I've got SpArK! Now a solid tune is in order!

[904cafe]

Alright guys, as I'm sure most of you know this was my first bike, my first motor build, my first carb overhaul EVER! I was having issues with the spark (constant power to the points). But now I have that squared away... I now have a nice strong Dyna coil, new condenser and new point breaker.

Bare with me, I'm trying to get all the info out in one writing to better help you help me!

Cranked it up last night, but still having major idle issues AND it's def running rich (prob my idle issue). A few things I have noticed when messing with the carbs... It will only start with no choke and to keep it going I have to feed it throttle, it will not idle. I also noticed last night when I had the filters off that I'm getting a light spray of fuel out of the intake sides of the carbs. I have already adjusted the bowls, it has new float needles, gaskets, jets etc. Main jet was upped from a 88 to a 95 (due to pod filters and straight pipes) but I havn't messed with the throttle needle?! I'm thinking because I have a larger main jet (larger hole) I need to move the needle down atleast a click maybe two to make up for the larger hole? Does that make sense? Am I getting blow by on my main jet during idle because the needle isn't closing it off? It runs OK when I've got it on the road with the throttle open, but I'll bring it back after a mile or two trip and the plugs are fairly black (not horrible but not perfect by any means).

Oh, I have messed with the idle screw... NO CHANGE in idle. And I've messed with the fuel screw, no change either....

Aaaaah!!! I really don't want to take it somewhere, I've done everything myself thus far. :-\

 

[chrisf]

Have you tried putting your old jets in and shimming the needle a bit? Remind me again what bike you have...

--Chris

 

[904cafe]

Honda CB200T. Sorry

I gotta do a search for the factory jets (I thought the same thing), they are somewhere in my garage HAHA. But what do you mean by shimming the needles? I thought about starting again with the 88's and if need be gradually going up. The jets available are 88 then 92 then 95. I just went with 95's because I know of another CB200 using foam filters and he's running 95's.

 

[Maritime]

Kneedragger posted this: http://www.dansmc.com/carbs2.htm I read it and it helped me big time. I have 2 jets per carb, slow and main(Fast) i had way over jetted my slow and had similar issues, it would idle but at 3000 rpm and was super rich at idle. no choke to start etc. I ended up only needing a 72 (70 is stock ) slow jet to get it ruinnig right, but I needed a 128 main (108 stock) This is on a CB450 with pods and straight pipes. It now runs and starts well and smooth. It sounds like you only have the one jet so it might be trickey getting just right without changing the jet needle some. Baasically as air increases, (throttle opening) you need to get more fuel to the engine, in my case the slow jet puts fuel in the stream from idle to 1/4 throttle, then the main jet and needle jet take over for the rest of the rev range. you need a big enough jet to allow enough fuel when riding but not so big it floods or runs rich at idle. Don't know if I made any sense but a pick of the inside of your carb would help figure out how yours works. Read this article and it will shed some light on carbs. I now know why fuel injection is nice, you can just program a computer to read the fuel air ratio and add or subtract fuel.

Cheers, good luck.

 

[904cafe]

I also have a main jet and a idle/slow jet. My main jet stock is 88 the slow is 38. I'm gonna try dropping the needle some tonight. For some reason it seems logical that because I have a larger hole (larger jet) than stock the normal needle setting doesn't allow the needle to fill the main jet's larger hole when resting at no throttle (make sense?). I may also try to go down to a 92 or 90 main jet as I have a 95 in there now and it seems to be running rich even when I do a WOT run. I got it up to 7,000rpms last night, seems ok but not to its full potential. My idle is my main concern. It's really not even safe right now... I have to feed it throttle while trying to brake... all so it doesn't stall as I'm coming to a stop. More action on it either tonight or early tomorrow will tell!

Anymore ideas or helpful hints will be greatly concidered and appreciated...

 

[partydog]

have you checked the float levels? did you muck them up when you dissassembled the carbs?

 

[904cafe]

alright guys PROGRESS!

I raised the clip on the needle, in term dropping the needle. Right away I noticed a difference at start up... with the choke off, which from my experience is normal, the idle races a bit more than normal (with a cold motor) but after a bit it warmed up and it allowed me to take the choke back off. I didn't really mess with the idle much more, it was still a little touchy but I wanted to make sure the bike was still running ok at half and full throttle with the needle dropped some. So I took it for a spin! I put around 9 miles on it tonight. Def gives me less trouble at a stop. The RPM's don't drop straight down to nothing. More adjustments tomorrow should make it a lot better! Still running rich though, I think I may drop the main jet down from the 95 that's in there to a 92 or 90.

 

[philos1]

cool, glad you're on track with the probs.

 

[904cafe]

alright guys so it's been a long day with the bike...

i clocked nearly 50 miles on her today... here are my problems hope somebody can resolve them...

the first 40 miles or so went OK, not great, not perfect but OK. I'm having issues getting it down into first and neutral. sometimes i have to rock the bike a bit or fiddle with the clutch. im thinking i need to adjust the clutch but im not sure? so anyways first 40 mile went ok, ran ok, idles ok blah blah. problems started when i was on my way home just a few miles from it started reving super high when I would engage the clutch or have it in neutral. what could that be? then trying to avoid stopping at all cost for fear of embarasment at stop lights it started acting up while riding. i was cruising at around 45 and then it dropped to 35 and wouldnt let me accelerate past then quickly cut off on me. let it sit for a bit and it barely fired back up.

pulled the plugs when i got home and were a little sooty around the outside but fairly brown in color around the actual tips.

my biggest concern is it reving like crazy with the clutch engaged or in nuetral. clutch issues? idk? help?

 

[904cafe]

so there are some clutch issues but that wasn't why my idle was racing...

i think i need to Annie up and throw a new clutch in it... it's slipping a bit at full acceleration.

But... I'm almost positive I know why idle starts to race at times. Tell me if this makes sense... my petcock or something between the tank and the carbs is slowing my fuel flow which in turn is starving the motor causing it to run UBER lean and making it rev super high? yes, no? I'm gonna break down the petcock and make sure it's cleaned out, if it's bad I may just get a new one, if not then just a rebuild kit.

Post more tomorrow!

 

[philos1]

yeah, sounds like low revs going to high revs could be a fuel starvation issue. Check the vent on the tank (at the filler neck). and check that the petcock is clean too. I'd have a look at the slides on your carbs to see that they're moving as well.

 

[904cafe]

cool thanks! i figured thats what it may be. i'll give it a look.

 

[904cafe]

So the petcock ws def a bit clogged, nothing too bad but I cleaned it out and both drains are getting nice flow now. Rode her around about 50 miles Saturday and another 20 or so on Sunday. Great weather this weekend, soon to change, Florida rain!