Stuperhawk

I just wanted to give a general thanks to everyone who posts info here. I'm somewhat mechanically deficient and I always pull tidbits of information that really help me keep the beast running.
Recently, someone who will remain nameless fired up the bike (a 1999) after it had been sitting for some time. It sputtered a bit, then after the smell of varnish cleared away, it just died and wouldn't do anything.

At this point it wouldn't even sputter. I used a lot of the tricks on here (Sea Foam) and eventually attempted the Yamalube carb cleaning trick. I wanted to try everything before removing the carbs. Keep in mind that just getting the tank off (with the forum's help) was a major feat for me, so not dealing with the carbs was my goal.

I drained the carbs, made a huge mess pouring in the carb cleaner and let it sit for a few days, shaking it whenever I could. I drained the cleaner from the carbs, reassembled the tank (taking care not be a PVLIR victim) and holy **** it fired right up. It still pops a little and seems a bit sluggish at low rpms, but this took it from nothing to ride-able! I'll get it legal and take it for a longer test ride later this week. I'll most likely get a more skilled individual to properly clean the carbs if everything doesn't clear up after a few tanks are run through it.

So, you know, thanks!

Jack Flash

Ahhh Stuper. You did it all wrong ! You should of first told us of your problem, then asked a bunch of already previously answered a 100 times questions.
Then, we would of watched the Tweety bird snap, snarl and bite your head off for our personal enjoyment, then, you use the search engine and read up on all the neat threads. But you decided to read up first, then tell us you fixed your problem. Where's the fun in that ?

Sarcasm asside, welcome to the forum, and, glade it's been helpful so far.

CrankenFine

smokinjoe73

If this un-named person wanted to go a huge step better, they would drain that awful sludgy fuel out of the tank and use fresh premium. That stuff does not improve with age.

I am the number one person on here who know that draining the tank and using fresh stuff can save you a solid week of work. (and engine swapping)

Stuperhawk

Thanks, but not to worry, I ....I mean he, did immediately drain the tanks. Kind of a pain actually. I only have one gas can and no safe way to dispose of several gallons of gas. I still have it and will probably try it in my mower (it smells okay). Stay tuned for my next post on the lawn mower repair forum!

I am running some Sea Foam mixed in with premium gas. If I still get some sputtering, would it be beneficial to soak the carbs again? Now that I have the process down, it wouldn't be much work and I reeeeeally don't want to have to pull them.

Thanks again!

smokinjoe73

Here is the problem. The rubber diaphagms on you carbs are going to decay if you subject them to carb cleaner or soak them. Once that happens, it gets ugly.

You really want to carefully go the next step and disassemle the cabs to clean the jet holes physicly with something. The jets an orafices can be soaked. There is a step-by somewhere on this forum.

FTL900