Has anyone had problems with their bike not idleing? It runs fine with the choke on or above idle. I have cleaned the jets, run carb cleaner in the fuel and this has not made a difference. The bike is a 97 and only has 5.500 miles on it.

Can't you adjust the idle with that little black knob like I have had on my other carb'd bikes !

Dave

This is not the problem. I can turn it all the way and it still won't idle. If I keep the throttle open some I can keep it running. Other than that it will die.

Fuel Pump ?

I'm not versed on Bird carbs but this sounds remarkably similar to the classic symptom of clogged low speed jets. Anything off idle, and your main jets are kicking in thus the bike runs.

Which jets did you clean? Has the bike sat for any length of time, especially in the summer? That's not a whole lotta mileage over the course of 6 years.

I did clean the idle jets. I was thinking it might be something with a fuel pump although normally fuel pump problems are noticed at higher flows and that works fine or something in the vacuum system? What forces the fuel at idle?

How did you clean them? What's the lowest RPM where it will run smoothly? Is it blowing any smoke, and what color is the inside of the exhaust pipe?

Does the carb'd 'bird utilize a fuel pump? It would be the first carb bike I've owned to do so, if it does. :???:

I would probably check for a mechanism malfunction too. ie. Is the idle speed mechanically functioning as it should - is it possible for the black knob and cable to somehow become disconnected from the idle screw. Is the choke control completely disengaging, etc. Also, check for an air leak between the carbs and intake manifold and at the airbox boots. When was the last time you changed or gapped your plugs?

:headscratch:

-Pace

Glad you said that.. I was thinking "why the hell did Honda put a FP on this thing". :lol:


I assume the machine was not idling before you cleaned the slow speed jets?

-Pace

I haven't seen what the pilot jets look like in a carb'ed bird. But they should be dramatically different than the main jets. Did they have a lot of cross holes in them? Did you rod out the jets with a fine piece of wire, or equiv?

Sometimes the varnish is clear and will not show. Soaking them alone won't do it.

While the XX doesn't, lots of carb bikes do. The F3 and F4 as an example. And they WON'T run if the pump dies. Been there, fixed that...

Thanks for the replies. I will give the idle jets another cleaning and go from there. I did run wire thru the center holes but not the cross drilled. I sprayed with carb cleaner. maybe that's where the problem is.

So you took the carbs out? What about the other questions? We need more info to help you.

If the low speed jets are plugged, the bike will still idle just fine. You will have a major stumble right off idle, then the bike will transition to the main jet and run fine again. I would check for vacuum leaks, or vacuum hoses that are either unhooked, or connected to the wrong place.

With only 5500 miles on a 1997 bike, there is a good chance that the bike has been sitting around quite a bit and the fuel has started to gel. You may have internal passages in your carbs plugged. What was the condition of the fuel bowls when you pulled them to clean the lowspeed jets?

I agree that with it sitting so long that the fuel may have clogged some passages. Also, like Roderash said, the vacuum lines could be a problem, especially if you've had the tank off.

Another thing you may want to check is the idle adjustment knob itself. If I remember correctly, someone else had a similar problem and it turned out that the connection to the carbs had come loose and rendered it useless.
Just a thought.......it sure beats tearing the carbs apart. :)

The internals of the carbs looked spotless. The bowls had no residue. The bike sat no longer than it had before and it always ran fine. I have owned the bike since new with no problems. The idle adjustment screw and cable do work. I can increase the idle with the choke on and I checked to make sure it moved the linkage. It might be possible there is a vacuum problem but the hoses I checked all had vacuum. I am on the road for a few days and won't be able to check things until the weekend.