have REAL power loss now!

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crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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sounds a little low but I think more important would be how does the engine sound and what are the roads like.

That black plug.the sign of rich running, could well be from the first carb... Still wait for the real mechanics to jump in. I would still check for an air leak around the manifold joint. It is simple to do and can't hurt. I have an o ring in the bottom of my joint and never had any more trouble from it.

Also how does it run with the choke on. That might be interesting to know. Mine bogs down after a few yards with the choke on to any degree. That's how it should act.
I will let you know how it runs with the choke on tomorrow. I've been sick today and haven't been able to ride my bike. Thanks for the help deacon. I will test for the air leak too.
 

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
I can remember when I first tried to start my bike. I think I had everything wrong.

The worst was seizing it, but then there were the air leaks. Norman almost had to twist my arm to have me change the intake manifold gasket and seal the intake. I had taken the intake minifold gasket on the cylinder loose to get to something. I thought I had it sealed when i reused the same gasket. Norman finally convinced me to remove it and make a new one. Once I did the bike ran pretty darn good. It's one of the reasons I always say check for air leaks.

I know that it sounds really like a super stupid thing to do in a lot of cases but it is the number one problem with these bikes when you first try to start them. At least that is what I hear the most about.

It might not help, but it sure as heck can't hurt.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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sounds a little low but I think more important would be how does the engine sound and what are the roads like.

That black plug.the sign of rich running, could well be from the first carb... Still wait for the real mechanics to jump in. I would still check for an air leak around the manifold joint. It is simple to do and can't hurt. I have an o ring in the bottom of my joint and never had any more trouble from it.

Also how does it run with the choke on. That might be interesting to know. Mine bogs down after a few yards with the choke on to any degree. That's how it should act.
Hey deacon, I tried the choke this morning and it bogged down right away just like yours. I will check for the air leak in a little bit. My wife is still asleep right now (she stays up late), and I would have to be running it outside of the bedroom window. Once she gets up I will give it a try.

thanks,
john
 

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
It you had an air leak it shouldn't bog down. Still check it can't hurt. With the choke off it should run fine if it doesn't have a leak.

I wonder if you have slack in your throttle cable. did you ever adjust that little thing that looks like a buddist temple on top of the carb. If you don't have any air leaks try adjusting that thing. At that point you are at the end of my very limited amount of engine adjustment knowledge. keep after norman he knows more about these carbs than anyone on here.
 
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crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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It you had an air leak it shouldn't bog down. Still check it can't hurt. With the choke off it should run fine if it doesn't have a leak.

I wonder if you have slack in your throttle cable. did you ever adjust that little thing that looks like a buddist temple on top of the carb. If you don't have any air leaks try adjusting that thing. At that point you are at the end of my very limited amount of engine adjustment knowledge. keep after norman he knows more about these carbs than anyone on here.
I don't know how to adjust that thing that looks like a Buddhist temple. I remember on my old carb I adjusted it and it made a big difference in the way it ran. Maybe I can try that on this one. Can't hurt (I hope).
 

jasonh

New Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Gently rotate your throttle with your thumb and index finger. If it rotates more than just a hair with no resistance before you feel the resistance of the cable, then the cable should be adjusted. Just unscrew the adjuster until the play is gone, then tighten down the nut to keep it in place. Just like adjusting your brakes.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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Gently rotate your throttle with your thumb and index finger. If it rotates more than just a hair with no resistance before you feel the resistance of the cable, then the cable should be adjusted. Just unscrew the adjuster until the play is gone, then tighten down the nut to keep it in place. Just like adjusting your brakes.
Hi Jason,
I just checked that and there is only a tiny bit of play in the throttle grip before you feel the tension of the cable... so I guess it does not need to be adjusted. Thanks for the thought though.

john
 

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
I just finished adjusting the throttle cable on a diy bike. In mine I had to turn it a bit before it actually did anything at all. Then when I went all the way to the end of the throttle, I didn't have it wide open because the throttle had already played out taking up the slack.

If your engine responds instantly to the throttle then you are fine. It there is a some slack not in the tension but in the engine response I would tighten it. If it responds instantly then I wouldn't bother with it.

If you didn't find a leak and your throttle responds, you are past anything I know to do. Try Norman he knows everything about these engines and carbs.

by the way the pressure you feel on the throttle when the slack is out is the spring not necessarily the needle moving I think. At least that is what it was on my diy bike i worked on today.

When the needle was actually moving the engine responds. It ain't much but it's the best I can offer.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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Thanks for the help deacon. Sounds like I am doing all right on everything so far. Norman is going to look at my old carb and see if he can fix it. It had a ton of power but I don't know if it was from the extra gas that was leaking. I know that Norman is the man around here so if I can get him to take a look at my carburetor I will be doing good.

Yea my throttle responds instantly pretty much. I'm going to look into my carb some more today when I get the time.

thanks for all the help,
john

I just finished adjusting the throttle cable on a diy bike. In mine I had to turn it a bit before it actually did anything at all. Then when I went all the way to the end of the throttle, I didn't have it wide open because the throttle had already played out taking up the slack.

If your engine responds instantly to the throttle then you are fine. It there is a some slack not in the tension but in the engine response I would tighten it. If it responds instantly then I wouldn't bother with it.

If you didn't find a leak and your throttle responds, you are past anything I know to do. Try Norman he knows everything about these engines and carbs.

by the way the pressure you feel on the throttle when the slack is out is the spring not necessarily the needle moving I think. At least that is what it was on my diy bike i worked on today.

When the needle was actually moving the engine responds. It ain't much but it's the best I can offer.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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Well... I swapped my main jet today from my old carb to my new one and it didn't make a difference. I'm running out of things to try...sigh. Maybe this carb is only meant to run at 18 mph lol.. who knows. If you can think of anything else let me know. If not I will wait until Norman has a chance to look at my old leaky carb.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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Hi everyone. I just wanted to let you know some behavior of my carb. My speedo is locked in KMph so I'm stuck with that.. sorry. When I go at about 1/2 throttle a go 1 km faster than I can wide open.

I messed with the cable control above the carburetor and got an extra 1 km of speed (in mid range). I lowered it. Thinking of lowering it some more and see what happens.

And last, I have something that confuses me. When I take my bike for a ride and forget to turn to turn the gas back on, when it's about to run out of gas it runs like a bat out of **** for about a 1/2 minute! Anyone know why this is? Seems like if we knew what was going on there we could get my carb to run right? Does that make sense to anyone? Does it run like he** because of more air or more fuel?

Just some thoughts guys and gals, what do you think?
john
 

Ghost0

New Member
Mar 7, 2008
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Bellingham, WA
That is a sure sign that it is running way too rich. When it starts to run out of fuel it leans out, less fuel to air. That also makes sense since your plug is black. You will need to rejet your carb. You can either buy a different jet or solder and drill. Norm has all the details.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
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Hey Ghost, Ok... I'm too rich. I moved my e-clip to the top position and made a tiny difference. Not much. I did eck out an extra kmph or 2. But it still bogs down at full throttle. I will look for Norm's post about "solder and drill" and see if I can find it. Thanks for your help.
 

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
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up north now
crabdance, have you tried opening up the air filter cover and maybe the baffle too? Or remove the baffle entirely? Both will lean you out a little and help with power.

Also, if you are running 32-36:1 you can make it lean out a bit by going to 24:1 mix.
 

crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
162
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Maybe a scooter shop might have them, but best is delortodirect.com but shipping for 1 jet will KILL you.....you need a 5mm jet...... ~.60mm orifice
Thanks Pablo for the net address. I will check it out and see if I have a heart attack over the shipping (lol).. thanks man

edit: You must have misspelled the url because I can't get it to come up. Can you check that again for me? thanks
 
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crabdance

New Member
May 16, 2008
162
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0
crabdance, have you tried opening up the air filter cover and maybe the baffle too? Or remove the baffle entirely? Both will lean you out a little and help with power.

Also, if you are running 32-36:1 you can make it lean out a bit by going to 24:1 mix.
Thanks for the help man I will check out the baffle and see how that goes. I have tried opening up the air filter and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Have to wait until I can buy a master link first. That's going to take me about a week :( we are pretty broke around here. Once I get a link I will let you know how the baffle part turned out.

thanks