Need help getting it started

[ex42k9j]

i've seen one or two tiny specs since getting it built. its not like there is a million floating particles in my line right now. 99% of the time i do not even see them.

i wasnt planning on modding it any time soon (id get a better carb and stuff before i mod it in any way) my main concern is with getting it to sit idle.

how do i tune the carb? i know to check the spark plug buts thats about it. spark plug is black and oily (rich mixture?)

 

[nightcruiser]

i've seen one or two tiny specs since getting it built. its not like there is a million floating particles in my line right now. 99% of the time i do not even see them.

i wasnt planning on modding it any time soon (id get a better carb and stuff before i mod it in any way) my main concern is with getting it to sit idle.

how do i tune the carb? i know to check the spark plug buts thats about it. spark plug is black and oily (rich mixture?)

Sounds rich, if you have the NT carb, or any carb with just one cable then you need to move the e-clip on the needle away from the pointed end to lean up you mixture.....

 

[ex42k9j]

is that all i do is raise it a notch or two and test ride? do i have to drain the gas out of it first and if so how? how will i know if its tuned correctly? will i notice a speed increase or something?

 

[nightcruiser]

is that all i do is raise it a notch or two and test ride? do i have to drain the gas out of it first and if so how? how will i know if its tuned correctly? will i notice a speed increase or something?

You said your plug is black an oily, thats too rich.....

Moving the e-clip on the needle AWAY from the pointed end will allow the needle to seat deeper inside the main jet, thus restricting the fuel flow a little more and leaning out your mixture.

Yes, experimentation is as good as any method to go at it. Your plug says your rich, so adjust the e-clip for leaner and do a test ride. Observe how she runs and after a good ride check your plug again (after the motor has cooled). You want a nice chocolate brown, not oily black (rich), not white (lean), something in the middle. Here is a link to a really nice guide to compare your plug to that will help you determine when you got it right, or in which direction you are wrong....
Spark Plugs

 

[nightcruiser]

on the gas, I usually turn off the fuel valve while I am riding and burn out as much fuel from the carb and fuel line as I can before I am about to remove my carb. There will still be some fuel left in the bowl, you can either let it out with the drain screw or just open the bowl and pour it out.....

But if you are just doing an e-clip adjustment you probably don't need to even pull the carb off the motor (unless your frame is really small), so no need to worry about the gas.

I'm pretty sure you have an NT carb, so you just need to thread off the top piece where the throttle cable goes in and the slide will come right out. Inside the slide is the e-clip. There is a video on youtube showing someone doing an e-clip adjustment on an NT carb, wish I had the link, but if you search you probably can find it.

If you don't have enough room to pull the slide straight up and out of the carb then loosen the carb a bit and rotate it to one side or the other until it will come out....

 

[ex42k9j]

i read your very helpful thread http://motorbicycling.com/f4/cns-carb-working-great-32736.html and moved the e-clip up a notch. the bike definitely felt like it was going faster and felt like it was about to idle but still no go.

maybe i should ride it a little further? or move the notch up one more? or more than likely play with the idle screw?

 

[nightcruiser]

i read your very helpful thread http://motorbicycling.com/f4/cns-carb-working-great-32736.html and moved the e-clip up a notch. the bike definitely felt like it was going faster and felt like it was about to idle but still no go.

maybe i should ride it a little further? or move the notch up one more?

Kinda hard for me to tell you what to do not being there. Since you know how to adjust the e-clip there's no harm in trying out a few positions, check how she runs and take a look at the plug to see how it looks....

 

[ex42k9j]

well i rode it around again after tightening the idle adjustment screw (made it tighter) still no idle but it had absolutely no problem pulling me up the hill.

gotta love all the looks you get riding one of these. some kids yelled out "thats sick" as i passed by them. still riding safely and responsibly none the less. last thing i want to do is wreck/cause a wreck

 

[nightcruiser]

well i rode it around again after tightening the idle adjustment screw (made it tighter) still no idle but it had absolutely no problem pulling me up the hill.

gotta love all the looks you get riding one of these. some kids yelled out "thats sick" as i passed by them. still riding safely and responsibly none the less. last thing i want to do is wreck/cause a wreck

Sounds like things are improving... Keep at it and you will have it tuned up in no time....

The first rides are lots of fun, it is surprising the reactions you get from people on the street.... If you stop for everyone that flags you down you'll never get a ride in! LOL

 

[ex42k9j]

Sounds like things are improving... Keep at it and you will have it tuned up in no time....

The first rides are lots of fun, it is surprising the reactions you get from people on the street.... If you stop for everyone that flags you down you'll never get a ride in! LOL

yeah its definitely faster/stronger. my spark plug is still black. after every ride i should check the color right? i think i want the spark plug color to be light brown. black is to rich, light tan is to lean. correct me if im wrong.

haha no doubt. this thing is a blast. cant wait to do long distance rides with it. it would be nice to build a gps mount for my bike. aside from the directional help it can tell me how fast i am going and it provides a little extra light for night time riding.

 

[ex42k9j]

Well guys she is running like a dream and idling perfectly. its fair to say she is done. time to break her in. again, thanks for all the help.

 

[nightcruiser]

yeah its definitely faster/stronger. my spark plug is still black. after every ride i should check the color right? i think i want the spark plug color to be light brown. black is to rich, light tan is to lean. correct me if im wrong.

haha no doubt. this thing is a blast. cant wait to do long distance rides with it. it would be nice to build a gps mount for my bike. aside from the directional help it can tell me how fast i am going and it provides a little extra light for night time riding.

I think that link to the spark plug chart pretty much says it all as for what your plug looks like and what your motor condition is. I would only check the plug after a decent ride when I have just made some carb adjustments.
I dont recall if you have a 48cc or a 60cc?? I have read that some guys with 50cc motors had to go smaller with their jet size to lean up their motor enough to burn optimally, 66cc is usually ok with the stock jet or needs to go larger (but since your already rich you don't need larger, that is what made me ask if you have 50cc???)
I velcrowed my gps to my bike after some guys said I couldn't be believed when I said I could hit the mid 30's with a stock kit (stock parts tuned well), turns out the GPS speed matched the speed shown on the $5 spedo I got off ebay exaclty. I also use 3 18LED flashlights on my bike, they light up the road great, and the white wire powers them very well....

 

[ex42k9j]

mine is a 66cc (skyhawk gt5 slant head).

great idea velcrowing it i may give that a try. and i am only running 2 LED lights (1 white, 1 red) but i want to get another white and put it on the other side of my handlebars.

and i have some bad news. the choke lever on the carb keeps going up while i am riding and eventually it will kill my motor. i had to hold it down to continue going.

i am reading a rubber band can hold the arm down but i want a better solution. its obviously loose, how do i tighten it?

 

[nightcruiser]

mine is a 66cc (skyhawk gt5 slant head).

great idea velcrowing it i may give that a try. and i am only running 2 LED lights (1 white, 1 red) but i want to get another white and put it on the other side of my handlebars.

and i have some bad news. the choke lever on the carb keeps going up while i am riding and eventually it will kill my motor. i had to hold it down to continue going.

i am reading a rubber band can hold the arm down but i want a better solution. its obviously loose, how do i tighten it?

Damn, never had an NT carb so I can't help you with the choke.. Gotta be some way to tighten it up?

 

[nightcruiser]

Just looked up some pics of the NT carb, one showed the choke and said "Up=On, Down=Off".
I am not SURE this is the case, but if so, it leaves me wondering if you have the choke on (up) all the time?
Maybe some riders that have the NT carb can chime in and help you more with this....
I think I am gonna order me an NT carb (since they are so cheap) this winter so I can compare it to my CNS and gain some experience with the NT style carb....

 

[ex42k9j]

yeah thats how it works (up=on down=off). i have never had to run it with the choke on but the arm is going up by itself (my guess is cause the vibration) causing the motor to get slower and eventually die if i don't hold it down. people call it "choking" i think.

nt carbs cant be so hard. their design is pretty simple when you compare it to the other carbs. its just nit picky. They do work so I am not complaining but they definitely arent the best.

I put the rubber band on and put it over the rear motor mounts and it is holding the choke arm down, just gotta test ride it to see if it will hold.....any excuse to ride it around haha

 

[nightcruiser]

yeah thats how it works (up=on down=off). i have never had to run it with the choke on but the arm is going up by itself (my guess is cause the vibration) causing the motor to get slower and eventually die if i don't hold it down. people call it "choking" i think.

nt carbs cant be so hard. their design is pretty simple when you compare it to the other carbs. its just nit picky. They do work so I am not complaining but they definitely aren't the best.

I put the rubber band on and put it over the rear motor mounts and it is holding the choke arm down, just gotta test ride it to see if it will hold.....any excuse to ride it around haha

I had just assumed it was slipping down, not vibrating up, my bad....
NT carbs are the simple ones, one jet and air choke. The CNS carb that I have has 3 jets, it's the complicated one. I just want to be able to run both to compare, and gain a little experience with the NT carb so I can better answer questions like this for newbies...

 

[ex42k9j]

i was just going to buy a new air filter and see if that helps with speed but if the choke arm is going to give me problems i might just replace the entire carb.

which replacement would you suggest for my type of motor?

i was looking at the high performance cns carb from kingsmb. i'm not sure though. it looks confusing.


EDIT:

well i have been riding the bike around all morning and the rubber band worked wonders. looks a little weird but it helps a lot.


EDIT2:

http://motorbicycling.com/f39/cant-find-answer-then-ask-here-7932-17.html#post252507

The choke can be stopped from vibrating to the on choke position by tightening the choke shaft bolt on the choke. It only needs a very light tightening.
Some people will put a rubber band on the lever to keep it from vibrating on.

norman the moderator said this and i trust his exp. i have no idea what a choke shaft bolt is though or where its located at on the carb.

 

[nightcruiser]

i was just going to buy a new air filter and see if that helps with speed but if the choke arm is going to give me problems i might just replace the entire carb.

which replacement would you suggest for my type of motor?

i was looking at the high performance cns carb from kingsmb. i'm not sure though. it looks confusing.


EDIT:

well i have been riding the bike around all morning and the rubber band worked wonders. looks a little weird but it helps a lot.


EDIT2:

http://motorbicycling.com/f39/cant-find-answer-then-ask-here-7932-17.html#post252507



norman the moderator said this and i trust his exp. i have no idea what a choke shaft bolt is though or where its located at on the carb.

If you are happy with your carb, besides the slipping choke lever, I would suggest you stick with it. The CNS carb is a beast to tune, lots of people get frustrated and give up on it and buy an NT or Speed carb instead.
I assume the choke shaft bolt is right on the choke lever somewhere, probably inside the air filter cover. If your rubber band works just use that, or take the air filter off and you will figure out a way to tighten it up a bit, not rocket science here... Stick with it and you will get it worked out....

 

[Greg58]

The choke arm on my nt I have as a back up has a nut under the air filter element, if you have the rivited type you can ping it with a brass hamer.