Carb issues

I have an 83. Typically runs pretty good but having some issues.

1) Have to use choke to start it now. Didn't used to need to.

2) Smokes quite a bit when starting. Not impacting oil.

3) Slow off the start.

4) Having a hard time keeping it going. Idle doesn't seem to be enough. Dies at stop.

5) Notice on the highway that every 10 seconds or so the RPMs will drop from 3500 to 3300 for a split second.

Would appreciate any insight you might have.

Thanks

Bob

I'd say you're into a fuel mixture issue, sounds like both the idle circuit and the running circuit are effected. Try a rich mixture of Seafoam or a good carb cleaner. Just us it in a 1\4 tank or so of fuel, run it to get the cleaner into the system, let ot sit for a couple of hours, then run it again to freshen up the cleaner, a couple more hours of patience, and then take it for a ride, run it low on fuel, fill up the tank and then come back and tell us what happened.

I'd say you're into a fuel mixture issue, sounds like both the idle circuit and the running circuit are effected. Try a rich mixture of Seafoam or a good carb cleaner. Just us it in a 1\4 tank or so of fuel, run it to get the cleaner into the system, let ot sit for a couple of hours, then run it again to freshen up the cleaner, a couple more hours of patience, and then take it for a ride, run it low on fuel, fill up the tank and then come back and tell us what happened.

:sign yeah that: Could leave it sit overnight with Sea-Foam in it.

Well, I added Seafoam and it does work better, but certainly not fixed.

I forgot to add was backfiring out of the right muffler. Think this is from a bad gasket on the right side. I added the venture rear lights and really had to pressure the muffler to get it on. Been backfiring ever since. Gas mileage was good on the 2 tanks I went through today. Low 40's on both. How does a person know when they need carb work, syncing etc? This has been out of my league

if you idle is uneven...you need a carb sync done. Backfiring happens from unburned fuel. Many things can cause this. Including bad ignition wires OR carb issues. There is a too long of a list for me alone to go into