in a professional grade carburetor cleaning solution. Then, compressed air must be used to check all the passageways to be sure they are open. No fuel is getting into the main venturi of the carb for some reason. The enricher circuit has it's own venturi and pulls fuel directly from the float bowl. This why it will run using the enricher and not run when it's turned off. I'd suggest that you take your bike to someone that knows what they are doing with a carburetor. If whoever did the carb did it right, it should run without having to use the choke. You didn't say whether your carb was the original stock carb or an aftermarket unit. If your carb is the stock Keihin CV carb and the "anti-tamper" plug has been removed from the idle mixture screw, set the screw at 3 turns off the bottom to start with and then fine tune the idle when the engine warms up. The idle mixture and idle speed are the ONLY things you can set on any carb from the outside. The fuel metering is controlled by the jets inside of the carb.

Good Luck
Steve

ur float level setting is crucial-if u hav a manual the value is stated--also jets may need ajustment--is the battery at a steady 12.6 v-testit

I have never seen heaters on motorcycle carbs. Your carbs do sound like they have issues with the low speed *(or idle) circuit.

You could take the carbs off the bike and have them soaked in cleaning solvent and reassembled. This should do it. Did anyone at the dealer or repair shops do a complete carb overhaul/cleaning?

You shouldnt have to run the choke for more than a couple minutes under most driving conditions. Of course, factory carb jetting is almost always excessively lean. You can go on Ebay and get a Dynojet stage one jet kit for your bike too. Improved driveability with only a modest reduction in fuel economy. Cost about 90 dollars.

Good luck and be careful!

If the car sat for 3or more months the gas may have left residue in the carb plugging the idle jets.It will probly run as long as the rpm is kept high enough to stay off the idle circut. the carb must be disassembled and cleaned.I'd also change the fuel filter.

Carbs need to be removed, dismantled and cleaned. Soak in solvent or equivelant for a couple hours and use air nozzle to blow dry. Make sure to blow out jets.

this is very tipical. when bikes are stored the fuel varishes up the jets & needles. soak the carb. moving it back and forth in the soak solution. then blow every jet and orfice with a controlled air source. note: any speck of rust or dirt can plug these jets. pay attention to detail and do every thing twice. then install the carb and adjust it to your riding style. later Spike

I'm new to the site and new to carbs. I bought a bike last week that had been sitting in a barn for a couple years the engine hadn't been running in over a year. I was able to get it running the first day after cleaning out the field mouse home occupying the air filter chamber and swapping the old gas for new gas. The bike ran and idled fine but the left carb (dual carb setup Keihin) poured gas from the tube coming out the bottom. I did some research and found out the floats may be stuck. I went ahead and ordered new floats and float bowl gaskets. I took the carbs apart apart as much as I could, using Berryman parts cleaner to soak all the metal parts I could get off. I put everything back together and put the new floats in yesterday. I started the engine and not only is the gas is still pouring out the bottom of the left carb, but now the bike is idleing very fast. The idle adjustment is backed out completely. When putting the carbs back together, I screwed all the jets back in all the way. I screwed in the Pilot Air screw, the one with the spring, all the way in, then backed it out 1 1/2 turns. Not sure if this has anything to do with the idle. As far as the floats go, does it sound like I need to replace the float valves too? ,The seats on the jets, or the o-rings on the needle valves that the floats control are probably leaking.,,,