Carb Removal
 

Recently acquired a 98 hawk that had been setting for about 2 years. Tank was nasty but got it cleaned, put 2 clear fuel filters in lines going to carbs. Started it up ran great for about 2 minutes then quit. Will only run with choke pulled fully out and will not take fuel. Figured carbs were nasty so after working for about 2 hours trying to get the carbs from the insulator boots i gave up and came inside. i have a manual and have everything loose that is suppsed to be loose or is there something im missing? Ive pulled extremely hard on carbs and am afraid of breaking something. is this normal?

Carbs can be a pain in the schmeckel if they haven't been pulled in awhile. Keep wiggling! The only real thing holding them on are the two boots to each cylinder...

I'd reconsider those fuel filters if your tank is clean inside

Be extremely careful to remove the two choke sleeves from each of the carburetors. They are plastic and they will snap at the threads, I know I learned the hard way. Once those are backed out and out of the way the carbs will be easy to remove and disassemble for cleaning.

Good luck.

thanks guys will try again tomorrow after work, as for tank its probably 95% clean maybe some small drugs just was worried as i didnt want anything else getting in carbs, filters are not stopped up. just couldnt get carbs loose from boots

As far as the boots go, just wiggle the carbs side to side gently and they will come out.

rock them back and forth and they should break free

make sure the clamps underneath carbs are unscrewed,than pull on it side to side some,should pull straight up or maybe at a angle.
those filters you put on do not belong on those lines,when i bought my bike,it had filters on it and it would cut out on me sometimes.I put oem lines back on and never had a problem since.the factory lines do not have filters.its a stright line.there is a filter inside the tank where the petcock is.

With a lot of experience removing fuel hoses that were fused to the steel lines, I would suggest shooting some carb spray at the junction of the carbs and the boots.

Use the thin red nozzle that comes with the carb spray. If you can get a small pocket screwdriver in there to open a gap, then shoot some carb spray into the gap, it will lube it enough that you should be able to wiggle them out without any damage. Just be careful not to tear the boots with the screwdriver. I use a bent pocket screwdriver in hard to reach areas.

Then spray just a little silicone into the boots when you reinstall the carbs.

Another option is to use a hair dryer to warm up and soften the boots. They'll be pretty hard after 13 years of heat cycling.
+1 to the other suggestions

thanks guys, sprayed some penetrating oil around boots and let it set over night and it softened them up a bit. Got the carbs off pretty easy after that. Got inside of them and cleaned everything. i was amazed, i was actually suprised the bike would even start and run. the main jet in one of the carbs had so much buildup i had to rake it out of slot that is used to take it out by a screwdriver. Bike now is much much smoother but has a hesitation or dead spot off idle when throttle is cracked open quick, doesnt do it if i roll into. Im new to the world of hawks so bear with me and between your guys excellent input and my mediocre mechanic skills i can get this baby growling like i know it can.