Cool (or boring) fact:
The slide will actually lube itself with gasoline. Don't worry about lube. Wipe it dry and spotless like they said. Avoid touching any part that contacts the walls of the carb. It's gotta slide up and down really freely. I
personally can't say about fingerprints... But I can sure say mud/dirt will stick it.
Ask me how I know.
I like to play with the slides before I take carbs off or disassemble them anyway. It's fun...
, especially on that old Shadow I've got. The slides on that thing are right in your face. After removing the airbox, I set my finger at the bottom edge and bob it up and down. You're not gonna cause a problem that way (Well... uh... unless you go crazy and break something
.). It's a way you can roughly test how the slide is doing. No promises, though. You can sure tell if one's stuck good anyway. And you can feel if there's any grit in there. Should be unbelievably smooth as butter.
I wouldn't worry so much about the
needle itself. It's gonna get sprayed hard with gas all the time. That's the thing that meters fuel, especially in the midrange. It's not really in the position to get stuck anyway. It's the big cylinder holding the needle that sticks-- the
slide.
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