Choke

1978 LTD1000. Stock VM 26’s. Carbs cleaned, fuel T’s replaced. Put it all back together and choke not operating properly. Feels like not all cylinders getting “choked”. Very rough and tough to get going. Once bike is warmed up it runs like a champ. Is there something I missed in disassembly and rebuild? Looking through past topics can’t seem to find anything on this. Oh, and I checked the plugs after riding and all were great except #3 was a little lean.

Are the levers lifting the plungers on all 4 carbs ?

Sounds like float bowl or that extended brass tube jutting out of each carb casting plugged. Bowl starter jet is a cradle just waiting for sediment filling and eventual plugging. Check this first as noted in photos, all the symptoms point to this because it apparently runs fine after. There is a correct way to assemble those lifters, bigger egg shaped down. They made several variations of those in the 900-1000 lineup. Flip the bowl over and you'll not a stamped number right next to the brass overflow nipple, probable "80" in your case. This is the starter jet hole size in MM, so .8mm. Just use a wire/drill bit equivalent to clear. But also look for debris right under the brass jet, clean it out too!     

I’ll take ‘em back off, I guess. 99% sure everything in carbs are clean. Not really sure about the plungers. I overlooked that I suppose. It runs great once warmed up so that is my suspect. I can’t that you guys enough for all the help you have been getting this thing back on the road.