RT and his Maxim

Made it out to Charlotte on my bike, heavy side- bag thrown over one shoulder and didn't get rained on. It was a nice ride, and the bike performed really well.

Once I arrived, we got started right away. His bike is a burgundy/red 1985 Maxim. It was missing the carb boots, although the carbs were still on the bike. After wrenching a bit, off they came. (I've had lots of experience removing and replacing carbs...) Taking the wells off proved a little difficult, what with some of the screws pretty stripped. Nonetheless, they all came off, with all but one gasket intact. Those 25+ year old gaskets really stand up to the test of time. The other was a cheap aftermarket job that shredded. The inside of the bowls were pretty dirty, with most of the circuits pretty well fubar'ed. Carb #4 only had 2 screws holding it on.

The next 45 minutes consisted of wrenching screws, until all were finally exposed. Their insides were pretty dirty, and one of the float posts had been JB welded on, a clue that someone had gone before. (and broken something). The floats were pretty dirty, but overall, in decent shape.

What was not in decent shape was that air filter. Mice had made a home in the airbox, and the filter itself was in pretty rough shape.

A number of the pilot jets couldn't be removed without stripping them so we opted to leave those in. The main fuel jets were removed and the emulsion tubes extracted.

It was probably cruel of me to just leave a one armed man alone to clean those carbs all by himself, but I told him I consider it a rite of passage. He didn't see to mind, and has big plans for painting and cleaning getting the bike back up and running.

I opened up his crank case and peered inside. It looks as if it just rolled off the showroom floor, it's so clean.

In a couple of days, I'll go back and see the progress he's made.