Bordering on stupidity, I spent all of the available daylight outside yesterday working in 4.5 degrees with five layers on
I got the carbs rebuilt with the new Litetek seal kit and noticed the following:
* The slide holder seal, which Litetek describe as one of the most critical seals in the Mikuni, wasn't damaged, but was fairly flattened and hard.
* One of the main diaphragm caps has a small split in the section which the spring sits over. I don't think this is actually causing any problems, as the cap is still airtight, but while I have them off the bike I may as well try and source a replacement as I'll regret it later.
* The last time I had to remove the carbs it was because fuel suddenly starting pissing out of one of the overflows. When I dismantled it, the float valve assembly had become detached from the plastic fuel inlet piece (the bit which has the o-ring on). This is just a snap-fit and so it snapped right back on, but I was worried as to how it could have become separated without the bike suffering any real knocks. I added some araldite between the pieces to hopefully ensure that it would never happen again, but the araldite appears to have reacted slightly with being constantly immersed in petrol. I was able to scrape off the glue without too much effort and so I think it's time to buy a new float assembly. I can't wait to set the float heights, that is such a fun job.
I was determined to check the air cut off valve diaphragms this time, as I've never inspected them on either occasion that the carbs have been off. One carb's cover is easy to remove, but the other one is blocked because the carbs are joined together. I didn't want to get into splitting the carbs and so luckily a 1/4" drive JIS '2' screwdriver bit can be placed on the screws and then turned with a small 1/4" ring/combo spanner. Time consuming, but worked fine and I was able to inspect both valves and diaphragms (both turned out to be perfect).
Was too cold to take any pics and I'm just going to have to be patient and wait for yet more parts to arrive for next weekend before I have any hope whatsoever of getting the bike back together.
Right, time to get outside and investigate the fitment of my newly arrived heated grips...