Honda-SOHC

Hi everyone....can do with some advice please ! I am new to working on old bikes but have exhausted all ideas before reaching out to you

Picked up a 1975 cb125s recently and after some basic checks and service the bike started. Was running a bit rough but would start by the second kick. All great so far so I thought lets fine tune this further. I purchased a Float level tool to adjust the float height to spec but now its way off the mark when I start it. I'm getting some white smoke and the bike stalls after a minute as the spark plug is totally coked up....it clearly running too rich but I can't see how my minor tweak can make such a difference ? Is there something else I can check that I have missed ? Seems the float height is very sensitive and I cannot get it back to a running condition...or is it coincidently another issue as it was not touched for a few weeks.

Before my clever intervention I had done the following (and the bike was running).

New battery, points and clearance gap set. New spark plug (gap set), oil and air filter, new fuel lines, New petcock and importantly a thorough manual clean of the carb. It was a manual clean with lots of elbow grease and carb spray. I replaced the main jet. All small clearance holes are visible and I've double checked that too. It looks clean as a whistle ?

I am sure this has been asked before (sorry) but can anyone confirm please where the distance should be taken from to measure the float height ? The manual only says carb body but many videos and info online are contradicting this. Some say the gasket seal face which is much further down and the carb body top face which is is higher ? I have taken it from the small notch face on the side of the body up to the top of the float. Spec is 24mm according to the manual. I ensued the float is just touching the float valve spring and not compressing it as advised...please see pics below...looks 24mm to me..

Also the carb air/fuel screw and idle screw are set to factory conditions. On the air/fuel I have 1.5 turns out from the bottom.

Any other advice/checks to make are welcome....many thanks in advance.

Welcome to the Forum - there will be some members here who know about the CB125's.

Thankyou ! 

Firstly thankyou for accepting me into this forum !

Just bought a 1975 Honda cb125s to tinker with and learn to ride on 

Will be a keeper and just plan to get it on the road with a light restoration.

Looking forward to learning more !

Maj.