Bandit 1200 Carburetor Cleaning Part 2 - disassembly and cleaning

After cleaning the carburetor exterior each of them can be opened one at a time for cleaning. This procedure is a quick clean--I did not separate the carburetors and fully disassemble. This is just cleaning the jets and float bowls.

It is highly recommended to wear eye protection during this service.

I started at carburetor 1 (left side) and worked my way to #4. First, unscrew the black cap at the top and carefully remove. Be careful of a large spring right under the cap that will want to pop out. In this case the spring has been shortened for smoother deceleration response. Important--the cut side goes down when reassembling.

Carefully peel up the black diaphragm and remove it. The large slide needle will come out with it. There is a small o-ring at the front of the carburetor. Important not to lose it, especially when the carburetor is flipped upside down for cleaning.

Flip the carburetors upside down, unscrew the idle speed knob bracket and move the idle speed knob out of the way. Make sure the area around the float bowl is completely clean before opening.

I had to partially remove one of the overflow hoses to get to one of the bowl screws. The bowl screws on this set of carburetors have been replaced with hex bolts from the Holeshot stage 1 kit, and are considerably easier to remove than OEM. The OEM screws are held in with threadlock and extremely difficult to remove without stripping. To get them out the first time I had to use an impact screwdriver and hammer.

With the screws out, remove the float bowl cover, which exposes the jets and floats.

Using B-12 Chemtool, spray out the bowl cover, air dry with compressed air, and set aside.

One at a time, remove each of the jets with a flat screwdriver, spray it out with B-12, spray out the port underneath, and air dry the jet and the port with compressed air. Then reinstall the jet so it's snug but not overly tight.

Unscrew the float screw, lift and remove the float and float needle. Spray out the needle seat and needle with B-12.

Air dry the seat and surrounding area with compressed air. Carefully inspect floats and needle for dirt and wear.

Making sure everything is clean and dry, screw in the bowl cover so the bolts are slightly snug but not too tight.

Turn the carburetors over and carefully replace the diaphragm, making sure the o-ring is in place. Put the spring back in cut side down, then screw down the black cap. Make sure diaphragm is not pinched between cap and carburetor body.

Repeat for carbs #2 - 4. In the bottom of bowl covers #3 and 4 I found a gasket fragment, or some other piece of black debris.

Reinstall the idle screw bracket if it's still removed, and reinstall any hoses that were removed. Make sure everything is clean. Put a bead of WD-40 or Tri-flow around the outside edges of each of the 4 air intake ports at the back, and the air/fuel ports on the front, to prep the carburetors for reinstallation.