Help, why did my top speed decline?

[pauldo]

After replacing 3 leaky carb bowls (aka float chambers) on my 1996 fastrike, I have noticed a significant decrease in my top speed. The one very obvious mistake I made was forgetting to remove the jet screws from the old bowls which caused flooding and poor running. Nonetheless, I dug the screws out of the trash, removed what seems to me as a drain bolt on the carb bowl, and inserted the jet screw fairly easily. In addition, I replaced all six spark plugs. The new plugs were NGKs which actually ran fine but I immediately noticed the drop in speed. After reading posts about the recommended plugs for johnson motors, I replaced the plugs again with the same exact champion plug (gapped at .03) that was installed initially. Lost speed did not return. So now I'm wondering should I have changed all six bowls, was my install of the jet screws appropriate, or is there some type of carb adjustment I need to make?

[Lockjaw]

So you replaced the bowls themselves, or the floats or what? Did you check your float level measurement before reinstalling?

Did you get the jet out of the float bowl too? The high speed jet is way in that hole. You also need to make sure there is no crap in there.

[pauldo]

I only replaced the bowls. I reused everything else including the gaskets, floats, and jet screws. Is there more than one jet screw in each chamber? How do I check and/or adjust the float level measurement?

[ChampioNman]

Did any of the gaskets on the back of the carb bodies come off and you didn't notice? You check the float drop by measuring from the bottom of the carb body to the tip of the float should be around 7/8". With the carb inverted make sure the bottom of the float is level with the carb body. Only one high speed jet per carb body. Where they all on the same bank?