[PL209]

I have a 1973 Honda CL 350 that i bought a couple of months ago in about 3 different boxes that hadn't run in about 10 years. Long story short after changing out the Ignitions, condenser, air filters, cables, replacing the points, setting the cam shaft and timing, changing the oil and cleaning out the goofy non-filter centrifuge i got the bike to start up and run pretty decent.

This leads me to a couple of areas where I am stuck and could use some help.

First, both carbs leak gas out of the vent lines at a really good clip. Carbs were cleaned and rebuilt with a carb kit from Common Motor. Any ideas on why they are leaking so bad?

Second, I have 3 of the 4 valves adjusted perfect but can't not get the left front (Exhaust) to cooperate. It is way tight and I have not found a way to loosen it yet. Any ideas?

Last, and I think this may be a result of the second problem is the bike is appearing to run really hot. Any ideas?

I have read a ton of posts and this forum has been really helpful in getting this old bike running again so thank you all in advance.

 

[ancientdad]

...and cleaning out the goofy non-filter centrifuge...

Since you mentioned the year of the bike, clearly you know how old the technology is. Take a look at some of the stuff Harley-Davidson was doing back then, or pretty much any brand for that matter... and since the bike is still around and now in your hands, it must not have worked too badly

 

[J-T]

By vent lines do you mean the nipples on the bottom of the carb bowls? If so here are a few possibilities:

The screw that closes the drain may not be seating properly, or they may just not be closed (Homer alert!)

The overflow standpipes inside the carb bowls may be cracked or broken.

If it is neither of the above the fuel level in the carb is rising above the top of the standpipes. Possible causes:

Floats improperly adjusted. Float needles not sealing. Crud may be preventing them from closing or they just aren't mating up properly. Floats not floating (leaks have allowed fluid inside the floats).

 

[DangerPete]

This is gonna sound really dumb, but my overflows have been leaking and if you tip the vent line up it stops leaking. I changed the needle seat and valve and that helped a bit, no cracks in the tube, carb was clean, just loved to leak. When I tipped up the vent line it stopped leaking, so I'm goin with it.

 

[mike in idaho]

"When I tipped up the vent line it stopped leaking, so I'm goin with it."
It won't stop leaking, it will just run down the intake port.

 

[J-T]

What Mike said. You just moved the output end of the hose above the fuel level. You REALLY need to find the cause of this and fix it.

 

[PL209]

Mostly I referred to as goofy since it took forever to get out, don’t think the previous owners had touched it in a lot of years. Spent a couple nights alone On that dam thing. Wasn’t bashing the bike, I love these old Honda’s.

 

[PL209]

Thanks for the help JT. I’m going to give the float needle another look. That’s my guess.