TOPIC:

i agree - you need a solvent such as carb cleaner or thinners to dissolve the gum. However, I intend buying an ultrasonic cleaner, but a decent powerful one with a heater. They do have their uses.
The CBX-B is, in my opinion, one of the most handsome motorcycles ever made. Have you just bought that one?

The effectiveness of an ultrasonic cleaner comes down to the quality of its transducer. I have used the less expensive ones with ok results. I own an industrial grade unit, it was military surplus and I'm not sure what it was used for. The transducer weights about 10 pounds and the external power supply is a high voltage type that weighs close to 50 pounds, all this energy is focused into a one gallon tank. There is not much I can't clean with it.

The transducer is large enough that it heats the water in the tank to about 130°F or so by itself. The down side is that it is loud, and some the audible frequencies and buzzing can be heard at the far side of my house when this unit is running in my garage. The neighbors cat is the one who seems to complain about it...

The orientation of the part has a lot to with how internal passages get clean. I had great luck with the carbs on my 1300, and many other parts. The picture below is one of the most dramatic results I've been able to achieve. I took that rust bucket, ran it for a few hours, dried it off, and installed it. No other cleaning was done.

Some interesting dialogue as always. I've rebuilt (and sold) enough sets of carbs to have developed some strong opinions regarding this topic. I'm not adverse to the idea of ultra-sonic cleaning as PART of the cleaning process but as has been pointed out here and in other threads the effectiveness is usually at best, mediocre and dependent on the quality of the unit, it's correct use and the solution used. This I believe is as pointed-out, due to the tiny passages in the idle circuit which are inherently problematic to clean in this manner. I continue to use lacquer-thinner as the primary cleaning agent. The concern with using Lacquer-thinner is for the throttle shaft seals. I've soaked carbs for varying lengths of time and to date have not seen any noticeable or appreciable negative affect on these seals. That does not mean they couldn't be damaged if left for countless hours. Paint thinner - waste of time and stinks up everything! Various mixes of lemon-juice and boiling water is very effective for external surfaces but I have doubts about it's ability to clean passages and DO NOT rely on this alone. Commercially available cleaners such as Sea-foam have their loyal following but again, the effectiveness is solely dependent on the user application techniques which are too variable.
Every set of carbs I receive always have 2 BIG issues. RUST and varnish/goo. The rust deposits can be as nefarious as the varnish/goo build up.
I have recently rebuilt 2 sets of carbs that came to me so clogged with very fine rust deposits that the fuel would not fill the bowls due to the fuel galleries being completely blocked with the "orange angel-dust"! This included solid compaction of rust debris immediately above the float-needle valve-body. Lacquer-thinner doesn't deal with this as rust is not soluble in this liquid. Physically removing rust and dirt is the only way to deal with it. For this reason I have several different diameters of round nylon-bristle "gun-barrel" cleaners. Stiff enough to do the job but not so aggressive they scratch the carb bores being cleaned. LOTS of compressed air ! I only soak the carb bodies in lacquer thinner after the physical cleaning has removed the bulk. In my '79 carb rebuild tutorial I showed the carb-set being heated first. This was done solely to create an expansion/contraction affect to help ease the removal of the Phillips-head screws. I don't believe this has any significant benefit in loosening debris.
Once cleaned, the diligence can not stop there. It is critical to a trouble-free operation to have a spotless work area for re-assembly. This can not be over-stated. The smallest piece of 'crap' in an otherwise good carb-cleaning project will have you removing the carbs from the bike and going C.S.I. on them, trying to figure-out where the concern is. DO NOT underestimate how an almost "microscopically" small a piece of foreign material can screw things up. A large clean towel on a clean bench-top is an excellent work surface. Tiny pieces of foreign-material will drop into the fabric weave and usually stay there with no affect. A towel also provides that if a small part is dropped it won't bounce and ricochet to places unknown and inaccessible! Remember: The odds of a small part disappearing in this manner is directly proportional and inverse to the size of that part and the availability/ability to replace it, when it's bounced and disappeared! OR you can spend the rest of the day dissembling your work area looking for it !
I also advocate the creation of flat-bladed drivers with the tip ground specifically to fit the idle-jets, the idle-jet caps and the high-speed jets. An improperly fitting "generic" driver will create burrs. The initial problem is that a burr on the idle-jet will make it almost impossible to remove from the jet tower and when this "burr" breaks-free ( and it will - eventually), it will block something inevitably!

anyoldiron wrote: Now please tell me that the carbs come out without having to tilt the engine forward.

That is correct

Biltonjim

lve had the CBX a few months, love the motor, but not the bagger version (has a whiff of the hardly about it much, so im/will sell it and get a earlier naked twin shock version

Cheers

Thanks for all the input, i guess im sticking to old school, apart from the direction that i blow out the passages!

Cheers