Any tips on how to make this beast run fast again? It smells rich, and it fouls plugs fast. I can put a new plug in, ride for 30 minutes, and that new plug is already totally black. You can be riding along with the throttle engaged about 3/4 of the way, and it just dogs out. It won't go any faster than about 15 mph. Then all of a sudden, when you least expect it, she opens up and runs like a striped ape. You back off of the throttle to corner a turn, and whammo, back to dog city for another few minutes.

I thought of doing a good carb cleaning, but have never worked on one of these.  

yeah sounds like you have some trash or water in the carb. or it's too rich or both.

cleaning is fairly simple, remove the carb then remove the screws that hold the bowl on.

you may have to tap the side of the bowl with the plastic handle of your screwdriver to get the gasket to let go.
but remove the bowl, and look for water or dirt.

use a wire bread tie or a .10 guitar string and run it through the jets to be sure they are clear.  you'll have to open the throttle to get the wire to go through the pilot jet.

then carefully remove the pin that holds the float assembly on, being very careful not to lose the needle valve or the pin as you remove the floats. (they are very expensive to replace.)

make sure the fuel inlet under the float needle valve is clear of any debris.

then put it all back together and put the carb back on.

if you found water and or trash in the carb then chances are you have some in the tank as well. i would suggest draining it and refilling with clean gas.

for the issue of running rich:
locate the fuel/air mixture screw.
mark where it is originally with a sharpie, make a mark on the screw and the side of the carburetor so you can line these up if neccessary.

if you turn this screw to the left it will increase the amount of fuel in the mix, If you turn it to the right it will decrease the amount of fuel in the mix.

turn it in 1/4 turn increments and let it run a few minutes between turns.
i would turn it to the right 1-2  1/4 turns and see if this doesn't help you out.  

Thank you so much for the quick reply. I started tearing things apart tonight, but got called away with other duties, and left it half done. I pulled the gas tank and have the carb detached. The only problem I could foresee is how to detach the throttle and choke cables to free up the carb so I can clean things nicely.

When you say detach the bowl, are you referring to the bottom or the top?

Thanks,

Kenny  

I pulled the pin and took the float off. I never could figure out what else to take off. I stuck the bread tie wire down into several orifices, but none seemed to go very deep, even with the throttle opened. I sprayed everything down with Gumout, and reassembled it. So far it isn't starting. I'm sure I put it all back together properly.  

I got her running again. I used the ol' brain and thought about some starting fluid spray. It worked. Only problem is, I didn't improve anything with all that hard work. It still dogs out. I guess next I'll try fuel filter and air filter, or the air/fuel mixture.