OEM carb is working well on my currently rough CT1.  The only thing not working properly it appears is the "catch" on the choke lever. It appears it should catch and hold on the bent tab underneath the lever, but mine just goes back up without catching.   

Do I just need to bend that tab up underneath so it holds better?  Let me know what you think.  See pic link below. 

ibb.co/wYMN1Yv
 

Yes sometimes you have to bend the tab a Little 

If you haven’t had the choke mechanism out of the carb yet, I’d also recommend removing it and cleaning and lightly lubricating then working it for a bit. It should have a smooth snappy action.  Like yours I had a nasty dent on my CT1 tank. I should have taken it to a body shop but I wanted to do the work myself so I had a metal shop friend cut a square hole underneath, punched the dent out from underneath and had it welded back together. It came out great but probably should have paid a professional do it. No leaks. 

Have to crack the nut & separate the arm & lever by sliding on sideway so you can bend the spring piece up a bit. Is springy so might take a bit of force but don't over do it. Then slide back under the lever & tighten the nut. There is a locating tang which might need a bit of thought if doesn't let enough sideways movement happen. Otherwise might have to bend the big strong part downwards. But not a good idea if it's smoothly lifting the choke piston as will muck up how it slides on the piston rod. That only works of someone's pulled the lever up hard & bent the strong part--which is a possibility though & come to think 'could' be more likely than the spring steel part having bent down & away as you don't physicaly touch 'that'. Be sure the choke nut is tight, but would be moving around if loose.
Sorry, keep additing--looks like a gap under the piston nut in the pic but bit hard to get a good view. Just be sure it tightend fully down.

I agree with RT325 that maybe the nut is not fully tightened. I remember taking mine off and putting it back on, and I had to be very careful to make sure everything was lined up correctly, or that spring tab did not sit at the correct angle. I just looked at mine and there's a little locator tab on the back of the lever bracket, and if that is sitting up on the carburetor body, it won't allow you to tighten the nut down, so the spring tab would be loose. If it is, just loosen the piston nut a little bit, wiggle it until everything's in place then snug it back down.

The tab normally touches. I would not try to bend that tab up until the carburetor gets cleaned off the bike. Take a picture of the mount washer sequence for reference.

Slight adjustment possible up.

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