Okay, so I’ve got this old Honda Trail 90, a real classic, but it was running like garbage. It would idle okay, but as soon as I gave it any throttle, it would just bog down and die. Sounded like a fuel problem, so I figured it was time to mess with the carburetor.
First thing I did was take the seat off. Pretty simple, just a couple of bolts. Then I turned the fuel petcock to the “off” position. Don’t want gas leaking everywhere, right?
Next, I disconnected the fuel line from the carb. It was just a little hose clamp, so a flathead screwdriver did the trick. A little bit of gas dribbled out, but nothing major. I also disconnected the throttle cable. That was a bit trickier, had to loosen a little nut and then wiggle the cable free.
Getting the Carb Off
Now, the fun part – actually getting the carb off the bike. There were two nuts holding it onto the intake manifold. I used a small socket wrench. One was easy to reach; the other was a bit of a pain, tucked up under there. Took some patience, but I finally got them both off.
With the nuts off, I could wiggle the carb loose. It’s connected to the air filter box with a rubber boot. Mine was pretty stiff and old, so it took a bit of pulling and twisting, but eventually, it came free. And there it was, the carburetor in all its grimy glory.
Cleaning Time!
Now, I’m no mechanic, but I’ve watched enough YouTube videos to be dangerous. I took the carb over to my workbench and started taking it apart. There’s a float bowl on the bottom, held on by a few screws. I unscrewed those and carefully pulled the bowl off. Inside, there’s a float (which, shockingly, floats) and a little needle valve.
I took out the float and the needle valve, and then I started unscrewing the jets. There’s a main jet and a slow jet. Both of them were pretty clogged up with gunk. Old gas turns into varnish over time, and it can really mess things up.
I used some carb cleaner spray and some thin wire to clean out all the little passages in the jets and the carb body. Sprayed everything down really good, made sure I could see light through all the holes. It’s important to get all that varnish out.
Putting It Back Together
Once everything was clean, I put it all back together. Screwed the jets back in, put the float and needle valve back, and screwed the float bowl back on. It’s pretty straightforward, just the reverse of taking it apart.
Then, I put the carb back on the bike. Wiggled it back into the rubber boot on the air filter box, bolted it back onto the intake manifold, reconnected the fuel line, and reconnected the throttle cable.
Finally, I turned the fuel petcock back to “on”, put the seat back on, and fired it up. It took a few kicks, but then it started running, and this time, it actually revved up! No more bogging down. Took it for a little spin around the block, and it ran like a champ.
So, yeah, that’s how I cleaned the carburetor on my Honda Trail 90. It wasn’t too hard, just took some time and patience. And now the old girl is running great again!
