Problems with a 1987 VFR choke bracket

Hello everybody. I’ve been having a problem with my bike recently as I’ve finally gotten around to pulling the carbs off to clean it up and fix some other issues I won’t get into now. I’ve pretty much got everything put back together now but one issue I’m still experiencing that makes me hesitant to call the carbs finished is the choke bracket. On carb #2 where the choke lever is located that is directly pulled by the cable from the handlebars, the tangs on the fork lever pull the stem almost all the way out to where I am certain there is full activation of the enricher. However, on carb #3 where there is another fork that is actuated by a rod connecting the two, this is not the case. I am only seeing 1/2 to maybe 3/4 activation of the enriched stem at the most.

I have tried to fix this problem in numerous ways including putting a small o ring on the thin part of carb #3’s enricher stem to increase leverage of the linkage but to little avail. I have basically come to the conclusion that the flimsy metal rod connecting the two forks is not rigid enough to rotate the second fork enough to fully pull out the enricher stem. I would love it if someone could inform me of something I have missed because this problem has been eating away at me for a while now.

I am curious too if my problem has something to do with an incorrect enricher plunger for one of the carbs as carb #3 appears to have a longer stem variant of the plunger than all the others. I am unsure of which carb is supposed to have which variant as all of the other 3 carbs have the short stem variant. Including #2 which I would think should also have a long stem as both the fork and another part of the choke linkage has to fit on it similar to carb #3. In fact, I (and presumably the guy before me considering this is how I found it) had to bend the crap out of the fork on carb #2 to get it to fit with the other part of the linkage on the short stem plunger.

This is my first VFR and only my second (technically 3rd) bike so I would appreciate any and all advice anyone has for me. Thank you. Pics attached below.

 

First of all, all of the plungers don't have to come all the way out for more than easy cold starting. But it would bug me too. I have spent a fair amount of time dialing in the choke linkage to get max pull and still ensuring that they all return to fully closed, but have realized on a couple bikes it really doesn't matter.

I had a set of carbs on the bench that I checked to see if they had a similar problem. They do not.



The only thing I can offer besides it's just general wear and some sloppiness, is make sure the rod isn't deformed and still has a nice arc on it.



If it has been bent down and more straight, you are going to lose some pull because it is effectively longer. That being said you could add some arc and make it "shorter". I would try to do it at the existing bends, not in the middle of the "arch".

Don't pull your hair out though, it will be fine as is. You usually reduce the "choke" very soon after starting anyway to get to a reasonable RPM.

Good luck!

 

Also, there is a chance that is not an original plunger and the "waist" area is longer? But it doesn't really look like it I guess.

I would maybe say switch the position of the plungers to see if anything changes, but BEWARE. I consider removing the plungers a last resort, as the old brittle plastic likes to crack as soon as you put a wrench on it with any kind of off-vector pressure. They are VERY expensive to replace.