Just fitted some carbs i rebuilt ages ago and for some reason i popped my finger down the stack to test tthe slides and it stayed up tried the others.....same. they did come down eventually and after a bit of working did start to work without sticking although not really as they should. Upon inspection of the slide rubbers they have become very stiff and nowhere as supple as they should be, am i flogging a dead horse here in hoping there going to work or should i just bin em? Im not too keen on binning them as they are uk carbs and the slides aint cheap at £39 each

You can get rubber softner on ebay for tyres, but not sure if this woudl damage the fragile diaphram. I have used wd40 to soften rubber before leave it on for 5 - 10 mins then wipe away. Or possibly try some 2smoke oil?

i had a similar prob when i striped my carbs as i left them apart for a while , i put them in petrol for half hour before i put them back in the carbs ,( i could be wrong ) but when there in the carbs with the petrol going round they dont try out , so stay flexy , ,

sam

yes
I read on cammos carbs guide that if u soak the diaphragms in petrol this will make them supple again.

accetone is the best but only very sort time. works wonders with carb manifold rubbers makes like new.

Soaking them in petrol I think is a bad idea.

This tends to make them expand too much and they don't fit back in the hole properly.

Have you actually run the bike yet?

If you run it for a while they might get a light coating of fuel from running and maybe cure themselves?

I'd try this first as it's free and going to be the easiest option..

Also are the carb return springs ok?

No i didnt run the bike while they were like that, it still needed parts before i could start it which turned up this morning so instead of soaking them in petrol i just rubbed petrol in and manipulated the rubber with my fingers which seemed to work and after a while the slides returned as they should.

Got it started up this afternoon and its running fine, on the button and it hasnt been run for about 8 years, gota love a honda