carburetor tuning...

[hrichmon@gmail.com]

Does anyone know how, or have any good resources on finding out about the carburetors that come with the kits? I ask this because I feel like it needs to be tuned. My bike runs amazing don't get me wrong, but "cold" starts (its California so don't think i mean cold cold) take it about a minute to get running. it will not fire immediately and i have to pedal for about a block before i hear it start trying, then it doesn't care much for me giving it throttle at first either. and then it just starts running very smooth. I have tickled the tickler button, filled the bowl, etc. before i start, and it doesn't make a difference. Also i have no idea what im doing with the choke. i leave it down, it seams that if i lift the lever it is like a back up kill switch. If anyone could guide me in the right direction i would appreciate it. I know you can adjust a "C-clip" on the needle in the carb, but i don't know what moving it up or down the needle are even suppose to do.

Thanks guys

P.S. it is a 49cc if that makes a difference

[Gareth]

The needle controls mid range. The jet controls top end. There is no richness adjustment for the idle circuit. The choke lever should be up when its cold just until it pops off then drop it down for it to run. This is common to most 2 cycle engines. My old 500 triple had a spring loaded choke so you didn't leave it on. I'm going to start sounding like a broken record in all my posts...but get an NGK B6HS and throw away the chinese spark plug. The higher you pin the needle the leaner your midrange is.

[hrichmon@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by Gareth

The jet controls top end. There is no richness adjustment for the idle circuit..

I'm not sure what that means....

Originally Posted by Gareth

The higher you pin the needle the leaner your midrange is.

does leaner mean less power? how would the leaner/richer affect performance?

Thanks for the help Gareth

[Gareth]

Ok...

Let me see if I can explain this clearly.

When you pull open your throttle its pulls the slide open in the carburetor allowing air to flow through the venturi. The venturi is the point in a carburetor where it narrows down to increase airspeed and atomize the fuel for proper combustion.

There are three tuning points in a carburetor. And transition points between them. Different carburetors have different methods for adjusting these.

The first is idle. This is when the slide or throttle plate (slide in the case of these carbs) is completely closed. On this carburetor there is no mixture adjustment for this. It is what it is. On many other carbs you have some adjustment....on this you do not. Do not worry about it. Set your idle speed with the thumb screw and forget about idle.

As you open the throttle two things occur. The slide moves upwards allowing more air through, and the needle moves with it allowing more fuel to enter the air stream to be atomized. The needle fits down into a jet. when you raise the clip on the needle it sits lower, hence it opens slower allowing less fuel in the mid or partial throttle. This causes for a leaner condition.

As you continue opening the throttle fully and air speed increases the needle becomes fully raised and fuel metering is controlled completely by the hole size in the main jet. You can buy different jets or drill your main jet as necessary to adjust the mixture on the top end. If the mixture is already too rich you will have to solder the jet and re-drill smaller.

What does this mean in the real world...

The only way to tell what your engine needs where you live is to learn to read the plug. In general leaner will give you more power. Too lean will give you a dead engine. Too rich will lead to plugs fowling and reduced power. The general consensus seems to be that most of these engines like the needle on the second groove from the top.

You want your plug to be a nice dry chocolate color at all operating conditions ideally.

[spit_fire]

lean or rich is the neverneding battle for some of us its very important for performance you achieve your best burn(most performance) at 14.7 particles of air to 1 particle of fuel this is called stoichiometric efficiency, if your bike is to rich it will suffer in the performance department, smoke alot, and ul find yourself 4 stroking once you hit about 30-35km/h if you run your bike to lean you might notice it runs great or better than rich but running a engione lean is very bad asspecially a 2 stroke were it depends on the oil being induced threw the fuel were as 4 strokes just have to worry about lots of heat and high hydrocarbons but neverthe less doesnt matter if iuts a 4 stroke or 2 stroke lean is very bad for a engine and can/will damadge the motor the eaziest way to tell is to check your plug when its hot(carefull removing hot plug some people swear youl pull out threads with it ive never had this problem but im alwayz carefull) if the electrode is black or oily than its to rich if its white its to lean you wanna try to get a nice tan colour out of it, well thats my 2 cents on this im sure other will b more than willing to help you out further if you need any help

[hrichmon@gmail.com]

WOW!... I believe that my needle is on the third or fourth groove from the top.... I'll double check it and move it soon, and see how that does.... You guys obviously put a lot of time into your responses and i thank you for your help.... and thank you Gareth for trying to dumb it down for me... it was still a bit over my head, but very helpful none the less