[s10blazed]

Quick background info:

This is my wife's bike. It's an 07 (I think? Last year they made the older style), has very low miles (less than 1,000), always garage kept, (usually) drained of fuel from the carbs for long storage, and nothing is modified or changed from stock. Last year it sat all winter with the pet cock on(whoops, my bad!). It started right up the following spring but during the first ride it started loosing power as she described it. It wasn't working properly and then just went bad quickly - it gradually got worse and worse until it was un-ridable and in it's current condition.

Problem:

The choke needs to be on fully for it to idle. After it gets warmed up it can be moved to about 75% and still idle. Moving it much further than that it will just stall out. Even with the choke on fully, slightly tapping the throttle just bogs it down. If you hold it to try and get some RPMs, it just drops down and stalls. When it's in gear it is possible to get it to move... although it has to be done by letting the clutch out really slow and giving no throttle. Giving throttle and releasing the clutch like usual results in a stall every time.

Video of the problem:

Solutions I've tried so far:

Changed the gas in the tank and ran it long enough to cycle the fuel in the carbs.

Diagnosis:

I suspect something with the carbs. I intend to take them off and clean them out pretty good. But my question is - where should I pay most attention while cleaning? Is this obviously something else?

Any advice or tips will be greatly appreciated!

 

[nevada]

sounds like clogged jets.
theyre pretty tiny holes, and get clogged easily.
you'll probably need to soak the carb in a cleaner. overnight would be best.
when i had mine done, it soaked for a couple days.

price a carb kit, you might be better off just buying a kit with all new jets in it. instead of trying to mess with cleaning yours.

 

[s10blazed]

Ok, so I have to admit - I don't know much about carbs. Which parts are the jets? Are there multiple jets in each? Can you help pin point the location from the attached diagram?

 

[nevada]

yes, there are multiple jets in each. and its going to need synced when you're done.
it might be better to have it done by someone who knows what theyre doing.

 

[s10blazed]

If I had any disposable income at this point I would have someone else take care of it. I am not totally unfamiliar with these carbs (I had a 250 in the past that I cleaned the carbs on) but just don't know the specific names of specific parts. I am very much mechanically inclined enough to take it apart and put it back together well enough to run as good as it does now. I have a home made carb syncher and have successfully done that in the past.

My point in starting this thread was to learn the problem with the bike and fix it myself. Learn to clean a carb and you can clean them for life... have someone do it for you and you end up with 1 clean set of carbs... or something like that.

To sum up my original post a bit: What area of the carb should I focus my cleaning on?

To which your answer of 'jets' was much appreciated.

Now, a bit simpler... which parts in that diagram are the jets? (the needle looking parts from my brief Googling it seems)

 

[Ninjabadger4]

if i were you id take the carb off the bike so you dont accidentally drop a jet in it

 

[s10blazed]

if i were you id take the carb off the bike so you dont accidentally drop a jet in it

I thought that was a given? I planned on taking them off to clean them with compressed air and various solvents. I was going to soak them as suggested as well and don't see that being very easy with it still on the bike.

 

[acidburn]

the service manual should give detailed instruction on what to do for carb maintenence.
best place for info. if you dont have it try finding a download.
It will give a spec for the float and other things that have to be adjusted.

 

[williamr]

Make it easy. The jets are brass tubes with a hole running through them Tey screw in to the carb body. Petrol evaporates when it's left in them for a long while and can leave a gummy deposit. It only has to leave a thin film on the inside of the holes to reduce the effective diameter of the jets and screw up the fuelling.

While your at it, make sure that the diaphragms are in good condition with no cracks or splits and that the slides are free to move in the carb body - the gummy stuff can make them stick.

Use a proprietory carb cleaner.

I'd also check that the petrol tap is operating properly.

Rob

 

[s10blazed]

Just to update with some good news: Its running fine now!

I finally had a chance to tear into this and clean it up. As williamr mentioned, the jets were quite oxidized/gummy. I took the top and bottom off of each carb and cleaned it well. I focused on the jets and the little holes within the carb body. The needle part also had a few noticeable crusty rings on it that weren't supposed to be there. I didn't affect any adjustment screws so I skipped the synching. I also took apart the pet cock and the diaphram in there seemed like it may have been stuck.

In any case the old lady got to ride it yesterday finally. That is one less evil-eye I'll get per week now, haha.